Federal Youth Coordination Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 856) to establish a Federal Youth Development Council to improve the administration and coordination of Federal programs serving youth, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous information on H.R. 856.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 856, the Federal Youth Coordination Act. I am very pleased that the House of Representatives will have the opportunity to consider this important legislation.

I have long advocated for a stronger emphasis at the Federal level on youth development programming because I believe our Nation's future is linked to a healthy, educated, morally sound next generation.

The genesis of this bill is in the report of the White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth. Although the final report was issued several years ago, I believe that the task force report and its thoughtful analysis and recommendations should be implemented. This legislation does that. Although the executive branch is charged with implementing youth programs, Congress creates many of these programs and funds them. We need to know that our efforts are producing the best results for our young people.

The White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth noted a number of facts about America's young people and the programs that serve them:

First, the National Academy of Sciences estimates that one-quarter of adolescents in this country, almost 10 million teens, are at serious risk of not achieving productive adulthood.

Number two, most young people will grow up just fine without government involvement, but the most vulnerable young people may be missed by programs designed to help them. And, worse, the programs we think will help them the most may not at all. There is a serious lack of rigorous evaluation of Federal youth efforts at the present time.

Number three, a large number of youth-serving programs are targeting many youth subgroups. These services and target populations often overlap, creating unnecessary duplication and multiple programs that are ofttimes not necessary.

Number four, the current Federal response to youth failure is convoluted and complex and is a perfect example of what the GAO has called ``mission fragmentation.'' The GAO recommends that programs with similar goals, target populations, and services be coordinated, consolidated, or streamlined to ensure that goals are consistent.

The White House Task Force identified a number of goals and changes that would help to better coordinate the hundreds of programs across 12 Federal departments that serve youth. The three largest youth-serving agencies are the Department of Health and Human Services, Justice, and Education. To support these efforts, in February of this year, I, along with my colleagues, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Ford, and Mr. Payne, introduced H.R. 856, the Federal Youth Coordination Act, which was crafted to help implement many of the recommendations of the White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth.

The Federal Youth Coordination Act creates the Federal Youth Development Council to evaluate, coordinate, and improve Federal youth- serving programs and hold Federal agencies accountable for achieving results. The purpose of this bipartisan legislation is to maximize the return on Federal investment in young people, not to eliminate programs that work.

America's young people deserve high-quality, effective, and meaningful youth development programs. Our Nation's taxpayers deserve their tax dollars to be spent on high-quality, effective, and meaningful youth development programs as well.

Among the Council's duties will be: to ensure communication among agencies administering programs designed to serve youth. Many of these programs are not allowed by statute to even communicate with each other, and this is a mistake.

To recommend objectives and quantifiable 5-year goals for Federal youth programs. Many of these programs do not have any measurable quantifiable goals at all.

To make recommendations as to how to better facilitate coordination and consultation.

To improve efficiency in programs, identify target populations of youth who are disproportionately at risk and assist agencies in focusing additional resources on them.

To assist agencies in coordinating and collaborating on youth programs.

And to conduct research and evaluation programs, solicit input and recommendations from outside groups.

In addition, the Council may provide technical assistance to a State at the request of a State to support State-funded councils for coordinating State youth efforts.

The Council will also be charged with issuing a report to Congress so that Congress and the authorizing and appropriations committees can use the information in future decisions. This additional information will lead to a more cohesive, efficient, and effective Federal youth policy that our young people deserve. Further, while the Council is chaired by the Department of Health and Human Services, its charge is to coordinate across the full range of Federal departments with a focus on the needs of youth, not on the needs of bureaucracy.

This legislation was developed with the assistance of a number of organizations and has been endorsed by over 250 organizations. I want to thank all of these organizations for their grassroots support, which helped propel this legislation. Among these organizations has been the National Collaboration for Youth, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Campfire USA, Volunteers of America,

YMCA of the USA, Forum for Youth Investment, Youth Service America, Volunteers of America, and America's Promise--the Alliance for Youth.

I want to thank all of the cosponsors of the legislation as well as the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, John Boehner, and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Select Education, Pat Tiberi. Their support has been critical.

I would also like to thank the staff who worked on this legislation, particularly Erin Duncan from my staff, Whitney Rhoades of the Education and Workforce Committee, Krisann Pearce and Jo-Marie St. Martin, also of the Education and Workforce Committee, as well as Brady Young of the Legislative Counsel's Office.

I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this important effort toward creating more cohesive and meaningful positive youth development programs by passing H.R. 856.

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

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.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) for his support and comments and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa) for his support, as well, and the support of the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis). I have enjoyed working with these gentlemen on this project and the staff.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 856, entitled Federal Youth Coordination Act. I would like to commend the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) for bringing this bill forward. I would also like to add that I admire the gentleman's exemplary work in support of our youth from mentoring and outreach programs to this type of effort to coordinate Federal youth programs.

His commitment to young people is genuine, and his leadership is greatly appreciated. His Federal Youth Coordination Act would establish a Federal Youth Development Council consisting of all of the Federal agencies that have youth development programs. With input from the community, this council would be tasked with ensuring communication across Federal agencies serving youth and developing a plan and set of recommendations to improve Federal services to youth.

I think that we can all agree that coordination is sorely needed. Today's population of adolescents and young adults is the largest in our Nation's history. High schools and colleges are seeing record enrollments.

Tragically, the White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth reported that one-quarter of our young people are at serious risk of not achieving productive adulthood. We know from numerous reports that nearly one-third of our high school students fail to earn a diploma with their peers. For African American and Hispanic students, the number is even worse with only 50 percent graduating. Furthermore, many of our young people are not leaving high school ready for college or for work.

It is incumbent upon all of us to build communities with the educational opportunities and support system in place to help our youth become successful adults. Our record number of teenagers must become a record number of high school and college graduates, and a record number of teachers, scientists, doctors, lawyers, and unskilled professionals. We must not allow this generation to produce record numbers for the juvenile justice, runaway, and homeless youth or foster care systems.

Clearly, success will require strong coordination, schools, families, community-based organizations, employers, health providers, and social service agencies all working together. The Federal Government should lead by example, coordinating its own efforts to support our youth, and H.R. 856 is a step in the right direction.

I would note one concern with the legislation as drafted, however. The amended version of the bill requires the council to report using the results from the Office of Management and Budget's program assessment rating tool, often referred to by the acronym PART. This tool is the subject of significant controversy. For example, a recent GAO report highlighted the closed nature of the PART process and its emphasis on short-term budget planning over long-term goal setting.

In fact, the administration has used the PART as a means to eliminate programs that are not viewed as priorities. Some of these programs are critical to youth and young families, such as the Even Start Family Literacy program, TRIO program, and the GEAR UP and Dropout Prevention programs. It would be ironic to have the PART tool used to provide a rationalization for eliminating programs to help youth rather than expanding their reach and effectiveness.

It is my hope that our focus on accountability for programs will remain with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, our public law that provides for an open public process for developing objective information on the effectiveness and efficiency of Federal programs and spending.

In closing, I would like to encourage my colleagues to support this legislation, H.R. 856, to coordinate our Federal youth programs. May it spark an even greater sustained investment in our young people.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to work with Congressman Osborne, and I want to say that I think this piece of legislation is one that is going to be very beneficial.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and thank him for his work on bringing this bill to the floor. He and I have talked about the idea that we ought to take all of these programs that the Federal Government has that affect disadvantaged youth and try to bring some coordination to the overall effort.

As many of us know, Congress gets in the business of duplicating programs coming from different committees and different agencies of the Federal Government. Before we know it, we have a proliferation of programs, many of them not connected to each other in any way, shape, or form.

I think the proposal brought to us by the gentleman from Nebraska creating this coordinating council really will, in fact, help us achieve what we are attempting to achieve by closer coordination of these 30 different programs.

I can go through a lot of different areas, but I can talk about the Workforce Investment Act, for example. A little different example, but I looked up, along with the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon) some 10 years ago, and we found 63 Federal job training and retraining programs scattered across the different agencies of the government that we were able to bring together under one roof to serve those who needed training and retraining. We have one-stop-shop centers now all over the country.

This is a little different example of trying to reorganize how we do what we do, well meaning, well intentioned; but when we have all of these different programs working on their own without the kind of coordination that this council would bring, I do not think we bring as much of an impact to these children who need our help as we could.

I think the goal here is pretty clear from Mr. Osborne, myself, and others that this coordinating council would be there to see that these programs are working, that they are working together to help those disadvantaged youth who need help.

I do not think there is any effort here to consolidate programs, but I think the effort here ought to be making sure that they are effective and making sure that they work together for the advantage of these disadvantaged youth who so desperately need our help. I congratulate my colleague from Nebraska for his work and ask my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 856. I commend the gentleman from Nebraska for introducing this legislation, as well as for many of the other creative ideas and thoughts that I have seen and heard him express in the Education Committee.

I also want to commend my colleague from Texas for yielding to me and for the leadership he displays as the ranking member on one of our subcommittees.

I think that coordination, while it does not necessarily appear to be earth-shaking or earth-shattering, is a tremendous concept that is greatly needed. Unfortunately, many of our programs operate in isolation. Unfortunately, there are instances where there is duplication and things oftentimes get missed.

When we can bring together all of these tremendous resources we have at

our disposal so they are coordinated in such a way that the recipients become the beneficiaries of this coordinated approach, then I think it will tremendously aid in the development of our young people. It is a great piece of legislation. It is a great idea. It is a great concept. I simply want to add my voice to those who are in support of it and urge that we support it.

Mr. Speaker, I regret that I missed three votes on November 15th, 2005. Had I been present I would have voted ``yes'' on H.R. 1564 (Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District Conveyance Act); ``yes'' on H.R 323 (to redesignate the Ellis Island Library on the third floor of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, located on Ellis Island in New York Harbor, as the ``Bob Hope Memorial Library''); and ``yes'' on H.R. 856 (Federal Youth Coordination Act).