[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18396-18397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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       SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 116--SUPPORTING ``LIGHTS ON 
    AFTERSCHOOL!'', A NATIONAL CELEBRATION OF AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

  Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. 
Burr,

[[Page 18397]]

Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Cochran, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Specter, Mr. Reed, Mr. 
Domenici, Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Snowe, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Murkowski, Ms. 
Stabenow, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Biden, Mr. Burns, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Reid, Mr. 
Akaka, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Kerry, Ms. 
Landrieu, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Carper, Mr. Kohl, Mr. 
Dayton, Mr. Pryor, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Nelson 
of Nebraska, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. 
Collins, Mr. Martinez, and Mr. Schumer) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                            S. Con. Res. 116

       Whereas high quality after school programs provide safe, 
     challenging, engaging, and fun learning experiences to help 
     children and youth develop their social, emotional, physical, 
     cultural, and academic skills;
       Whereas high quality after school programs support working 
     families by ensuring that the children in such families are 
     safe and productive after the regular school day ends;
       Whereas high quality after school programs build stronger 
     communities by involving the Nation's students, parents, 
     business leaders, and adult volunteers in the lives of the 
     Nation's youth, thereby promoting positive relationships 
     among children, youth, families, and adults;
       Whereas high quality after school programs engage families, 
     schools, and diverse community partners in advancing the 
     well-being of the Nation's children;
       Whereas ``Lights On Afterschool!'', a national celebration 
     of after school programs held on October 12, 2006, promotes 
     the critical importance of high quality after school programs 
     in the lives of children, their families, and their 
     communities;
       Whereas more than 28,000,000 children in the United States 
     have parents who work outside the home and 14,300,000 
     children in the United States have no place to go after 
     school; and
       Whereas many after school programs across the United States 
     are struggling to keep their doors open and their lights on: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress supports the goals and ideals of 
     ``Lights On Afterschool!'' a national celebration of after 
     school programs.

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today Senator Ensign and I, along with 42 
cosponsors, are submitting a concurrent resolution with the House 
designating October 12, 2006 as Lights On Afterschool Day. Lights on 
Afterschool is a national celebration of afterschool programs, designed 
to promote the critical importance of afterschool in the lives of 
America's children, families, and communities. This year alone, we 
expect over 1 million Americans to participate in this important 
celebration.
  Quality afterschool programs keep kids safe, help working families, 
and improve academic achievement. It has been demonstrated that 
children in afterschool programs show greater interest in school, learn 
new skills, exhibit improved behavior and get better grades than their 
peers. Afterschool programs also build stronger communities by 
involving our students, parents, business leaders and adult volunteers 
in the lives of our young people, thereby promoting positive 
relationships among children and adults.
  In America today, more than 28 million children have parents who work 
outside the home. As many as 15 million of these children have no place 
to go after school and consequently are missing out on important 
opportunities to learn and grow. Two-thirds of Americans say that it is 
difficult to find programs in their communities and that not enough 
programs are available.
  In our work on the Senate Afterschool Caucus, Senator Ensign and I 
have been working for more than a year to impress upon our colleagues 
the importance of afterschool and are proud to say that 34 of our 
colleagues have joined the Caucus to date. We hope that they, along 
with other Members of the Congress, will join us on October 12th to 
celebrate the importance of afterschool programs in their communities 
back home.

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