IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 57 
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 
JANUARY 13, 2009 
Mr. SIRES (for himself, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mr. REYES, Mr. PALLONE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Ms. BORDALLO) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
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 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-
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•HRES 57 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 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-
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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 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 swim-
ming lessons for all communities in the United 
States as an integral part of drowning prevention; 
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(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; 
(5) celebrates the work of initiatives like USA 
Swimming Foundation’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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