IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1446 
Expressing the importance of swimming lessons and recognizing the danger 
of drowning in the United States, especially among minority children. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 
Mr. SIRES (for himself, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. PAS-
TOR) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the importance of swimming lessons and recog-
nizing the danger of drowning in the United States, 
especially among minority children. 
Whereas the recent success of the United States Olympic 
swim team, including the record-breaking eight gold med-
als won by Michael Phelps, has brought great attention 
to swimming; 
Whereas a recent New York Times article entitled ‘‘Despite 
Olympic Gold, Swimming Statistics Are Grim’’, high-
lighted 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-
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•HRES 1446 IH 
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; 
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 recent study by the University of 
Memphis, almost 60 percent of African-American and 
Latino children 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-
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•HRES 1446 IH 
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-
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 Worldwide, in order to 
help prevent drowning, children should be enrolled in 
swimming lessons as early as age 4 to learn how to float, 
tread water, and enter and exit the pool; and 
Whereas nonprofit initiatives like Asphalt’s Green Water-
proofing program and USA Swimming’s ‘‘Make A 
Splash’’ program, as featured by the New York Times, 
are working hard to meet the need for swimming lessons 
by partnering with local communities to offer all children 
access to swimming education: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
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•HRES 1446 IH 
(1) expresses the importance of access to swim-
ming lessons for all communities in the United 
States; 
(2) recognizes the danger of fatal unintentional 
drowning in the United States; 
(3) condemns the persistent high rates of fatal 
drowning among all children, especially minority 
children; 
(4) celebrates the passage of the Virginia 
Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, and recog-
nizes that swimming lessons represent only one part 
of drowning prevention programs; 
(5) celebrates the work of initiatives like As-
phalt’s 
Green 
Waterproofing 
program, 
USA 
Swimming’s ‘‘Make A Splash’’, and Safe Kids USA 
to educate parents and caregivers on water safety 
and drowning prevention messages; and 
(6) encourages public and private funding to 
support current and future initiatives that provide 
all children access to swimming education. 
Æ 
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