INTRODUCTION OF THE YOUNGER AMERICANS ACT -- HON. GEORGE MILLER (Extensions of Remarks - January 03, 2001)

From the Congressional Record

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• Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to re-introduce, along with my colleague Mrs. ROUKEMA,the Younger Americans Act. Last September, we introduced this bill with our counterparts in the Senate and a vast national coalition of supporters including former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Colin Powell and America's Promise, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the National Urban League, America's Promise, the Child Welfare League of America, the United Way, the National Mental Health Association, and others.

• We knew then that we would not have enough time in the 106th Congress to pass the legislation. But we did want to signal the strong support of a bipartisan coalition in both the House and Senate and of a broad array of national and grassroots organizations. I look forward now to working with them to pass this legislation in the 107th Congress. This is landmark legislation that will dramatically increase after-school opportunities for youth by providing them with adult mentors, education, sports, and volunteer activities.

• As any parent or teacher knows, the best way to keep kids out of trouble and help them learn and grow is to keep them busy and give them opportunity. Today's bill is an historic opportunity to dramatically expand safe and exciting programs for children and youth after school, a time when too many kids suffer from a lack of activity and adult supervision. A recent Urban Institute study found that one in five young people age 6-12 are left without adult supervision after school and before their parents come home from work, a critical period during the day to keep youth both positively engaged and out of trouble.

• Thirty-five years ago, Congress made a decision to help seniors and passed the Older Americans Act. In doing so, Congress launched a series of highly effective local efforts that have improved and enriched the lives of our nation's elderly. It helped pay for senior centers, Meals on Wheels, and community service programs like Green Thumb. For too long, however, Congress has ignored the needs of our nation's young people. It has failed to make the issues of young people a priority and has failed to make an adequate investment in their development and well-being.

• Our new bill attempts to correct that oversight. Today, we seek to repeat the success of the Older Americans Act by funding a national network of high-quality programs tailored to the particular challenges faced by youth today. Too often, we find that public programs for young people focus on the problems of youth and promote piecemeal policies that seek to redress negative behaviors like juvenile delinquency or teen pregnancy. But the evidence shows that the most promising approaches to helping young people are those that foster positive youth development, build social and emotional competence, and link young people with adult mentors. This is the future of youth social program in the 21st century and it is an approach we seek to advance through this legislation.

• The Younger Americans Act will help coordinate and fund youth-mentoring, community service through volunteerism, structured academic and recreational opportunities, and other activities aimed at fostering the positive educational and social development of teens and pre-teens. Under the bill, the federal government would distribute funds by formula to community boards that would oversee the planning, operation, and evaluation of local programs. Funding for local programs in the initial year would be $500 million, and would rise to $2 billion in 2006, in addition to matching funds provided by local and state governments and the private sector.

• To qualify, each local program would be required to adopt a comprehensive and coordinated system of youth programs with the following five general components: ongoing relationships with caring adults; safe places with structured activities; access to services that promote healthy lifestyles, including those designed to improve physical and mental health; opportunities to acquire marketable skills and competencies; and, opportunities for community service and civic participation. Thirty percent of funds would be targeted to youth programs that address specific, urgent areas of need such as urban and rural communities that currently lack sufficient access to positive and constructive opportunities.

• I want to thank all of the members of the coalition behind this bill for bringing us together. I applaud their work on this legislation and the work that they do every day in each of our local communities. I want to express special appreciation to all of the young people from these associations, who have rightly played such a key role in drafting and advocating for this legislation.

• Congress has enacted many worthwhile programs to help young people. But the bill we are introducing today has a different message. Our bill responds to the tremendous desire of young people to have the greatest opportunity possible to be active, creative, and productive citizens in our society, rather than receiving society's help only after they are in trouble. Kids are asking to be given a chance to make a difference in their own lives. We are saying that that is exactly what Congress can and should do. I am confident we can make that happen. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this legislation.

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