H. Res. 57 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
September 14, 2009. 
Whereas the success of the United States Olympic swim 
team, including the record-breaking eight gold medals 
won by Michael Phelps, has brought great attention to 
swimming; 
Whereas a New York Times article entitled ‘‘Despite Olympic 
Gold, Swimming Statistics Are Grim’’, highlighted the 
irony of the United States Olympic glory in light of a 
shocking number of drownings in the United States; 
Whereas the New York Times has also highlighted the dis-
crepancies in swimming education between African-Amer-
ican children and White children in the article ‘‘Everyone 
Into the Water’’; 
Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC), there were 3,582 unintentional and 
fatal drownings in the United States in 2005 rep-
resenting an average of 10 drowning deaths each day; 
Whereas for every child who fatally drowns in the United 
States, there are four near-drowning incidents that re-
quire emergency care and can lead to brain damage re-
sulting in permanent disabilities ranging from loss of 
memory to the loss of all basic functions;
•HRES 57 EH 
Whereas children are the most susceptible to fatal drowning 
incidents with one out of four victims being 14 years old 
or younger; 
Whereas drowning is the second most common unintentional 
cause of death among children ages 1 to 14; 
Whereas minority drowning rates greatly exceed the rates of 
White children; 
Whereas according to the CDC, the fatal drowning rate for 
African-American children between the ages of 5 and 14 
is over three times higher than the rate for White chil-
dren, and the rate for American Indian and Alaska Na-
tive children is over two times higher; 
Whereas according to a study by the University of Memphis, 
almost 60 percent of African-American and Latino chil-
dren do not know how to swim as compared to roughly 
30 percent of White children; 
Whereas long-existing stigmas regarding minorities and 
swimming have contributed to the lack of swimming edu-
cation in minority communities, and nonswimming minor-
ity families are far less likely than nonswimming White 
families to enroll in swimming lessons; 
Whereas according to the United States Census Bureau, in 
2007, 33.7 percent of African-Americans, 28.6 percent of 
Latinos, and 12.5 percent of Asian-Americans lived below 
the poverty line as compared to 10.1 percent of Whites, 
and swimming lessons can cost hundreds of dollars per 
course; 
Whereas the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act 
was signed into law in December 2007 addressing the 
pressing need for increased pool and spa safety require-
•HRES 57 EH 
ments and education to prevent accidental deaths by 
drowning; 
Whereas effective drowning prevention strategies require sev-
eral approaches such as supervision, fully gated pools, 
CPR training, and swimming skills; 
Whereas the ability to swim is an important and essential 
skill, and according to Safe Kids USA, in order to help 
prevent drowning, children should be enrolled in swim-
ming lessons as early as age 4 to learn how to float, 
tread water, and enter and exit the pool; and 
Whereas nonprofit initiatives, like the USA Swimming Foun-
dation’s program ‘‘Make A Splash’’, are working hard to 
meet the need for swimming lessons by partnering with 
local communities to offer all children access to swim-
ming education: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses the importance of access to swimming 
lessons for all communities in the United States as an 
integral part of drowning prevention; 
(2) recognizes the danger of fatal unintentional 
drowning in the United States; 
(3) condemns the persistently high rates of fatal 
drowning among all children, and the particularly high 
rates of fatal drowning among minority children; 
(4) celebrates the passage of the Virginia Graeme 
Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act; 
(5) celebrates the work of initiatives like USA 
Swimming Foundation’s ‘‘Make A Splash’’ and Safe
•HRES 57 EH 
Kids USA to educate parents and caregivers on water 
safety and drowning prevention messages; and 
(6) encourages public and private funding to sup-
port current and future initiatives that provide all chil-
dren access to swimming education. 
Attest: 
Clerk.