[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 158 (Monday, November 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2313-E2314]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF THE CHILD ABUSE AND PREVENTION ENFORCEMENT ACT

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                           HON. DEBORAH PRYCE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Sunday, November 9, 1997

  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, today, I, along with Representative 
Tom Ewing of Illinois and Representative Jim Greenwood of Pennsylvania, 
introduced the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act, CAPE Act. 
This bill builds upon the foundation of the Child Abuse and Neglect 
Enforcement Act [CANEA], which was introduced by my close friend, and 
former colleague, Susan Molinari.
  As the mother of a wonderful young child, it breaks my heart to know 
that nearly 2,000 children die each year of abuse and neglect. In 1 
recent year alone, there were 992,617 substantiated cases of child 
abuse and neglect in our country. As a Federal legislator, I believe we 
must continue marshaling our Federal resources in a way that helps 
State and local officials in their fight against child abuse and their 
efforts to help the innocent victims of such abuse.
  The CAPE Act contains a number of important provisions designed to 
assist State and local law enforcement and child protective services 
workers in fighting child abuse and providing assistance to the 
innocent victims.
  First, the bill helps States provide access to criminal conviction 
records by child protective and child welfare workers. This will help 
such workers identify whether troubled children may be victims of abuse 
at the hands of adult caregivers.
  Second, the bill helps States provide law enforcement instant and 
timely access to court child custody, visitation, protection, 
guardianship, or stay away orders. This will help police establish the 
validity of urgent complaints that children have been snatched by an 
abusive ex-spouse, so that such complaints can be pursued in a timely 
manner, particularly when courthouses are closed. This provision 
addresses a very real problem which was brought to my attention by the 
Ohio State attorney general Betty Montgomery.
  Third, this bill allows major Federal law enforcement grant funds to 
be used by State and local police for enforcement of child abuse and 
neglect law. This adds an additional $500 million which may be used in 
the fight against child abuse and neglect.
  Fourth, the bill doubles the amount of Federal funding to States 
which may be used for victims of child abuse. This will significantly 
increase funding for things such as training for

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child protective workers, child advocacy centers, and support for 
court-appointed special advocates.
  In addition, I, and the other sponsors of the bill, will request that 
the General Accounting Office study the amount of documents required 
under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and other Federal 
laws related to child abuse and make recommendations on reducing the 
number of paperwork requirements. This is the first step which the 
sponsors are taking towards reducing the paperwork required of child 
welfare workers, so that they will be able to spend more time working 
with children they serve.
  We must never give up the fight to protect our Nation's children from 
abuse and neglect. While I do not believe the CAPE Act will end child 
abuse, it would provide a another arrow in the quiver to be used in the 
fight.

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