Thomas Mott Osborne: “Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the National Mentoring Month Resolution honoring those who give their time to mentor…”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the National Mentoring Month Resolution honoring those who give their time to mentor children. Last night in this Chamber the President emphasized the threat of terrorism to our Nation's security, and I think all of us are aware of that threat. I would like to make a point that the major threat to our Nation's survival, as I see it, is not terrorism, as much of a threat as this is; but, rather, it is the trauma and dysfunction that is faced by so many of our children, because they are the future of this country. Currently, roughly 50 percent of our young people are growing up without both biological parents. We have 20 million fatherless children in our Nation. I used to work with some of those young people. And when your father does not care enough about you to stay around to even see what you look like, it leaves a hole in your psyche that you are often times trying to fill for the rest of your life and usually filling it with all of the wrong things. Currently, the United States leads the world in violence for young people: homicide, suicide, so on. We also are certainly very much addicted to drugs, alcohol abuse with teenagers, pornography. These are every day threats that our young people face.”