IV

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 357

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to youth

violence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 3, 1999

Mr. GEPHARDT (for himself, Mr. FROST, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. BONIOR, Mr.

MENENDEZ, Mr. HOYER, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. CONYERS,

Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. BALDACCI,

Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BISHOP,

Mr. BOSWELL, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mrs. CAPPS,

Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. CARSON, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr.

CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DOYLE,

Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FORBES, Mr.

GONZALEZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HILL of Indiana, Mr.

HINOJOSA, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. HOLT, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas,

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. KIND,

Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. LARSON, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LUTHER, Mrs. MALONEY

of New York, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms.

MCKINNEY, Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. MEEHAN,

Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms.

MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. MOORE, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs.

NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR,

Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.

PHELPS, Mr. REYES, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms.

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. SAWYER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr.

SCOTT, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. STARK, Mr. STUPAK, Mrs.

TAUSCHER, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr.

TRAFICANT, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr.

UNDERWOOD, Ms. VELA ́

ZQUEZ, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr.

WEYGAND, Mr. WYNN, and Ms. LEE) submitted the following resolution;

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
2

•HRES 357 IH

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with

respect to youth violence.

Whereas teenagers from throughout the United States gathered in Washington, D.C., on October 19 and 20, 1999,

to participate in the Voices Against Violence teen conference;

Whereas the participation of youth in the conference indicates that youth violence is of great concern to the Nation’s youth;

Whereas youth today are growing up in a more violent society

and need positive role models and strong community and

political leaders who will denounce violence and promote

policies that seek to reduce youth exposure to violence;

Whereas young people possess the knowledge and resources

necessary to help identify and reduce juvenile violence;

Whereas youth violence is not isolated to a single community,

but impacts every segment of the Nation’s population;

Whereas listening to the voices of the Nation’s youth is critical to our national effort to identify the causes of and

reduce the instances of youth violence;

Whereas the youth who participated in the conference believe

that the primary causes of youth violence are—

(1) parents’ lack of positive parenting skills;

(2) discrimination and intolerance towards others;

and

(3) lack of social and emotional skills, community

morals, and self-esteem;
3

•HRES 357 IH

Whereas the youth who participated in the conference believe

that the greatest needs in America for reducing youth violence are—

(1) positive after-school programming, including the

arts;

(2) more mentoring and open communication; and

(3) character education; and

Whereas the youth who participated in the conference believe

that some of the most effective ways to decrease the level

of youth violence in our schools and communities

include—

(1) increasing the number of youth programs (teen

centers, job training, and conflict resolution);

(2) increasing the support for peer mentoring and

youth-adult mentoring; and

(3) restricting access to weapons: Now, therefore, be

it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) applauds and supports the work of the

3 young people from across the United States who

4 participated in the recent Voices Against Violence

5 teen conference held in Washington, D.C.;

6 (2) recognizes the importance of youth involve7 ment in the development of national policy solutions

8 to youth violence; and

9 (3) encourages—

10 (A) the continued involvement of youth in

11 their schools and their communities to address

12 youth violence;
4

•HRES 357 IH

1 (B) its members to promote efforts in their

2 districts to end youth violence; and

3 (C) its members to take immediate action

4 to comprehensively address youth violence and

5 actively involve young people in the decision6 making process.

Æ