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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 370 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 370

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2009

    Mr. Tonko (for himself, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. 
   Kennedy, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Braley of Iowa, Mr. 
 Chandler, Mr. Sestak, Mr. Kirk, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Lujan, 
 Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Bordallo, Ms. 
 Lee of California, Mr. Hare, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Berkley, Mr. 
 McMahon, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Welch, Mr. Courtney, 
 Mr. Olver, Mr. Perriello, Mr. Maffei, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, 
   Ms. Schwartz, Mr. Hinchey, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Israel, Mr. Murphy of 
Connecticut, Ms. Kosmas, Mrs. Dahlkemper, and Mr. Connolly of Virginia) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                   on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               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 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 out of 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 much needed academic programs in efforts to maintain heat and 
        electricity;
Whereas healthy and high performance schools designed to reduce energy and 
        maintenance costs, provide cleaner air, improve lighting, and reduce 
        exposures to toxic substances provide a healthier and safer learning 
        environment for children and improved academic achievement and well-
        being;
Whereas new building construction, especially 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 on average $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 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 Healthy 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 House of Representatives supports the 
designation of ``National Healthy Schools Day''.
                                 <all>
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