(1) the future of our Nation and world will be determined by the young people of today;

(2) record levels of youth crime, violence, teenage pregnancy, and substance abuse indicate a growing moral crisis in our society;

(3) character development is the long-term process of helping young people to know, care about, and act upon such basic values as trustworthiness, respect for self and others, responsibility, fairness, compassion, and citizenship;

(4) these values are universal, reaching across cultural and religious differences;

(5) a recent poll found that 90 percent of Americans support the teaching of core moral and civic values;

(6) parents will always be children's primary character educators;

(7) good moral character is developed best in the context of the family;

(8) parents, community leaders, and school officials are establishing successful partnerships across the Nation to implement character education programs;

(9) character education programs also ask parents, faculty, and staff to serve as role models of core values, to provide opportunities for young people to apply these values, and to establish high academic standards that challenge students to set high goals, work to achieve the goals, and persevere in spite of difficulty;

(10) the development of virtue and moral character, those habits of mind, heart, and spirit that help young people to know, desire, and do what is right, has historically been a primary mission of colleges and universities; and

(11) the Congress encourages parents, faculty, and staff across the Nation to emphasize character development in the home, in the community, in our schools, and in our colleges and universities.