Revising and Extending Boys and Girls Clubs of America
REVISING AND EXTENDING BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA -- (House of Representatives - September 28, 2004)
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of S. 2363, legislation extending the authorization for annual grants from the Department of Justice to the Boys and Girls Club of America. This legislation authorizes the Boys and Girls Club of America to receive funds through 2010 at $80 million for fiscal year 2006, $85 million for 2007, $90 million for 2008, $95 million for 2009, culminating in $100 million for fiscal year 2010. It also authorizes an increase in the number of clubs in existence to 5,000 by 2010 which will increase the number of children served to over 5 million.
Founded in 1860, the Boys and Girls Club of America has been in existence for over 100 years and provides young people with a positive alternative to drugs, gangs and crime. At clubs across America and throughout the world at our military bases, youth ages 6 to 18 find a positive adult influence and a safe environment in which to learn and grow. There are currently 3,500 clubs that serve 3.6 million children.
It is with firsthand knowledge that many of us can attest to the success and opportunity provided to the youth that participate in the Boys and Girls Club programs. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Burbank, Pasadena and West San Gabriel Valley serve children in my district, and I have had the opportunity to visit and see firsthand the great work of this organization. In fact, many of the young people at this fine Boys and Girls Club organization in my district provided cards and letters and posters which I recently had the chance to deliver, along with my colleague from Guam (Ms. Bordallo), to our troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
I have seen in the computer training in the Burbank facility, the recreational activities, the arts and crafts, what a tremendous environment the Boys and Girls Club can provide for young people. The Boys and Girls Club dinner in Burbank every year is one of the best attended in the city. The last time I visited the Boys and Girls Club in Burbank, I got a very superb lesson in foosball from some very talented Ð6-, 7- and 8-year-olds.
S. 2363 is necessary to continue the much-needed mission of the Club, and we know all too well the consequences of not providing such preparation. While it costs taxpayers $25,000 to $75,000 per year to keep one young person in jail, it costs just $200 per year to provide Boys and Girls Club programming for one youth.
I want to compliment my chairman and my colleagues for their sponsorship of this legislation and urge my colleagues to support this worthwhile endeavor.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I appreciate the comments from the gentleman from Arizona. But, of course, there is an opportunity cost for not investing in our youth as well. If it costs $200 to keep a youth productively engaged in a Boys and Girls Club, but it costs 100 times that to incarcerate a youth, I think the decision becomes very simple: $100 million invested in the Boys and Girls Club to keep countless tens of thousands of children gainfully occupied after school, on weekends, versus potentially billions of dollars in corrections costs.
I have seen in my own State of California the benefit that we have derived from a proactive juvenile justice policy. Working with one of my colleagues in the State legislature, Tony Cardenas, I introduced legislation some years ago to invest as much in preventive programs as in suppression of crime, and we have found that proactive preventive work has paid enormous dividends, has saved us on the back end countless costs of incarceration and countless victims of crime.
This is an incredibly worthwhile investment. It is an investment in our most cherished resource, that of our young people.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.