[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7970-7971]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        FRIENDS FOR THE CHILDREN

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)

[[Page 7971]]


  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, in 1993 a gentleman in my community, 
Duncan Campbell, provided three full-time friends for 24 at-risk 
children, children who were at the bottom of the barrel, children who 
were guaranteed to fail, not just poor but without family support.
  With the efforts of these full-time mentors and this innovative 
program, we have produced stunning results over the course of the last 
12 years. Ninety-eight percent of these children are still in school. 
Ninety-seven percent have passing grades. Ninety-eight percent have 
never been incarcerated. Ninety-seven percent do not use drugs or 
alcohol on a regular basis.
  Today, this program has spread across the country. It is in 11 
different communities with over 600 children. First Lady Laura Bush is 
expected to visit the Friends of Children program in Portland tomorrow. 
I commend her for taking the time to visit with the kids and learning 
more about this program.
  Tomorrow, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot), my colleague, and I 
are introducing legislation that would authorize $7.5 million for 
Friends of Children to support local programs at existing sites and 
disseminate this information to policy-makers around the country to 
make a commitment to improving the lives of at-risk children.

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