IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 357
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to youth
violence.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 3, 1999
Mr. GEPHARDT (for himself, Mr. FROST, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. BONIOR, Mr.
MENENDEZ, Mr. HOYER, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. CONYERS,
Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. BALDACCI,
Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BISHOP,
Mr. BOSWELL, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mrs. CAPPS,
Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. CARSON, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr.
CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DOYLE,
Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FORBES, Mr.
GONZALEZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HILL of Indiana, Mr.
HINOJOSA, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. HOLT, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. INS-
LEE, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas,
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. KIND,
Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. LARSON, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LUTHER, Mrs. MALONEY
of New York, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms.
MCKINNEY, Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. MEEHAN,
Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms.
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. MOORE, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs.
NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR,
Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.
PHELPS, Mr. REYES, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms.
ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. SAWYER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr.
SCOTT, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. STARK, Mr. STUPAK, Mrs.
TAUSCHER, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr.
TRAFICANT, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr.
UNDERWOOD, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr.
WEYGAND, Mr. WYNN, and Ms. LEE) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
•HRES 357 IH
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with
respect to youth violence.
Whereas teenagers from throughout the United States gath-
ered in Washington, D.C., on October 19 and 20, 1999,
to participate in the Voices Against Violence teen con-
ference;
Whereas the participation of youth in the conference indi-
cates that youth violence is of great concern to the Na-
tion’s youth;
Whereas youth today are growing up in a more violent society
and need positive role models and strong community and
political leaders who will denounce violence and promote
policies that seek to reduce youth exposure to violence;
Whereas young people possess the knowledge and resources
necessary to help identify and reduce juvenile violence;
Whereas youth violence is not isolated to a single community,
but impacts every segment of the Nation’s population;
Whereas listening to the voices of the Nation’s youth is crit-
ical to our national effort to identify the causes of and
reduce the instances of youth violence;
Whereas the youth who participated in the conference believe
that the primary causes of youth violence are—
(1) parents’ lack of positive parenting skills;
(2) discrimination and intolerance towards others;
and
(3) lack of social and emotional skills, community
morals, and self-esteem;
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Whereas the youth who participated in the conference believe
that the greatest needs in America for reducing youth vi-
olence are—
(1) positive after-school programming, including the
arts;
(2) more mentoring and open communication; and
(3) character education; and
Whereas the youth who participated in the conference believe
that some of the most effective ways to decrease the level
of youth violence in our schools and communities
include—
(1) increasing the number of youth programs (teen
centers, job training, and conflict resolution);
(2) increasing the support for peer mentoring and
youth-adult mentoring; and
(3) restricting access to weapons: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) applauds and supports the work of the
young people from across the United States who
participated in the recent Voices Against Violence
teen conference held in Washington, D.C.;
(2) recognizes the importance of youth involve-
ment in the development of national policy solutions
to youth violence; and
(3) encourages—
(A) the continued involvement of youth in
their schools and their communities to address
youth violence;
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(B) its members to promote efforts in their
districts to end youth violence; and
(C) its members to take immediate action
to comprehensively address youth violence and
actively involve young people in the decision-
making process.
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