Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy

Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,

On The Introduction Of S. Res. 728, “National Mentoring Month”

December 10, 2008

 

I am honored to join Senator Kennedy and others to introduce S.Res. 728, which designates January 2009 as National Mentoring Month.  Mentoring a child is a uniquely rewarding experience for both the mentor and the child. Research continues to support that building these positive relationships helps keep children off of drugs, in school and off the streets, and out of trouble.

 

This month, I brought the Senate Judiciary Committee to St. Albans, Vermont, for a field hearing about “Community-Based Solutions to Drug-Related Crime in Rural America.”  Community leaders and law enforcement officials testified about their efforts to address crime.  They are on the front lines fighting crime each and every day.  I have always said that solving these problems as they arise is essential, but preventing them is even better. One solution that Vermont’s businesses, schools, college students, and retired people have continued to recognize is that mentoring connects our community to our children.

 

Vermont’s mentoring programs stretch the length of our great state, from the Northeast Kingdom to Bennington.  Whether it is the Boys and Girls Clubs offering healthy alternatives for young people, or organizations like DREAM, which connects college students and children living in subsidized housing developments, or any of the several mentoring programs in the state, these organizations and the dedicated people who operate and participate in them deserve our special thinks.  I applaud all the work mentoring programs are doing to help our nation’s children become productive, law abiding teenagers and contributing adults.  Recognizing those efforts during National Mentoring Month is just one way we give our thanks. 

# # # # #