Remarks By Senator Patrick Leahy
Boys And Girls Clubs Of America Congressional Breakfast
September 17, 2008
All of us here this
morning know that we need safe havens and healthy alternatives for
young people to prevent them from being drawn into gangs, substance
abuse and other crimes. Boys
and Girls Clubs have proven that when we show our young people that
we care about them and their futures, they respond with positive and
constructive actions in their communities, one boy and one girl at a
time.
I know firsthand
how well Boys and Girls Clubs work and what topnotch organizations
they are. Whenever I visit the Boys and Girls Clubs in
Vermont, I am approached by parents,
educators, law enforcement officers and others who tell me, “Keep
doing this! It gives our children a chance to grow up free of
drugs, gangs and crime.” That is my ultimate proof. If
these folks are asking for more Clubs and more support, then we
ought to do it. I want
to thank the Boys and Girls Clubs of America for supporting clubs
throughout Vermont
that improve the lives of young Vermonters each day.
Just this past
spring during a hearing I chaired in Vermont
about solutions to violent crime, Rutland’s
Police Chief testified about the importance of programs for young
people and the success of the Boys and Girls Club in
Rutland. His comments reminded me of the
police chief who approached me shortly after I joined the Senate and
asked me to help fund a Boys and Girls Club in his community rather
than helping him get a couple more police officers.
These law enforcement
officers know that if we had a Boys and Girls Club in every
community, prosecutors would have a lot less work to do because of
the values that are being instilled in children from the Boys and
Girls Clubs. They deliver results and represent the best of
what communities can do to improve the lives of their young people.
For many years now,
I have worked with other members of the Senate – including this
breakfast’s hosts, my friends Orrin Hatch and Steny Hoyer – to make
sure Boys and Girls Clubs nationwide have increased funding to carry
out their mission. This year,
as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I recommended $95 million in
funding to help keep this organization a strong, from coast to
coast. When Senators Kohl and
Specter joined with me in introducing a juvenile justice bill this
year, we made sure to increase funding for programs—like the Boys
and Girls Clubs—that aim to prevent youth from becoming involved in
crime. As the
appropriations process continues, I will work with my colleagues to
see that these funds are provided for this important work.
No one understood
and believed in the value of Boys and Girls Clubs in our communities
quite like Tim Russert.
His family’s support and advocacy on behalf of the Clubs has made an
extraordinary difference in the lives of children around the
country. I am pleased
the Boys and Girls Clubs will present Tim’s wife, Maureen Orth, with
their highest honor this morning.
This is not a
Democratic or Republican idea; it is just an idea that makes sense.
It is also an idea that works. I applaud all the work the Boys
and Girls Clubs of America is doing to help our nation’s children
become productive, law abiding teenagers and contributing adults.
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