[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 25963-25964]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 CHAPERONES AND VOICES AGAINST VIOLENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Mrs. Jones) for organizing this special order. Earlier today, I 
had the honor of addressing 180 very special people, the chaperons who 
have accompanied students from around this country in today's historic 
Voices Against Violence Conference. Clearly these professionals care 
about kids. Many of them work in schools or community centers, dealing 
with our young people

[[Page 25964]]

and with youth-related issues every day.
  This week, they are serving as effective listeners, allowing students 
to express their views about the violence which has permeated their 
lives and surrounds them. I am proud that Raquel Lopez from Santa 
Barbara is escorting three students from the 22nd district of 
California. Raquel has spent her career working with youth in her 
community as a counselor to teen mothers, as an advocate for a local 
youth center and as a leadership development director for Girls, 
Incorporated.
  Raquel does great work in our community, on the line every day, and 
is a wonderful presence at this conference.
  Today's meeting away from the students for a few hours, chaperons 
were able to state their own views on why there is so much violence 
surrounding our students. I wanted to share some of their insightful 
comments on reducing youthful violence.
  Maria Brenes from Oakland, California, says, ``I strongly recommend 
that a national youth leadership initiative be implemented to provide 
positive alternatives as a larger violence prevention; to empower our 
youth.''
  Marcia Kaplan from New Jersey says, ``We need some form of parenting 
education in the school system so that we can provide parents with 
tools that they need to deal with our kids,'' with their children, 
``today, and the issues that they face.''
  Lucy Santini Smith from Michigan has stated, ``We must listen and 
determine together what programs should be funded, like after school 
programs and mentoring programs, demonstrate to them that Congress does 
listen, cares deeply and initiates real programs.''
  Finally, Benton Billings, a teacher from Lansing, Michigan, said, 
``If we really want to get at the heart of our Nation's school violence 
problems, the kids must be involved in the dialogue. They really know 
what is going on and what solutions would work best.''
  Mr. Billings, I could not agree with you more. In our efforts to 
understand and curtail violence among our youth, we sometimes forget to 
consult our kids. That is a mistake. It is time for us to learn from 
them. And just by being here, these committed individuals are allowing 
this to happen. I salute all of the adults who make this Voices Against 
Violence Conference possible. They really created the event so that the 
students could attend by coming along with them. As important as our 
work here in Washington is, we know that the real work in reducing 
youth violence will come from within our communities themselves.
  Our chaperones are going to help make that happen. We have a 
responsibility here in Congress. We need to set our own priorities 
straight, with our children and with our young people in mind, as a 
number one priority, so that the appropriate resources will be 
available for them in our communities and through the dedicated 
community heroes who work with them each and every day.

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