Legislative Update - September 2009

Youth Leadership Conference

 
The day after Labor Day, traditionally the day when American children head back to school, President Obama took a moment to speak to our nation's young people about the importance of education.  And despite the complaints of some on the right leading up to the speech, I thought the president's message was important, because it reminded children that someday this country will be theirs to run.
 
The president said in his speech, "The future of America depends on you. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future."  He went on to say, "if you quit on school -- you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country."
 
Those words had special resonance with me, because just last month, I had a tremendous opportunity to spend the day with about 300 civic-minded high school and college students - including my grandsons Daniel and Robert - at the Lawton Chiles Leadership Corps conference at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.  I am happy to report that the group of young student-leaders I met had both a remarkable awareness of the issues facing our state and an inspiring motivation to take on those issues.
 
The Corps is modeled after the tremendously effective "TRUTH Campaign," which mobilized young people to educate their peers about the dangers of smoking - and actually dramatically lowered teen smoking rates.  The Leadership Corps is using the same approach to bring together Florida's young people to tackle some of the problems that affect them.  Named for former Governor Lawton Chiles, the Corps seeks to use his strong commitment to children's issues to train the next generation of Florida's leaders.
 
At the conference, a statewide advocacy campaign called, "Worst to First" was initiated to make education and child welfare the top priorities for Florida's leaders.  The goal is to take Florida from "Worst to First," in a number of categories that are crucial in determining children's success in the future.  For example, while Florida ranks 50th in per capita spending on education, it ranks 16th in per capita spending on prisons.  In addition, Florida ranks 49th in the nation in the percentage of children without health insurance, and 47th in the percentage of pregnant women receiving pre-natal care in the first trimester.  Like the TRUTH Campaign, the Leadership Corps provides organization to help young people educate their peers and the public, to find ways to improve public policy on issues important to children, and to persuade policy makers to take action on these issues.
 
The most inspiring part of the conference was a 30-minute address delivered to the participants by former President Bill Clinton, who had just returned from North Korea, where he successfully negotiated the release of two journalists.  I had the good fortune to meet the Clintons for the first time in the 1980s, when they were still in Arkansas, and Mrs. Clinton was working to bring the HIPPY Program (Home Instruction for Parents of Pre-School Youngsters) to their state.  Knowing both President and Secretary Clinton's dedication to both public service and to children's issues, it was especially gratifying for me that my grandsons and so many of their peers had an opportunity to hear the president for themselves.
 
President Clinton told the group, "You can change the future, but you can't do it just by talking about it. Leadership today is deciding how to solve these problems and then going out and doing what you can to do it."
 
And of course, he's right.  So much of what happens in government - both in Tallahassee and in Washington - becomes so bogged down in increasingly angry rhetoric that nothing seems to get done.  But hopefully, the words of former President Clinton to the Leadership Corps and those of President Obama will inspire our young people not to settle for just talk - but to realize the ability they have to actually make things better for their generation and those that follow.
 
If you'd like to learn more about the Lawton Chiles Leadership Corps or the HIPPY Program, please visit the organizations' websites at www.lawtonchiles.org or www.hippyusa.org.  And as always, if you have any questions on this, or any other topic relating to state government, please feel free to contact my office at (954) 747-7933, or Rich.Nan.web@flsenate.gov.
 

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	Senator Rich Addressing Seniors at the Daniel Canter Senior Center
	Nan Rich with Gradutes of Weston University
	Senator Rich with the Final Graduting Class of Weston University 2010

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