[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15857]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      CITY KIDS WILDERNESS PROJECT

 Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, ``An ounce of prevention is worth a 
pound of cure.'' When our parents and grandparents told us that, they 
probably weren't talking about the problem of crime in America. But 
they might have been.
  So many times in our debates, in the testimony given by experts from 
law-enforcement professionals to psychologists and social workers, the 
value of prevention--of keeping kids away from crime before they ever 
get into it--is clear and indisputable. And it is just as clear that 
one of the best ways to keep kids out of trouble is, simply, to give 
them something else to do.
  Terrance Collier, a 13-year-old from Washington, DC, had something 
else to do this summer. In fact, he had a lot to do. Through a program 
called City Kids Wilderness Project, Terrance went to Wyoming, where he 
camped, cooked, helped with cleaning up, paddled a canoe, went rafting, 
made new friends and, in the process, learned about nature, himself, 
teamwork and responsibility.
  Randy Luskey started City Kids Wilderness Project and continues to 
fund the program himself. A few years ago, Randy donated his Wyoming 
ranch to the kids. But, Randy is not just a blind donor. Randy leaves 
his own family in Colorado every year to actively participate with the 
kids in Jackson Hole.
  Cathy Robillard takes time away from her home and family in Vermont 
every summer to work with the kids in Wyoming. She is the person that 
runs the nuts and bolts of the program and does so with a measure of 
care and discipline.
  City Kids Wilderness Project is one of the best possible examples of 
time and money well spent. And it is an example that should be 
followed.
  A lot of the participants get into City Kids Wilderness Project 
through Boys and Girls Clubs, the kind of partnership that gets the 
best out of both programs, the kind of partnership that has proven 
successful time and time again.
  In debating funding for crime-prevention programs and public-private 
partnerships, we hear testimony from the experts and professionals, as 
we should, but we will never have a witness more important than 13-
year-old Terrance Collier. Terrance found his time in Wyoming to be 
rewarding, it made a difference to him, he thought it was important and 
it kept him off the street.
  Let's listen to that testimony, and let's thank the people like Randy 
Luskey and Cathy Robillard who are offering ``an ounce of prevention'' 
to kids like Terrance, brightening the promise of the future for all of 
us.

                          ____________________