Capitol celebration puts spotlight on children

Tomorrow, Hawaii will join the international community in supporting and encouraging our most precious resource: our children. We are the first state to officially recognize Children and Youth Day and Children and Youth Month.

Children's Day is celebrated around the world, although not always on the same day. On June 1, Children's Day in China, tens of thousands of young Chinese join the ranks of the Young Pioneers of China (similar to the Boy Scouts). On May 5, Japanese families fly giant carp kites to mark "kodomo no hi." On Nov. 14, India celebrates the birthdate of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's first prime minister and a lifelong advocate of child and youth issues. Celebrating our young people is a global event in which Hawaii is pleased to participate.

Children's Day calls our attention to how we are still failing our children every day. Around the world, too many of them grow up knowing only abject poverty or terrible abuse. They cannot afford to see a doctor or attend school, and are often vulnerable to severe illness.

We're also witnessing this neglect in the United States. Last Wednesday, President Bush's veto of a bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program sent the message that health care is not a priority of the administration. As a result, millions of uninsured American children will suffer.

It's also unacceptable that hundreds of children in Hawaii are homeless and left without health care, education or a chance at a better life. We must work together to build safer, healthier communities, address child homelessness and strive to make our health and education systems the best they can be.

Hawaii can feel proud to have taken steps this year to give our keiki the best health care and education. Last session, the Legislature passed a bill to provide universal health care coverage for every child. When it passed into law in June, we became only the second state to pass such progressive legislation.

To prevent newborn babies from being abandoned, the Legislature also passed a Baby Safe Haven bill last session. Similar bills have saved the lives of infants in many other states and I am confident that this new law will have the same effect.

We even have a legislative Keiki Caucus, of which all legislators are members. Its objective is to introduce and pass measures to ensure the education, health and safety of our keiki.

Tomorrow, Hawaii families will have a great opportunity to celebrate our keiki. Children and Youth Day is so important that the entire state Capitol will be dedicated to activities for children, as well as Iolani Palace, Honolulu Hale, Washington Place and the Hawaii State Art Museum.

More than 30,000 people are expected to visit the Capitol grounds, where they'll enjoy more than 100 free activities like a Yu-Gi-Oh trading card tournament and inspiring films from the Hawaii Student Film Festival. Teenagers can head to Teen Zone at Honolulu Hale, where they can try paintball and karaoke, observe martial arts demonstrations and scale Hawaii's largest mobile rock wall.

It's time to make a commitment to our children and youth. Strong families make strong communities, and strong communities make a strong state. Tomorrow, we'll take a giant step forward in recognizing Hawaii's most precious asset -- our keiki.