DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004CONTINUED
MENTORING
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise to enter into a colloquy with colleagues who share my zeal for quality mentoring programs, Senators ALLEN and BEN NELSON, and the distinguished leaders on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. My concern is with the adequacy of the funding level for mentoring included in this bill today. For the two programs focused exclusively on mentoring, the Department of Education's Mentoring Programs grants and the Department of Health and Human Services' Mentoring for Children of Prisoners, the bill before us commits just $38.6 millionwell short of the President's request of $150 million. I understand that limited resources are constraining the amounts we are able to provide for many programs, and I thank the chairman and ranking member for the increased they included in this bill for Mentoring Programs. But I do hope we can find some funding to further increase the allocation for mentoring.
I'm sure we can all remember an adult who made a difference for each of us growing up by spending time with us, encouraging us, and serving as a positive role model. That is exactly what mentoring is: a sustained relationship between a young person and an adult in which the adult provides support, guidance, and assistance to the young person. The benefits of a mentoring relationship are wide-rangingincluding gains in educational achievement, health and safety, and social and emotional development.
We have some wonderful mentoring programs in Hawai'i, and they have an invaluable impact on young people throughout my State. One of these excellent examples has been the Senior Kupuna in the Preschools Project run by the Hawaii Intergenerational Network that has achieved meaningful results such as positive changes in classroom behavior. But these programs need additional funding to serve more young people.
I would like to work with the distinguished chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee to increase funding for mentoring in Conference to a level at least equal to the House allocation of $75 million. Before I yield the floor to them, I am pleased to yield at this time to another strong advocate of mentoring programs, the former Governor of Virginia, Senator ALLEN.