Honoring individuals who are mentors and supporting efforts to recruit more mentors.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 491) honoring individuals who are mentors and supporting efforts to recruit more mentors.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Res. 491.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the National Mentoring Month Resolution honoring those who give their time to mentor children.

Last night in this Chamber the President emphasized the threat of terrorism to our Nation's security, and I think all of us are aware of that threat. I would like to make a point that the major threat to our Nation's survival, as I see it, is not terrorism, as much of a threat as this is; but, rather, it is the trauma and dysfunction that is faced by so many of our children, because they are the future of this country.

Currently, roughly 50 percent of our young people are growing up without both biological parents. We have 20 million fatherless children in our Nation. I used to work with some of those young people. And when your father does not care enough about you to stay around to even see what you look like, it leaves a hole in your psyche that you are often times trying to fill for the rest of your life and usually filling it with all of the wrong things.

Currently, the United States leads the world in violence for young people: homicide, suicide, so on. We also are certainly very much addicted to drugs, alcohol abuse with teenagers, pornography. These are every day threats that our young people face. So having said all that, mentoring is the best-known remedy that many of us have for the social pathology that is harming our children today which threatens the foundation of our culture and our society.

Let me take a minute or two and mention what a mentor is. Some people hear the term and do not think about it very much. A mentor is someone who cares. Quite often children have some attention from fathers, mothers, grandparents, teachers and preachers and people who are paid to pay attention to them in some way or another. But a mentor is one who simply cares enough to show up and spend time with a young person and say unconditionally, I, someone who has no ax to grind at all, cares enough about you to show up every week or twice a week or whatever and spend some time and invest my life in your life.

A mentor is also someone who affirms. And I saw in my previous profession of coaching how important affirmation was. So often if you gave the player the message that he was not very good, that he did not measure up, that he was not going to make it, often times his performance would begin to play down to that level of expectation. But on the other hand, if you told him, I really believe in you, I see some promise in you, we think you have a great future, we think down the line you will be a great player, that player often times would perform at a level that he himself was not aware that he could perform at.

So that is essentially what a mentor does. A mentor affirms. He says, I believe in you. I see some potential here. I see some talent.

So many of our young people today have no affirmation in their lives, no one who is affirming who they are, what they are or what they can do.

Lastly, I would say a mentor is one who provides some directions and vision. So many young people are growing up in households today where they really do not have a role model who has shown what it is to get up and go to work every day, someone who takes responsibility, someone who finishes their education or someone who just finishes anything. A mentor is one who can say, I see a future for you beyond dropping out at the end of the tenth grade. I see a future for you beyond minimum- wage jobs, and you have this talent and you can do this.

So mentoring is very important, and I think it is important to realize also that mentoring works. We have currently a great deal of evidence that indicates that mentoring will reduce drug and alcohol abuse by roughly 50 percent, significantly reduces teenage pregnancy, teenage drop-out rates, teenage violence; and it improves self-esteem, grades, and relationships. And so it is the best thing that we have going, considering what our children are facing today.

The other thing to remember is that mentoring is cost effective. It costs roughly $300 to $500 to provide a good mentoring experience for a child, and it costs $25,000 to $30,000 to lock them up for a year. The average meth addict will commit 64 crimes a year, which is a huge cost to any community. So we feel that mentoring at the front end reduces a great many of the costs at the back end of the social process.

Two years ago, the first Mentoring for Success grants were awarded by the

Department of Education. And to give an idea of how important these grants were, we had roughly 10 times as many applicants as we had grants to award. So that $17.5 million that was awarded went very quickly and was well spent.

This fiscal year with the President's support, funding for mentoring has been increased in the omnibus bill, if we can get that passed, which includes mentoring for children of prisoners as well. It increases from $17.5 million to $100 million. So the President has put a significant emphasis on mentoring, which we think is very important.

The National Mentoring Partnership estimates that 2.5 million children have mentors in our country today, and roughly 17.5 million badly need a mentor. So we are mentoring just about 1 out of 10 that need it. But actually, almost every child could use a mentor. Most every successful person can point to a mentor in their life that has made a huge difference.

Congressional staff members are mentoring. One example is Horton's Kids. I would encourage Members of Congress to encourage their staff members to be active here on the Hill because this provides a great service and a great example. As we celebrate National Mentoring Month through January, I want to commend all who support mentoring by contributing their time and financial resources.

Working together one child at a time, we can make a difference.

Mr. Speaker, I include the following for the Record:

American Osteopathic Association,

Washington, DC, January 20, 2004.

Hon. Tom Osborne,

House of Representatives, Cannon House Office Building,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Osborne: As President of the American

Osteopathic Association (AOA), I am pleased to inform you of

our support for your resolution. The AOA, and the 52,000

osteopathic physicians it represents, extends its sincere

gratitude to you for your support and advocacy of mentoring

programs.

Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., D.O., founder of osteopathic

medicine, dedicated his life to improving the health and

well-being of his fellow citizens. Through a lifetime of

sharing his knowledge and experiences, he shaped the lives of

thousands of physicians and provided direction to an entire

profession. He was a mentor in the truest sense. Recognizing

the significant role of mentors and the contributions they

make to enhance the studies and careers of osteopathic

physicians, I have made my presidency the Year of the Mentor.

Throughout the year, we work to recognize those who have

contributed their time and talents to mentoring. In addition,

we work to enroll new mentors who will shape the minds and

talents of future D.O.s.

Your resolution, celebrating January 2004 as the Month of

the Mentor, supports efforts to honor mentors and increase

the number of individuals involved in mentoring programs. As

evidenced by the lives and careers of those who have been

mentored, mentoring positively impacts individuals and

communities. As a result of mentoring within the osteopathic

profession, beginning with our founder, patients benefit by

receiving quality care from physicians who have enhanced

their knowledge through the years of learning and experience

of their mentors.

On behalf of my fellow osteopathic physicians, I pledge our

support for your effort to promote mentoring programs. Please

do not hesitate to call upon the AOA or our members for

assistance on health care issues. Please contact the AOA's

Department of Government Relations at (202) 414-0140 for

additional information.

Sincerely,

Darryl A. Beechler,

President.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for his kind comments.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, who has been very supportive of mentoring; and we certainly appreciate all he does on the committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank the gentleman for his comments and his commitment to mentoring. Ofttimes we hear the complaint ``too busy,'' and yet I have found the time over the last 4 years, sometimes it is Saturday, sometimes it is a Monday, sometimes it is Friday, to meet regularly with a mentoree. I mentor a young person and also several members from my office have been mentoring here on Capitol Hill.

So, again, I would urge my colleagues to encourage their office staff to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Nebraska for his leadership in bringing this resolution recognizing National Mentoring Month to the floor today. Since he arrived in Congress, the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) has worked to make youth issues a priority, and this resolution is another example of his dedication to this effort.

Without a doubt, Mr. Speaker, mentoring is a proven strategy that can change the lives of children and youth, and, I might add, adds additional value to the lives of those who provide the mentoring service.

When a young person is matched with a caring, responsible individual, this relationship makes a positive difference in the quality of life for that young person. For too long we have focused on providing remedies to problems that only address negative behavior rather than looking at ways that promote the positive and healthy development of our young people. This resolution directs us to focus on what children need to grow into healthy, safe, and well-educated adults, making sure that children have access to a caring and responsible adult relationship.

A recent report from the Greater West Town Community Development Project showed that nearly 18 percent of Chicago public school students drop out. Another report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation showed that more than 200,000 Chicago-area children are living in severely distressed neighborhoods. These are among the tens of thousands of Chicago area youth who could dramatically benefit from having a mentor, since without one, some would never be exposed to healthy, productive lifestyles and the development of real-life skills.

Research shows that young people who are mentored had a stronger attachment to school, have higher graduation rates and decreased involvement with drugs and violence. Mentoring opens young people's eyes to a brighter future, and every young person deserves that opportunity. But right now there are simply not enough mentors to go around.

This resolution brings much needed attention to the value of mentoring and encourages communities to focus their efforts on recruiting more adult mentors so that we can fill the gap that currently exists. I am proud of many of the great mentoring programs that are already in place in Chicago, such as Mercy Home's Friends First program, Sinai Mentoring Program which links Sinai professionals with youth from North and South Lawndale high schools, as well as the involvement of the Chicago Cubs headed by Coach Dusty Baker kicking off the celebration of National Mentoring Month in Chicago last week.

In Chicago and across the country, it is clear that the framework is in place. Now we just need more people to volunteer their time and help change the life of a child. I am very pleased to be associated with many groups and organizations, like the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, which has a great national mentoring program, and especially my local chapter Mu Mu Lambda. I am also pleased to be associated with the 100 Black Men of America who have mentoring programs in chapters throughout the Nation.

So I want to commend also the Chicago public school system, the board of education, for a program called Cradle to the Classroom where they have mentors who work individually with young parents, students who have become pregnant and who have children and yet have been able to finish their high school education and graduate with the help of a mentor.

So once again I would commend the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) for his insight, dedication, and continuous work with the development of young people as expressed in this resolution. I urge strong support for it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume as I prepare to close.

Listening to the discussion reminds me of the fact that I spent some time as a big brother, and I think I may have gotten more out of the relationship than the young fellow who was my little brother. I remember a few years ago I got a call from a fellow who said to me that Vice President Al Gore was coming to town and did I want to meet with him. I said, well, I would not mind. He says, do you know who this is? I said, well, no, I really do not. He said, this is Courtney Miller, your little brother, and of course, Courtney had grown up and at that particular time was working for the Vice President of the United States.

I also served for about 12 years as the commissioner of Boy Scouts in my community, and just day before yesterday I was at a Martin Luther King celebration, and there was a young fellow there who had become a minister, Jonathan Carter. As Jonathan participated in the services, he says, well, you know, I used to be a Boy Scout when you were the scouting commissioner and I have now become what I am. He said, I remember you coming to our Eagle Scout celebration and talking about how great it was.

So my point is that oftentimes those who serve as mentors will get as much from the relationship as the young people that they associate themselves with.

I listened to the chairman talking about the fact that everybody can be a part of this. One does not really need to have a degree. One does not need to have a title. One does not need to be an elected official. One does not have to be anything special other than themselves.

We have just finished celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, and one of the things that Dr. King often would say is that everybody can be great because everybody can serve. When it comes to mentoring young people, no matter who we are and where we are, we can serve. We can be a part of helping to grow and develop the life of someone else.

So, again, I commend the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) for this resolution and urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 491, a bill that promotes mentoring as a very worthwhile and much needed cause.

This measure recognizes that mentors serve as a guiding light, a benchmark, and a valuable asset for the many young people in America who might not otherwise have access to such a role model.

For many young people, mentors set an example of civility and stability. Mentors promote education and community respect. Mentors teach young people that there are many benefits to contributing to selfless efforts such as charity drives, neighborhood cleanups, and serving in soup kitchens.

In my congressional district of northeast Florida, there are a great many volunteers that selflessly give guidance, time, and resources to young people.

This resolution thanks those people who currently serve as mentors, and places a special focus on tapping into the vast pool of potential mentors. My hope is that this resolution will motivate more adults to take action to help America's young people.

This House resolution recognizes numerous studies documenting that mentors help young people to augment social skills, enhance emotional well being, improve cognitive skills, and to plan for the future. It also recognizes that 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.

As a mentor, I personally know the satisfaction it brings to offer advice and guidance to a young person. I have known my mentor, Derek Williams, for many years. Over that period we have become good friends. Today I am proud to say that he is in college, furthering his education, and building a strong foundation for his future.

This measure does more than encourage mentoring; it gives thanks to those who already participate in mentoring programs. We should shower these people with praise because their actions do a lot to benefit society. That is why during the 107th session of Congress, I introduced a bill establishing American Youth Day, a measure encouraging communities all across the Nation to set aside one day each year to honor organizations and individuals that take the time to help young people.

For all its wealth and prosperity, in recent years America has been suffering from what I call problems of the soul, where courts and Congress do not have any jurisdiction. So many of our neighbors have lost their moral compass and need help finding their way again when it comes to moral values. This is most true when it comes to our young people.

There no longer seems to be a period in young people's lives when kids can just be kids. Mr. Speaker, it makes no difference what their race, their gender, their ethnicity. These negative images and influences make no distinction and no prejudices; all young people are fair game.

So it is incumbent on each and every one of us to offer our time and energy and love to children to provide positive role models and influences to young people to give them guidance and hope.

Currently, 17.6 million young people, nearly half the youth population, want or need mentors to help them reach their full potential. Only 2\1/2\ million youth are in formal mentoring relationships, leaving 15 million young people still in need of mentors.

This resolution is a call to action, designating January 2004 as National Mentoring Month. It is my hope that this month-long celebration of mentoring will encourage more adults to volunteer their time as mentors for young people and enlist the involvement of nonprofit organizations, schools, businesses, faith communities, and government agencies in the mentoring movement.

As President Bush noted last night in his state of the Union address, America's young people face dangers. Young people face negative cultural influences that glorify and glamorize those things that can hurt them most. Mentoring is focused on providing young people the best our society can offer--hope, stability, guidance, and understanding.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) and the sponsor of this resolution for the time and congratulate him for his leadership on the very important issue of mentoring.

As he pointed out very rightly, many children in America need the help and support that many times they do not get at home, and the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) has led the efforts over the 3 years that he has been here in Congress to bring our attention to the need for more mentors, and probably no one in the Congress is more qualified to talk about the need for mentors than someone who mentored a young man on the football field for many years.

But beyond his prowess as a coach and mentor of a lot of young men, the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr.

Osborne) spent much time around his State of Nebraska helping to establish mentoring programs there, and during the years he has been in Congress, has continued his efforts, and I want to congratulate him for all of his work.

Mentors do provide affirmation and a guidepost for many children who do not get affirmation and do not get the kind of guidance that they need. I know in my home State of Ohio we have a program called Ohio Reads. Many schools in my district have grants where it is a mentoring- based program to help children who need help in reading, and many people throughout my community and communities throughout my district and the State mentor in many schools to help young people achieve more proficiency in their reading.

Here in Washington and other cities around America, there is a program called Everybody Wins, and here in Washington, that program involves many staffers here on Capitol Hill and Members who read to children in various schools throughout the city. I am proud that many of my staff, both of my committee staff and my personal staff, are mentors to young people, again trying to help them read and to provide guidance for them.

One of those mentors is my assistant in my office, Amy Hobart, who for 5 years, has read to a young girl at Tyler Elementary School here on Capitol Hill, and the child has her share of problems, but every week, Amy goes over there and spends an hour helping that young lady master her reading skills. But those are just several mere examples of the millions of Americans who do, in fact, volunteer.

The last point that I would make is that many of us as Members, as we go around our districts and around the country, people always ask, well, what can I do, what can I do to help, and everybody in America has something to offer to some young person in America. So I would suggest to my fellow Americans that they can volunteer, whether it is reading to someone, whether it is going to a Boys Club or Girls Club, whether it is going to a juvenile detention facility. There are many ways that the people can help, and I would urge them to do that.

I congratulate my colleague for bringing this resolution to the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the 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 Congress, we successfully passed the Mentoring for Success program, which provided money to start up new mentoring programs across the country. We also fought for increased Federal funding for local mentoring programs bringing that total to $100 million this year. 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 1 hour a week to work on homework and projects.

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 No. 1 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.