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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 114 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 114

  Expressing support for designation of April 27, 2009, as ``National 
                         Healthy Schools Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 27, 2009

Mrs. Gillibrand submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
       to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
  Expressing support for designation of April 27, 2009, as ``National 
                         Healthy Schools Day''.

Whereas there are approximately 54,000,000 children and 7,000,000 adults who 
        spend their days in the Nation's 120,000 public and private schools;
Whereas over half of all schools in the United States have problems linked to 
        indoor air quality;
Whereas children are more vulnerable to environmental hazards, as they breathe 
        in more air per pound of body weight due to their developing systems;
Whereas children spend an average of 30 to 50 hours per week in school;
Whereas poor indoor environmental quality is associated with a wide range of 
        problems that include poor concentration, respiratory illnesses, 
        learning difficulties, and cancer;
Whereas an average of 1 in every 13 school-age children has asthma, the leading 
        cause of school absenteeism, accounting for approximately 14,700,000 
        missed school days each year;
Whereas the Nation's schools spend approximately $8,000,000,000 a year on energy 
        costs, causing officials to make very difficult decisions on cutting 
        back on much needed academic programs in their efforts to maintain heat 
        and electricity;
Whereas healthy and high-performance schools that are designed to reduce energy 
        and maintenance costs, provide cleaner air, improve lighting, and reduce 
        exposure to toxic substances provide a healthier and safer learning 
        environment for children and improve academic achievement and well-
        being;
Whereas new building construction, especially for new school buildings, should 
        be designed to meet energy efficiency standards, including Leadership in 
        Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards;
Whereas green and healthy schools save an average of $100,000 per year on energy 
        costs, enough to hire 2 teachers, buy 200 new computers, or purchase 
        5,000 new textbooks;
Whereas converting all of the Nation's schools to green schools would reduce 
        carbon dioxide emissions by 33,200,000 metric tons;
Whereas Congress has demonstrated its interest in this compelling issue by 
        including the Health High-Performance Schools program in the No Child 
        Left Behind Act and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007;
Whereas our schools have the great responsibility of guiding the future of our 
        children and our Nation; and
Whereas April 27, 2009, would be an appropriate date to designate as ``National 
        Healthy Schools Day'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate supports the designation of April 27, 
2009, as ``National Healthy Schools Day''.
                                 <all>
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