[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 50 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1799]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                REPUBLICAN AGENDA TO ADDRESS CHILD ABUSE

  (Mr. EWING asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EWING. Mr. Speaker, I come here today to talk about part of the 
Republican agenda. Yesterday I was in a news conference with the 
gentlewoman from New York [Ms. Molinari], the Speaker of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas [Mr. DeLay], and others from our side talking 
about legislation to help protect abused children.
  One of the points that came out so clearly in that legislative 
proposal and those who testified was that drugs and alcohol are one of 
the biggest causes of child abuse in America. I think, of course, of 
child abuse as symptomatic of the problems with our society and that is 
an enormous challenge that will take years to meet. But there are 
things we can do now. We can stop drugs from entering America. We can 
do a better job of it. We can beef up our border patrols. I hope that 
they are doing a good job. If they are not, we ought to be 
investigating. We can use the best equipment to detect those bringing 
drugs into America. We are not doing enough. It is time that we 
recognized how high these stakes are and do our very best.

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