STAND. COM. REP. NO. 116

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 7

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 7 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE JUNIOR RESERVE OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for two instructor positions for the establishment of a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Lahainaluna High School.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Education, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, and one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program was established by the United States Congress in 1916 to instill in our youth the values of citizenship, community service, and personal responsibility.  Your Committee further finds that JROTC programs provide our youth with positive alternatives to participation in gangs, the opportunity to give back to the community, and a sense of belonging; promote physical fitness, teamwork, and respect for authority; and teach leadership skills and self-motivation.  A recent study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies indicated that JROTC programs strengthen our youth, communities, and the nation by nurturing individualism in the service of a common goal. 

 

     Currently in Hawaii there are twenty-three JROTC programs, one of which exists on the island of Maui.  A federal requirement for the establishment and existence of a JROTC program is that the school must employ two retired military personnel.  Therefore, additional funding for Lahainaluna High School is needed to hire the necessary personnel for the JROTC program.  Your Committee believes in the virtues of JROTC programs, believes that the establishment of a JROTC program at Lahainaluna High School will positively serve the students, community, and the State, and determines that the existence of two programs on Maui will allow the participants to benefit from increased opportunities for participation in JROTC activities.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 7, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 7, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

 

 

 

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair