[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1756-1759]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   SUPPORTING EFFORTS TO PROMOTE GREATER AWARENESS OF NEED FOR YOUTH 
     MENTORS AND INCREASED INVOLVEMENT WITH YOUTH THROUGH MENTORING

  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the resolution (H. Res. 25) supporting efforts to promote greater 
awareness of the need for youth mentors and increased involvement with 
youth through mentoring.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H. Res. 25

       Whereas mentors serve as role models, advocates, friends, 
     and advisors to young people in need;
       Whereas numerous studies document that mentors help young 
     people augment social skills, enhance emotional well-being, 
     improve cognitive skills, and plan for the future;
       Whereas, for some children, having a caring adult mentor to 
     turn to for guidance and encouragement can make the crucial 
     difference between success and failure in life;
       Whereas, 17.6 million young people, nearly half the youth 
     population, want or need mentors to help them reach their 
     full potential;
       Whereas there exists a large ``mentoring gap'' of unmet 
     needs, with only 2.5 million youth in formal mentoring 
     relationships, leaving 15 million young people still in need 
     of mentors;
       Whereas the celebration of National Mentoring Month will 
     institutionalize the Nation's commitment to mentoring and 
     raise awareness of mentoring in its various forms;
       Whereas a month-long focus on mentoring will tap into the 
     vast pool of potential mentors and motivate adults to take 
     action to help a young person;
       Whereas National Mentoring Month will encourage 
     organizations of all kinds, including businesses, faith 
     communities, government agencies, schools, and more, to 
     engage their constituents in mentoring;
       Whereas the celebration of National Mentoring Month would 
     above all encourage more people to volunteer as mentors, to 
     the benefit of the Nation's children; and
       Whereas on January 2, 2003, President George W. Bush signed 
     a proclamation naming January 2003 as National Mentoring 
     Month and called upon the people of the United States to 
     recognize the importance of being role models for youth, to 
     look for mentoring opportunities in their communities, and to 
     celebrate this month with appropriate ceremonies, activities, 
     and programs: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) commends those who give their time and talents to 
     support mentoring programs; and
       (2) supports efforts to promote greater awareness of the 
     need for youth mentors and increased involvement with youth 
     through mentoring.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne).


                             General Leave

  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
on House Resolution 25.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Nebraska?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, not long ago I read the results of a study that was done 
on the Fullerton County Public Schools in 1940, and in this study the 
teachers in the Fullerton schools were asked what their main concerns 
were. The list read like this: Number one concern was talking in class; 
number two was chewing gum in school; number three was getting out of 
turn in line when you went from one class to another; and number four 
was not putting waste in the wastepaper baskets.
  More recently someone went back to the Fullerton public schools and 
asked the same question; what was the main concern that the teachers 
had. The list had changed somewhat. The number one concern was drug and 
alcohol

[[Page 1757]]

abuse; secondly was gangs; and then followed weapons, teenage 
pregnancy, teenage suicide, and violence.
  I guess this study, as I saw it, Mr. Speaker, resonated with my own 
experience of 40 years working with young people, because when I first 
started working with young people in about 1960, the out-of-wedlock 
birth rate was roughly 5 percent; today it is 33 percent. We have 18 
million fatherless young people in our country today. Most of them have 
not even seen their father or met them.
  In 1960, a relatively small percent of our young people were living 
in homes without both biological parents. Today, almost half live in 
homes without both biological parents. Drug abuse and gangs remained 
relatively unheard of in 1960. Today, as everyone knows, they are a 
major problem in this country. We have become the most violent Nation 
in the world for teenage homicides and suicide.
  So I guess the question begs itself, Mr. Speaker, as to where we are 
headed as a Nation. I think if we examine the data on a year-to-year 
basis, it is a little hard to tell where we are moving, but if we look 
at it in 40- to 50-year increments, 1940 versus 2003, we can see some 
alarming trends.
  So the question is, Mr. Speaker, what do we do at this point? What 
can we do? We cannot legislate families staying together. We cannot 
legislate strong values. But one thing we can do, Mr. Speaker, is we 
can provide mentoring for young people. A mentoring relationship is a 
one-to-one relationship with a positive adult role model who, number 
one, cares unconditionally about a young person.
  It is very powerful for a young person in a school when an adult, who 
is not a parent, not a grandparent, not a teacher, not a preacher, has 
no axe to grind, but simply cares enough about that young person to 
show up and spend time with that young person every week.
  Secondly, a mentor is one who affirms. A tremendous number of our 
young people today are growing up without affirmation. Whether it be at 
home or at school with their peers, no one is saying, I really approve 
of you, I believe in you, I know you can do this, you can accomplish 
something. And essentially that is what a mentor does. They are someone 
who affirms and sees something in a young person that that young person 
may not even know they have within themselves.
  Thirdly, I think a mentor is one who provides a vision. So many young 
people today simply have no role model in their lives. They dropped out 
of school early, are working at a minimum paying job and have no great 
aspirations. Many times a mentor can see something in a young person 
that points in a direction that certainly is much more productive than 
that.

                              {time}  1630

  Mr. Speaker, mentoring works. Research studies indicate that 
mentoring reduces drug and alcohol abuse by a great deal, sometimes as 
much as 50 percent. It reduces teenage pregnancy, teenage violence, and 
gang membership. It improves peer and family relationships, self-
confidence, school attendance, grades and graduation rates. It is 
estimated that currently 17 million children need a mentor in our 
society today, and less than 1 million have that experience.
  The mentoring initiative is critical to our Nation's well-being. I 
think most of the great nations of the world that have fallen apart 
have disassembled from within. I think we need to address the problem 
what is going on with our young people, and mentoring does this. I hope 
that this body supports mentoring programs as we recognize National 
Mentoring Month.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to join the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. 
Osborne) in support of House Resolution 25, which recognizes the 
critical role of mentors in our children's lives.
  On the day following our Nation's 37th Super Bowl, I can think of no 
better way to commemorate the very spirit of this bill than by sharing 
the inspirational story of Mr. Lincoln Kennedy, who plays right tackle 
for the Oakland Raiders. Lincoln grew up and attended Morris High 
School in my hometown of San Diego, California. And just as it is 
today, the student body at Morris was largely diverse and comprised of 
children from mostly working-class backgrounds. The school football 
field doubled as the team's practice field, and ongoing electrical 
problems allowed for day games only.
  High school football coach John Schacklett spotted the 6 foot 6 inch 
freshman and immediately recognized his potential. He urged him to try 
out for the school's football team, and Lincoln agreed.
  Although forced to play in tennis shoes because the school was unable 
to acquire the size 17\1/2\ cleats that he required, it did not take 
long for Lincoln to develop under the constant guidance and 
encouragement of a coach who not only believed in him, but took the 
time to invest in him. And what a difference it made.
  Lincoln returned to his hometown on January 26, 2003, to play in 
Super Bowl XXXVII. Reflecting back on the achievements of his life, 
Lincoln wondered what he would have done had Coach Schacklett not 
approached him that fateful day, recognized that he possessed something 
special, and pushed him to recognize it, too.
  ``I wonder how I ever would have gotten to college and gotten a 
college education or what type of job I would be doing right now,'' he 
said. Fortunately, as a result of the mentoring of Coach John 
Schacklett, Lincoln will never need to worry about the answer to that 
question.
  The significance of this story should not be underestimated. Lincoln 
Kennedy represents the millions of youth in this country who stand to 
benefit immensely from the support of a positive role model. And Coach 
Schacklett represents the millions of mentors who also benefit from the 
rewarding and enriching experience of investing in a young person's 
life and later watching that person grow and succeed.
  This case illustrates what we have known for years, and what my 
colleague just spoke about, that mentoring makes a difference. It 
provides children and young adults with a stronger sense of self-esteem 
and optimism for the future. It fuels their ambitions and pushes them 
to realize their own potential. It helps them to visualize a future 
other than what they might have aspired to.
  We know that this learning experience is a two-way street. Mentoring 
often brings together people of various ethnic, religious, or 
socioeconomic backgrounds. It is easy to turn to those with whom we 
share obvious similarities. The mentoring relationship, however, often 
forces us outside of our own comfort zone, allowing us to view the 
world from different perspectives and appreciate one another's 
experiences and life circumstances.
  In today's world, particularly, this level of understanding has never 
been more important; and we must do all that we can to foster these 
relationships.
  Mr. Speaker, President Bush's declaration of January 2003 as National 
Mentoring Month marked a significant stride in this direction. With the 
passage of this resolution, I hope to reinforce the positive impact 
that mentoring can have on so many of our children's lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the chairman of the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce, whose support for mentoring has been very much appreciated.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. 
Osborne) for bringing this resolution to the floor today and his 
willingness to manage this bill, and thank the gentleman for his 
commitment to mentoring. As someone who has mentored countless numbers 
of young men during his coaching career, he certainly comes to this 
with great passion and has brought great passion to this issue to the 
committee, and especially last year during the consideration of No 
Child Left Behind when the gentleman

[[Page 1758]]

from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) took the lead and pushed for mentoring 
programs within the Secondary and Elementary Education Act.
  The gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis), also a member of the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce and a staunch supporter of 
mentoring, played a role in ensuring that mentoring became an important 
part of No Child Left Behind.
  We all know the importance of mentors to children, many of whom come 
from families where there may not be a father or there may not be a 
mother, and having these mentors to help mostly underprivileged 
children is a great advantage in terms of helping them understand that 
there is another world out there and their future may in fact be 
brighter.
  As I have said before, I believe not only do children benefit from 
having mentors, but I think mentors may benefit even more than the 
children do by offering their services, making a commitment to their 
community, making a commitment to their local schools, and making a 
commitment to underserved children who need their help.
  Mr. Speaker, because of all this, I believe that the resolution 
before us is certainly a good one and urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Delaware (Mr. Castle), who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Education 
Reform and also a strong supporter of mentoring.
  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. 
Osborne) and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis) for offering 
this resolution today.
  I do not know if there are many advocates for mentoring better than 
the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) and all he has done in his 
lifetime for this, and I think we are fortunate to have him in support 
of this issue on the floor on a number of occasions.
  I, too, rise in support of the resolution that recognizes the 
benefits of mentoring for America's young people, the many 
contributions of mentors, and the need for more mentors to get involved 
in the lives of our youth.
  Many children throughout the United States face difficult 
circumstances in their lives. For instance, too many of our youth 
become teenaged parents or do not complete high school. These are just 
two examples of youth who might benefit from the support and guidance 
of a caring and responsible adult.
  In fact, the positive effects of mentoring include increased school 
attendance, improved rates of secondary school graduation and college 
attendance, decreased involvement with drugs and alcohol, and decreased 
violent behavior.
  In early January, the President declared January 2003 as National 
Mentoring Month and in doing so, recognized the vital contributions of 
dedicated mentors and encouraged more Americans to make a difference in 
the hearts and souls of our communities by volunteering their time to 
meet the needs of America's youth. As President Bush said, mentors 
``provide friendship and support to young people who are facing 
challenging situations, serve as positive role models, and help to 
instill important values, goals and skills.''
  Mentoring programs come in all shapes and sizes, and often schools, 
churches and community groups come together to form mentoring 
partnerships. There are thousands of mentoring programs across the 
country, yet there is still a shortage of mentors. It is estimated that 
mentors are not available to a large percentage of young people who 
need or want them. Too many children in our Nation are growing up 
without support and guidance in their lives.
  We cannot afford inaction. A small commitment of time, energy or 
financial support can change the life of a child. I am pleased to 
promote the greater awareness of the need for youth mentors, and I urge 
an ``aye'' vote on this resolution.
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to close by sharing some of the lessons I 
learned while serving as the executive director of the Aaron Price 
Fellows Program in my own community.
  The first is that simply giving of yourself, be it your time, your 
advice, and even your interest, makes a difference. For a young person, 
the security and the confidence that comes from knowing that someone, 
someone outside of his or her own family believes in them and cares 
about them is immeasurable.
  The second is that there is just no telling how far a young person 
who receives the sort of personal attention and one-on-one mentoring 
will go. I am proud to have two individuals on my staff who I 
personally mentored many years ago, and I cannot tell Members how 
meaningful it is for me to see how successful they have become today.
  Finally, it is impossible to predict how involved or enthusiastic a 
mentor will become in a child's life. In my experience with the Fellows 
program, I have seen countless individuals become so invested in a 
young person's development that they surpassed any and all expectations 
of the job. I had the opportunity to demonstrate this myself as a 
mentor; and I can personally attest to the fact that the greater one's 
commitment, the richer the reward.
  One of San Diego's outstanding leaders, who overcame a lifetime of 
adversity and built a successful life for himself despite the odds, 
once told me that the single most influential factor in his life was a 
childhood mentor. I believe that his story, and so many others, prove 
that mentoring can and does make a pivotal difference in a young 
person's life.
  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to join with my colleagues and thank the 
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) for bringing this resolution 
forward, and urge passage of House Resolution 25.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman's support of this 
resolution, and I might just mention there was a Mentoring for Success 
amendment that was added to H.R. 1, which provided for mentoring grants 
and programs around the Nation. It was interesting to note that we had 
over 1,300 applications for less than 300 grants. Obviously, there is 
great interest in mentoring around the country. We know that those 
monies will be put to good use, that thousands of young people will 
benefit; and above all, I believe it is important that we remember that 
this provides a national clearinghouse where we can evaluate all kinds 
of mentoring, what works and what does not work, and provide a central 
clearinghouse that we think will be very important.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support he National 
Mentoring Month Resolution introduced by Congressman Tom Osborne. This 
resolution recognizes and supports the efforts of mentoring programs 
across our Nation. It embraces the notion that volunteer mentors can 
change the life of a troubled teen. This resolution celebrates the 
month of January as a month-long campaign focused on raising awareness 
of mentoring programs, their impact on our youth, and information on 
how to volunteer to become a mentor.
  I am proud to be an original cosponsor to Congressman Osborne's 
resolution. Both Coach Osborne and I worked as mentors before coming to 
Congress and both felt a need to raise awareness of the cause once we 
were elected. Last year, we successfully passed the Mentoring for 
Success program, which provided money to start up new mentoring 
programs across the country. In addition, we founded the Congressional 
Mentoring Caucus, a bipartisan organization designed to disseminate 
information about the positive impact mentoring programs have on our 
Nation's children.
  Mentoring programs offer many benefits to children, particularly as 
it relates to educating our children. These programs are proven to help 
prevent children from dropping out of high school. In the state of 
Florida, we had a big problem. Only 53 percent of our children were 
graduating from high school. So, in Central Florida, we decided to do 
something about it by creating the Orlando/Orange County Compact 
Program. The Compact Program is a mentoring program that matches up 
students at risk of dropping out of high school with mentors from the 
business community. The mentors meet with the students one hour a week 
to work on homework and projects.

[[Page 1759]]

  The results from this mentoring program have been dramatic. Over a 
period of 10 years, 98 percent of the children in the Compact Program 
have graduated from high school--the number one graduation rate in the 
United States.
  I would also like to discuss the crime prevention benefits of 
mentoring programs. In Florida, 70 percent of the inmates in our jails 
and prisons are high school dropouts. It costs taxpayers $25,000 a year 
for each federal prisoner, compared with only $5,000 a year to educate 
a student in our public schools. Clearly, making the investment in 
mentoring programs now will save us literally hundreds of millions of 
dollars down the road in terms of reduced jail costs and reduced 
welfare costs.
  In summary, mentoring programs make a meaningful difference in the 
lives of our young people; they improve education, prevent crimes, and 
will save us money. I urge all of my colleagues to support National 
Mentoring Month by participating in local programs in their home 
districts--together we can make a difference in the lives of our 
children!
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, as a co-chair of the Congressional 
Mentoring Caucus, I am pleased to join my colleagues today in 
supporting House Resolution 25. This important resolution commends 
those who contribute their time and talents to mentoring programs and 
supports efforts to promote greater awareness of the need for mentors. 
As we recognize National Mentoring Month, we should all celebrate the 
positive effects that mentors make in assuring brighter futures for 
young people.
  Children who have mentors have a better chance of succeeding and are 
more likely to make positive choices. Young girls who have supportive 
mentors can grow up to be confident and powerful women by learning to 
make healthy decisions at an early age. The GirlVenture program in my 
home state of Minnesota has successfully connected more than 500 youth 
and 100 girls and their mothers with mentors who help them prepare for 
the workforce, become financially competent and make healthy life 
choices. GirlVenture also offers classes to help parents, educators and 
youth workers instill future-focused values in finances, relationships 
and leadership.
  GirlVentrue is just one example of the countless mentoring programs 
that are making a difference in the lives of young people. 
Unfortunately, there are far too many at-risk children who are on 
waiting lists, hoping to soon be matched with a caring mentor. 
According to the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota, there are an 
estimated 75,000 young people who want and need an adult mentor in 
Minneapolis and St. Paul alone.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution to 
honor mentors and encourage others to give their time and guidance to a 
child. And I wish to commend those mentors who are currently helping to 
shape the lives of young people through mentoring.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, as an original cosponsor of the 
resolution, this Member wishes to add his strong support for H. Res. 
25, which supports efforts to encourage more individuals to become 
mentors. In addition to raising awareness, a key provision is to 
commend those who give their time and talents to support mentoring 
initiatives.
  This Member would like to commend the distinguished gentleman from 
Ohio [Mr. Boehner], the Chairman of the House Committee on Education 
and the Workforce, and the distinguished gentleman from California [Mr. 
Miller], the ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the 
Workforce for bringing this important resolution to the House Floor 
today; this issue is very timely as January 2003 is National Mentoring 
Month. This Member would also like to commend the distinguished 
gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Osborne] for sponsoring H. Res. 25 and for 
his personal interest in establishing mentoring opportunities 
nationwide.
  Many children throughout the United States face difficult 
situations--and when matched with a caring and responsible adult, 
positive results ensue. Research has shown that mentoring benefits 
young people in a positive manner by increasing school attendance, 
improving rates of secondary school graduation and college attendance, 
decreasing involvement with drugs and alcohol, and reducing violent 
behavior.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, this Member urges his colleagues to support 
H. Res. 25.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in a time when our children 
face increased dangers from crime and other social ills, it is 
imperative that we seize upon every opportunity to ensure that their 
lives take a course that will deliver them safely to adulthood, 
properly equipped with the tools needed to thrive, grow and take over 
the responsibilities of leadership in our society.
  We know that children learn and emulate what they are taught and have 
seen in their environment. Their realities are whatever society at 
large has presented--either through direct contact, or through the 
potentially boundless influence of television and the internet. We 
understand, however, that the best way to ensure that our children are 
imbued with the values, education and culture that a strong nation 
requires is to make sure that we take individual responsibility for the 
upbringing of every single child in our society.
  Mentoring is an excellent way to reach beyond just our immediate 
families to embrace our extended family of young Americans. It is true 
that it takes a village to raise a child, and if each of us American 
villagers assumes the shared responsibility of looking after our most 
precious resources by mentoring them, we will go a long way toward 
making our society a better place.
  Mentoring can take form in many ways--from serving as a tutor to a 
young person who needs academic help, to coaching young people in 
Little League and other sports events designed to instill confidence 
and leadership. Simply being a good example to a young person in our 
lives can leave an indelible positive mark that they will be likely to 
pass along to another youngster when they become of age.
  January is National Mentoring Month, and we should encourage all 
Americans to serve as role models and mentors now and throughout their 
lives. The minimal sacrifice that it takes to expose a young person to 
what is good and to help shape their values system in a positive way 
can be best looked upon as priceless investment in our future. This is 
an investment that all Americans can afford to make, and one that none 
of us can afford to ignore.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 25.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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