U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

Leahy Bill Boosting Funds
For Boys & Girls Clubs Clears Congress

…Measure To Add Clubs In Vt. And Nationwide Goes To President’s Desk 

(WEDNESDAY, September 29) – A bipartisan bill advanced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that would charter new Boys & Girls Clubs in Vermont and across the nation to help communities fight the influence of drugs and gangs over their youth overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives Tuesday night, 374-19, and now goes to the President Bush’s desk for signing.    

Leahy is the leading Senate cosponsor of the bill, jointly introduced in the Senate by Leahy and Senate sponsor Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which extends and expands annual grants from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to the Boys & Girls Club of America through 2010.  As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and the ranking Democratic member on the Judiciary Committee, Leahy has been a longtime supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America successfully convincing Congress to increase federal support for the nonprofit youth service organization from $20 million in 1998 to $80 million this year.

“Every community needs a place that kids can call their own, free from the influence drugs, gangs and crime,” said Leahy.  “In Vermont, our communities large and small have experienced a frightening rise in heroin use in recent years, and the Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the state have offered our youth a safe haven from that threat.”     

Under the bill (S. 2363), the annual DOJ grants would increase each year.  The bill authorizes $80 million for FY 2006, $85 million for FY 2007, $90 million for FY 2008, $95 million for FY 2009 and $100 million for FY 2010.  The funds would be used to help establish 1,500 additional Boys & Girls Clubs across the nation with the goal of having 5,000 Boys & Girls Clubs in operation by Dec. 31, 2010.  

Leahy successfully fought back a proposal by President Bush to reduce funding for Boys & Girls Clubs next year by $20 million.   

“I know from my days as a prosecutor that if we had these clubs in every community, our police officers would have a lot less work to do because of the values that are being instilled in children through their involvement with Boys & Girls Clubs,” Leahy said.  

In Vermont, Boys & Girls Clubs have been a successful partner with local law enforcement agencies and youth advocacy groups in preventing crime and supporting children, Leahy said.  The first Club was established in Burlington 62 years ago.  Now there are 20 club sites operating throughout the State in Addison, Chittenden, Orange, Rutland, Washington, Windham and Windsor counties.  Through the more than $1 million in funds that Leahy has already secured this year alone for Vermont’s Boys & Girls Clubs, there are also four new Boys & Girls Clubs in the works in Winooski, Brattleboro, Barre and Vergennes.  With these additions, the clubs will serve well over 10,000 Vermont youths statewide.  

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