Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, tomorrow 50 Miami-Dade County ninth grade boys from various chapters of the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project will visit Washington, D.C. They are all college- bound and have earned the promise of a 4-year scholarship from the program. 5000 Role Models is an in-school dropout prevention program that will turn 25 years old in January 2018. There are 6,000 participants in Miami-Dade County, 3,000 in St. Petersburg, and 2,000 in Jacksonville school districts. The program's goal is to mentor minority boys beginning in elementary school, middle school, and high school, all the while guiding them along a carefully charted path to manhood and sending them to college. Madam Speaker, in this season of youth violence, during which boys get entangled in the school-to-prison pipeline, we are proud of the project and the tens of thousands of boys it has helped to become successful, contributing men in society. For example, Barry Jenkins, director of the Oscar-winning film ``Moonlight,'' is a 1998 graduate of the program. I look forward to welcoming these young men here tomorrow and hope you will get a chance to meet them, also. If you do, give them a hug and tell them that you love them. ____________________”