[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1169-1170]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    NATIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING WEEK

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that we proceed 
to the consideration of S. Res. 16.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 16) designating the week of February 
     2 through February 6, 2009, as ``National School Counseling 
     Week.''

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I know the day is late, but I can't help but 
comment on this legislation. One of the big problems we have in America 
today is a total shortage of counselors. Most of

[[Page 1170]]

our elementary schools have no counselors and high schools have just a 
few.
  Speaking personally, I went to a relatively small high school in 
Henderson, NV, when I was a boy, and we had a part-time counselor in my 
high school. Her name was Mrs. Robinson. She taught government and also 
counseled. Mrs. Robinson called me out of class--I was a junior in high 
school--and she said: We have looked at all your records, and you 
should go to law school. Well, Mr. President, I had never met a lawyer, 
never been to a courthouse, and I knew nothing about lawyers and all 
that stuff, but because Mrs. Robinson told me that is what I should do, 
from that minute that was what I was going to be.
  That is how important counselors are. I think this resolution is so 
indicative of some of the problems we have in education today. We know 
all the problems that teachers have. Their job would be made so much 
easier if schools had adequate numbers of counselors to help teachers, 
parents, and children work through the problems that kids have growing 
up.
  So, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be 
agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any 
statements related to this matter be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 16) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                               S. Res. 16

       Whereas the American School Counselor Association has 
     declared the week of February 2 through February 6, 2009, as 
     ``National School Counseling Week'';
       Whereas the Senate has recognized the importance of school 
     counseling through the inclusion of elementary and secondary 
     school counseling programs in the reauthorization of the 
     Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;
       Whereas school counselors have long advocated that the 
     education system of the United States must leave no child 
     behind and must provide opportunities for every student;
       Whereas personal and social growth results in increased 
     academic achievement;
       Whereas school counselors help develop well-rounded 
     students by guiding them through their academic, personal, 
     social, and career development;
       Whereas students face myriad challenges every day, 
     including peer pressure, depression, the deployment of family 
     members to serve in conflicts overseas, and school violence;
       Whereas school counselors are among the few professionals 
     in a school building who are trained in both education and 
     mental health matters;
       Whereas the roles and responsibilities of school counselors 
     are often misunderstood, and the school counselor position is 
     often among the first to be eliminated in order to meet 
     budgetary constraints;
       Whereas the national average ratio of students to school 
     counselors of 476-to-1 is almost twice the 250-to-1 ratio 
     recommended by the American School Counselor Association, the 
     American Counseling Association, the American Medical 
     Association, the American Psychological Association, and 
     other organizations; and
       Whereas the celebration of National School Counseling Week 
     would increase awareness of the important and necessary role 
     school counselors play in the lives of students in the United 
     States: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates the week of February 2 through February 6, 
     2009, as ``National School Counseling Week''; and
       (2) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
     the week with appropriate ceremonies and activities that 
     promote awareness of the role school counselors perform in 
     the school and the community at large in preparing students 
     for fulfilling lives as contributing members of society.

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