Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a National Youth Sports Week should be established.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 826, legislation to designate the second week of July as ``National Youth Sports Week.''

Many thanks to the cochair of the Youth Sports Caucus, Congressman Kenny Hulshof, and all of the Members of the Youth Sports Caucus for their work on this bill.

Additionally, I would also like to thank the Government Reform Committee, particularly Chairman Davis and Ranking Member Waxman for their swift support in bringing this bill to the House floor.

Having coached youth sports for 7 years as a volunteer coach in my hometown of Lumberton, NC, I recently created the Congressional Caucus on Youth Sports in response to the release of the first-ever Report Card on Youth Sports in America.

The report card, compiled by the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance, revealed alarming deficiencies in child-centered philosophy, coaching, health and safety, officiating and parental behavior and involvement in youth sports in America.

Youth sports are the largest youth organization in the United States. In fact, more than 42 million children play sports each year with tens of thousands of volunteers, parents, coaches, and officials joining in to help.

Therefore, we must ensure that our Nation's children have a positive experience playing youth sports, and we must restore the focus of youth sports on character development.

The benefits of children's involvement in youth sports go far beyond the playing field. Children who participate in organized sports tend to achieve better results in school, develop excellent interpersonal skills and increased self-esteem.

During my years as a youth sports coach with my sons, Joshua and Stephen, I saw the positive impact of sports on our youth and in our community, as well as in other communities. I know first-head the positive impact youth sports have had on my life growing up and not only on my sons' lives but also on the lives of countless other young people--both boys and girls--across America.

H. Res. 826 raises awareness about the important and long-term physical and emotion benefits of participating in youth sports and the need to promote sportsmanship among players, parents, coaches and officials.

This bill is supported by the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance, Positive Coaching Alliance, and the National Recreation and Park Association. The month of July has been designated by the National Recreation and Park Association as Parks and Recreation month, and the second week of July to celebrate youth sports would complement this celebration.

Please join me in passing this legislation and helping to ensure that our Nation's children reap the positive affects of involvement in youth sports, and that this crucial part of children's lives remains a source of enjoyment and character-building.

June 19, 2006.

Re National Youth Sports Week Resolution (H. Res. 826)

Hon. Mike McIntyre,

Rayburn House Office Building, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

I am writing this letter to offer you the full support and

endorsement of the National Recreation and Park Association

(NRPA) as you seek passage of the National Youth Sports Week

Resolution.

Public park and recreation agencies are the largest

provider and facilitator of community based youth sport

opportunities in America. Not only do park and recreation

agencies provide instructional programs and coordinate youth

sport leagues, they manage an estimated 500,000 facilities

that are permitted to independent youth sport organizations

to conduct their own programs and leagues. Public park and

recreation agencies lead the way in identifying needs and

offering solutions to improve youth sports. Our collective

influence regarding public policy associated with quality

sports, development of practice standards and leadership

around improving the quality of youth sports reflect our

commitment to the work of the Congressional Youth Sports

Caucus.

Since 1998, the National Recreation and Park Association

(NRPA) has engaged national partners and local park and

recreation agencies to improve the quality of youth sports

nationwide. NRPA partnerships have focused on expanding and

improving programming in tennis, basketball, baseball,

football as well as many other sports to increase

participation among youth and adults.

NRPA was selected by Sports Illustrated in 2002 to

celebrate its 50th Anniversary by designating one community

in each state as the Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary

Sportstown. This nationwide competition attracted

applications from 250 communities in all 50 states. The

National Football League Youth Football Fund allowed us to

take this project to the next level by engaging thirty-eight

communities to demonstrate a new leadership model for

improving the quality of youth sports.

At the conclusion of the demonstration project, NRPA

launched the Sports Illustrated GOOD SPORTS TM

initiative in 2005. Over 1,400 communities joined the

initiative to improve youth sports through the following

elements:

Teach life skills through sports;

Empower success among youth through sports;

Promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles through

sports; and

Strengthen communities through youth sports.

NRPA brought our expertise in the field and our community

perspective to assist in the development of the Citizenship

through Sports Alliance's (CTSA) National Youth Sports Report

Card. We recently moved this partnership forward by working

with CTSA to conduct a Grassroots Report Card of Youth Sports

in America in coordination with the Congressional Caucus on

Youth Sports. We are currently assisting local community

efforts to benchmark their grassroots report card against the

national findings.

NRPA looks forward to collaborating with the Congressional

Youth Sports Caucus to work in a bi-partisan fashion to

promote the values of sportsmanship, civility, respect,

health, safety, fun and physical activity among players and

leaders, including coaches, parents and officials. We are

pleased that the National Youth Sports Week will take place

during the second week of July to coincide and compliment

National Recreation and Parks month.

The leadership role of parks and recreation in advancing

child-centered youth sports is increasingly evident.

Convening community stakeholders and engaging partners to

improve programs, policies and practices around all of youth

sports is imperative. Park and recreation agencies sit at the

crossroads of responsibility and opportunity to elevate the

practice and to develop new standards for the benefit of all

children. NRPA will continue to develop public policy

recommendations to support the leadership role of parks and

recreation to improve the quality of youth sports nationwide.

We applaud your leadership and dedication and that of the

co-sponsors to the improvement of youth sports in America by

designating a National Youth Sports Week.

Sincerely,

John Thorner,

Executive Director,

National Recreation and Park Assoc., Ashburn, VA.

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H. Res. 826. Youth sports are much more than just an afterschool activity or a great way for young people to spend their energy and free time. Youth sports can help enrich a child's life; and, Mr. Speaker, they serve a much more important role today when so many youth have become voyeurs of sports and not participants in sports. H. Res. 826 is sponsored by Representative Mike McIntyre.

Youth sporting leagues and activities, when combined with healthy parenting and responsible coaching, help children to grow emotionally, socially, and physically. Teamwork, discipline, and the value of hard work that goes with them are important lessons for children to learn. In addition, there are clear physical and health benefits for children who participate in youth sports.

Mr. Speaker, obesity has become a major problem of young people in the United States. This week I am introducing a bill that would allow the FCC to regulate junk food advertising on TV which is so out of hand that physicians and other health care providers have focused in on this advertising in particular.

I am pleased that before Representative Jon Porter, former chair of the HHS subcommittee, left, I was a cosponsor of a bill that has been funded now for the last 5 years with him to establish a program that was extraordinarily successful, as it turns out and according to studies, in getting young people out and active. It was the VERB program. I regret very much that thus far this program has not been funded this year by the committee. I am hoping that it will be funded by Congress before we go home.

No health issue is more pervasive among young people than obesity and being overweight. We appear to be raising a generation that is losing interest in physical activity and, in addition, is consuming nutritionally deficient foods that will guarantee that they have health problems for the rest of their lives.

We have an epidemic of the type II diabetes for the first time in the history of this country. This is not the kind of diabetes people are born with. This is the kind of diabetes people get as a result of lifestyle, and the notion that youngsters now are the fastest growing group of those with type II diabetes should concern all of us and should get us to doing whatever we can to bring this matter to the attention of their parents and their communities. What Representative Mike McIntyre's resolution does in this regard may seem small, but everything we can do we should now be doing.

Children who are not active and maintain poor diets develop health problems that we now know will be with them for their entire lives. The notion that high blood pressure, pediatricians tell us, now starts for many children when they are in elementary school, for example.

Youth sports helps counteract this behavior by encouraging physical activity and healthier diets.

Internationally, many organizations use youth sports to help remove barriers between culturally diverse communities. Basketball and soccer leagues have been successfully used in South America and Northern Ireland to foster reconciliation among troubled youth. Youth sports help train children to become productive citizens and future leaders.

Youth Sports Week, which will be celebrated during the second week of July, will raise awareness of the existence of sports leagues around the country and promote sportsmanship among players, parents, coaches, and officials. I very much urge Members to support this resolution.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 826) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a National Youth Sports Week should be established.

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 material on the resolution under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 826, offered by the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre), would express the sense of the House that a National Youth Sports Week should be established.

Because children are our country's most valuable resource, it is important that we do all we can to provide them with positive learning experiences, quality role models, and all the enjoyment that comes with participating in organized sports.

Statistics show that approximately 42 million kids play youth sports each year. Children that partake in these activities tend to have better personal skills, lead healthier lives, and are more successful in school. The competitive spirit and character-building camaraderie that sports provide are essential for teaching our children to follow their dreams while working with others to build lasting relationships.

It is important that we all do our part to encourage our children to embrace the experience of teamwork; and for that reason, I urge all Members to come together to support H. Res. 826.

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

Mr. Speaker, I can share many of the concerns and feelings that my colleague from across the aisle has expressed. When we were growing up, we didn't need a lot of organized sports

to keep us busy, it did not seem. There were plenty of activities in the summer to keep us active; and when we were in school during the year, there were activities to keep us active.

But nowadays it seems it is very difficult to keep children active in sports-related activities unless those are around organized activities. As the grandparent of two who are involved in lots of activities themselves, I see very much the benefits to them from being involved in baseball and in basketball and in Kung Fu and other things that teach them skills that will be useful to them all their lives, including team-building skills.

It is very important, I think, that we keep our young people active and that we do all that we can to help them fight against the trends toward obesity that we are seeing in our culture and the trends toward inactivity, with children being drawn to watching television and playing on computers instead of getting outside and being involved in great activities that could help them in all manners of their lives.

So I very much support this resolution, and I urge all Members to support the adoption of H. Res. 826.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was unable to participate in votes on the floor of the House of Representatives on June 19, 2006. I was absent to attend a Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing in South Dakota. I submit this statement today to establish for the record how I would have voted had I been present for these votes.

On June 19, 2006, the House of Representatives held three votes.

The first vote was on a motion to suspend the rules and agree to the H.R. 5540, to designate the Sergeant Jacob Dan Dones Post Office. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on that question.

The second vote was on motion to suspend the rules and agree to the H.R. 5504, to designate the Larry Winn, Jr. Post Office Building. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on that question.

The third vote was on a motion to suspend the rules and agree to the H. Res. 826, a resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a National Youth Sports Week should be established. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on that question.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to participate in the following votes due to a delayed flight. If I had been present, I would have voted as follows on June 19, 2006:

Rollcall vote 289, on motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 5540--to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 217 Southeast 2nd Street in Dimmitt, Texas, as the ``Sergeant Jacob Dan Dones Post Office'', I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 290, on motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 5504--to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 6029 Broadmoor Street in Mission, Kansas, as the ``Larry Winn, Jr. Post Office Building'', I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall vote 291, on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 826--Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a National Youth Sports Week should be established, I would have voted ``aye.''