[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15257]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING THE NATIONAL YOUTH SPORTS PROGRAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as national cochair to honor the 
outstanding work of the National Youth Sports Program in my home State 
of Wisconsin and the 200 programs throughout the Nation and to 
recognize the essential role NYSP plays in children's lives during 
those crucial weeks during the summertime.
  For 35 years, NYSP has brought organized athletics and academic 
courses in math and science into the summer routines of low-income 
children aged 10 to 16. For 5 weeks, children learn leadership skills 
and work to develop strong moral character through sports. Furthermore, 
NYSP provides students with education in substance abuse prevention, 
career instruction and perhaps their first comprehensive physical. In 
addition, students receive a hot, well-balanced USDA-approved meal each 
day.
  As a former college quarterback and a father of two little boys, I 
know the opportunity that sports can have on positively impacting the 
lives of our children. Thanks to NYSP, a soccer field, a basketball 
court, a swimming pool turns into classrooms. The lessons in these 
innovative classrooms are civility, teamwork and responsibility.
  Mr. Speaker, it is our duty as policymakers to preserve these vital 
opportunities. It is in the interest of our children and our country to 
do so.
  For proof of the importance of the National Youth Sports Program, I 
invite the Members to look at two participating institutions that I had 
the opportunity to visit recently from my home district in western 
Wisconsin.
  At the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, over 300 children 
participate in NYSP each summer. In addition to excellent athletic and 
academic instruction from a dedicated staff, these children have 
participated in a ropes course to foster higher self-esteem, have been 
treated by local physicians and dentists free of charge, participated 
in the DARE and GREAT programs with local police officers, and have 
painted over graffiti found on public property. The NYSP at the 
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is enriching the lives of low-income 
children while simultaneously enriching the community as a whole. I 
would like to take this opportunity to thank program director Mary Beth 
Vahala and the many community volunteers, including Dr. Richard Foss 
and Dr. Holly Grimslid for their integral role in the success of NYSP 
at La Crosse.
  The NYSP at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, directed by Dr. 
Bill Harms and Mr. Tom Pratt, has been consistently ranked as one of 
the top summer programs in the entire Nation. Every summer, over 500 
children learn to live the NYSP creed, ``to walk tall, talk tall and 
stand tall.'' In addition to a wonderful selection of standard 
athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, students spend 
time each day studying math and science in an effort to teach the 
importance of these subjects at a young age. Under the excellent 
tutelage of coordinators Ms. Sunshine McFaul and Mr. Jayson Leslie, 
students discover the value of math and science in their lives. I also 
want to thank and commend NYSP's national director Dr. Gale Wiedow for 
his terrific leadership of these 200 programs throughout our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, these two fine programs in my home district in western 
Wisconsin are indicative of the quality of NYSP as a whole; and I am 
thankful for the dedicated staff and volunteers that make it happen. 
Unfortunately, the President proposed to eliminate NYSP program funding 
in the next fiscal year's budget. Fortunately, however, NYSP has 
enjoyed wide bipartisan support in Congress.
  I also want to thank my good friend and colleague from Buffalo, New 
York (Mr. Quinn) for cochairing the National Youth Sports Program with 
me in recent years. He has been a terrific advocate of youth generally 
and of NYSP specifically. I appreciate his hard work in going to bat 
for this program. He will be sorely missed in this Chamber, and we all 
wish him a happy retirement.
  Tonight I stand with thousands of children to thank the Committee on 
Appropriations for fully funding NYSP, and I urge my colleagues to 
remember the value of athletics and academics in our children's lives 
and the important role NYSP plays in delivering both during the summer 
months.
  Mr. Speaker, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince 
Lombardi, once famously said, ``Once you learn to quit, it becomes a 
habit.'' The National Youth Sports Program teaches children not to 
quit, and it is our responsibility not to quit on them.

                          ____________________