[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 17, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H5439-H5443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 342, KEEPING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES SAFE ACT OF 
                                  2003

  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 276, I call 
up the conference report on the Senate bill (S. 342) to amend the Child 
Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to make improvements to and 
reauthorize programs under that Act, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Flake). Pursuant to rule XXII, the 
conference report is considered as having been read.
  (For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of 
June 12, 2003 at page H5307.)
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra) 
and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each will control 30 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra).
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that we are here today to discuss the 
conference agreement to S. 342, the Keeping Children and Families Safe 
Act of 2003, which reauthorizes and improves the Child Abuse Prevention 
and Treatment Act, CAPTA; the adoption opportunities program; the 
Abandoned Infants Act; and the Family Violence Prevention and Services 
Act.
  We began this process of reauthorizing CAPTA and FVPSA in the last 
Congress. The conference report before us today shows our ongoing 
bipartisan effort and our commitment to ensuring that programs aimed at 
the prevention of child abuse and neglect and family violence continue.
  The conference report before us continues to emphasize the prevention 
of child abuse and neglect before it occurs. It promotes partnerships 
between child protective services and private and community-based 
organizations, including education and health systems, to ensure that 
services and linkages are more effectively provided. It retains 
important language from the House bill to appropriately address a 
growing concern over parents being falsely accused of child abuse and 
neglect and the aggressiveness of social workers in their child abuse 
investigations.
  It retains language to increase public education opportunities that 
strengthen the public's understanding of the child protection system 
while teaching the appropriate manner for reporting suspected incidents 
of child maltreatment. It also retains language to foster cooperation 
between parents and child protective service workers by requiring 
caseworkers to inform parents of the allegations made against them, and 
improves the training opportunities for child protective services 
personnel regarding the extent and limits of their legal authority in 
order to protect the legal rights of parents and legal guardians. These 
are important additions to our Nation's child abuse laws that should 
not be overlooked.
  This conference report retains the House language requiring States to 
implement policies and procedures to address the needs of infants born 
and identified as being affected by illegal substance abuse or 
withdrawal symptoms resulting from prenatal drug exposure, including 
the requirement that health care providers involved in the delivery or 
care of these infants notify child protective services of the 
occurrence of such condition and develop a plan of safe care for such 
infants.

[[Page H5440]]

  In addition, this conference report maintains language expanding 
adoption opportunities and services for infants and young children who 
are disabled or born with life-threatening conditions, requires the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study on the annual 
number of infants and young children abandoned each year, and extends 
the authorization for the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all the conferees, both the 
House and the Senate, for their hard work and efforts in finalizing 
this conference report. I especially want to thank the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Boehner) for his continued support throughout this process 
and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood) for his diligence 
in ensuring that infants born addicted to drugs receive necessary 
services. I appreciate the assistance of the ranking member of the full 
committee, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller); and the 
ranking member of the subcommittee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Hinojosa), in ensuring that we have reached this point here today. I, 
of course, also want to thank the chairman of the Senate HELP 
Committee, Senator Gregg; the ranking member, Senator Kennedy; and 
Senator Dodd for their efforts in finalizing this bill.
  Most importantly, I also want to thank the staff. This conference 
report would not be before us today if it were not for the diligence 
and dedication of the staff who have spent many hours working through 
the differences in the two bills to ensure that we reached this final 
agreement.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I am very pleased with this conference report. I 
urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bicameral, bipartisan 
effort to improve the prevention and treatment of child abuse and 
family violence.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. I rise today in support of Senate bill 342, the Keeping 
Children and Families Safe Act to amend the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act.
  First of all, I want to commend Chairman Boehner and Ranking Member 
Miller for their movement of this legislation to the floor. Obviously I 
am pleased with my participation as a member of the conference 
committee. I also commend the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra), 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), and the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Hinojosa) for their participation. Also I would like to 
thank the House committee Democratic staff, Ruth Friedman, Ricardo 
Martinez, and Maggie McDow and the Republican committee staff, Pam 
Davidson, Krisann Pearce, Kate Houston, Rebecca Hunt, and Judy Boyer 
for all of their hard work and collaboration with the Senate staff in 
shaping this legislation to better serve some of our neediest and most 
helpless citizens.
  In the year 2000, about 879,000 children were victims of abuse and 
neglect in this country. Of this number, approximately 1,200 children 
died of abuse or neglect, and 44 percent of those children were under 
the age of 1. It is indeed a disturbing thought that an adult would 
want to hurt an innocent, helpless child. Yet it occurs and it occurs 
daily in this country. The United States Congress has in the recent 
past taken to the floor to bring awareness to the problem and the need 
to deal with child abuse in this country. This resolution allows us to 
not only acknowledge this tragic problem but also to provide some 
assistance to the children and the families that are victims of abuse.
  I am very proud of the many good provisions of this legislation. One 
is the increase of funds from $33 million to $80 million for community-
based groups that run programs to strengthen and support families in 
efforts to reduce the level of child abuse that exists and that exists 
among families. There are also other new funds and emphasis to better 
meet the needs of abused children, such as providing funds to meet the 
needs of children who witness domestic violence and have policies in 
place to address the needs of infants who are born and identified as 
having been physically affected by prenatal exposure to illegal drugs 
or to HIV or who are HIV-infected.
  However, this bill would only be doing half its job if we did not 
also look at individuals who assist the victims of abuse. There will be 
grants made available to improve child protection services, 
particularly cross-training to enable child protection service workers 
to better recognize the signs of domestic violence and substance abuse 
in addition to child abuse. It also calls on States to provide better 
training and to strengthen efforts toward child abuse prevention 
programs.
  As our economy worsens and the number of unemployed, especially long-
term unemployment, rises, we need to recall the correlation between the 
state of the economy and violence. With high unemployment and a weak 
economy, more adults will become frustrated and depressed, both of 
which often lead to child abuse. You mix together an unemployed 
individual who feels depressed, frustrated and stressed, who becomes 
overwhelmed, and it is unfortunate that more of them will take out 
their rage or their emotion on whoever is closest or whatever is 
closest to them. At times, sadly, this may be released on a spouse or a 
child.
  Just as the bill would be incomplete if it did not acknowledge 
improvements for child protection systems, we would be incomplete in 
our focus on improving the status of at-risk children if we did not 
acknowledge the state of the economy and the need of a tax credit for 
our neediest families. One may not see the correlation, but it is 
there. If we are going to stand here today and send the message that we 
sincerely care about the well-being of the less fortunate victims in 
our Nation, we cannot then in the next breath send the message to the 
once-abused mother or father that they are not worth the child tax 
credit, or to the children who witness domestic violence or violent 
crimes around their home on a regular and ongoing basis that they are 
not worth a concrete, comprehensive program like Head Start.
  Mr. Speaker, as I have said, I am proud of this bill, Keeping 
Families and Children Safe Act; but I also do not believe that we are 
doing a complete job, that we are doing enough to help the neediest and 
the most helpless, and sometimes youngest, victims in our Nation to be 
safe and secure.
  And so I commend the gentleman from Michigan; I commend all of those 
who have worked and helped shape this legislation. I support this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Burns), a member of the subcommittee.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for the 
conference report on S. 342, the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act 
of 2003. As a member of the conference committee, I am proud that it 
reauthorizes several programs that are critical to families in our 
country.
  The bill focuses resources on preventing child abuse, improving 
opportunities for adoption of foster children, and protecting families 
from violence. It does so by providing necessary funds to identify and 
address issues of child abuse and neglect and working to stop family 
violence before it occurs. These issues know no party or boundary.
  This bipartisan legislation recognizes that we must address the 
problems in a comprehensive way. It shows that we can bring public and 
private resources to bear in this fight by promoting partnerships 
between child protective services and community-based organizations. 
The conference report also gives priority to the training, recruitment, 
and retention of those who provide services for the victims of violence 
and abuse. We must not lose the benefits of the experience of these 
individuals.
  Our families and children form the basis of our society and the 
future of our country. By providing a national clearinghouse of 
effective child abuse prevention programs and training resources for 
law enforcement and social service personnel, we can help State and 
local programs operate more effectively. This bill demonstrates our 
national commitment to the welfare of those most vulnerable of our 
citizens. We have an opportunity to help break the cycle of domestic 
violence and abuse and give a better future to children who would have 
had no future at all. I would urge all of my colleagues to vote for the 
conference report and pass this legislation today.

[[Page H5441]]

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 6 
minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), who is indeed 
an advocate for children, not only an advocate for children but who is 
indeed an advocate for whatever is good and wholesome for the United 
States of America.

                              {time}  1515

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the very distinguished 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for yielding me this time.
  I have very much appreciated his leadership on the issues dealing 
with children in America. We have spent some time in Texas listening to 
many of our social worker, skilled social workers from around the 
Nation giving us instructions on the importance of providing social 
services to the needs of our children.
  To the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), the full committee 
chairman; and to the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller); and 
to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra) for his leadership on 
this issue, I too rise in support of S. 342, Keeping Children and 
Families Safe Act of 2003, and will share a number of comments on the 
importance of this legislation that deals with enhancing the resources 
and the instructions and guidelines for protecting the Nation's 
children against abuse and neglect.
  It is not my purpose to fault one State over another. Certainly all 
of us come from jurisdictions that can stand improvement, and this 
legislation will help us do so. But in the last few weeks and months, 
we note the tragedies that occurred in the State of New Jersey and 
Florida, in particular in Florida the missing little girl still yet to 
be found who was taken away from her grandmother by someone who alleged 
to be within the children's protective services, and similar stories in 
the State of New Jersey shows that our system is broken and needs to be 
fixed. Frankly, this legislation ensures that hopefully that we can 
focus on that broken aspect.
  There is currently a $2.5 billion spending gap between what this 
country spends on child abuse and prevention and what is needed, and as 
a Nation we cannot rest. We cannot sit idly by with the knowledge that 
millions of children are not being properly cared for. Child abuse and 
neglect victims may experience one or more kinds of maltreatment 
including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological or other 
maltreatment. Neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment; 
and in recent years, close to 63 percent of child abuse victims suffer 
neglect including medical neglect.
  Of the millions of children who reported abuse and neglect, 24 
percent suffered physical abuse, 12 percent suffered sexual abuse, 6 
percent suffered emotional maltreatment, and 3 percent suffered from 
medical neglect. Sadly, almost 40 percent of the children are under the 
age of six. Unfortunately, in my home State of Texas, 47,400 children 
were confirmed victims of abuse or neglect. There are over 6 million 
children in Texas. This legislation will hopefully focus with 
resources, instruction, and of course aiding and insisting on better 
services in our States to make sure that we confront this problem head 
on.
  Just a few years ago I joined with the children's protective services 
in Harris County to tackle the problem of abandoned children, to engage 
in a billboard campaign along with other outreach campaigns to insist 
that there are other ways to avoid abandoning a baby and leaving a 
child unattended and to be able to work with the children's protective 
services and foster parent care to ensure that our children are never 
abandoned along a roadside or in a garbage dump. We are still working 
on that problem, Mr. Speaker; and we have a long way to go.
  I would say that the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is 
absolutely correct. While we are protecting our children against abuse, 
whether it is sexual abuse and neglect, whether it is by way of medical 
treatment or nutrition, we also need to look at programs that are 
headed our way to this floor; and certainly this morning in a hearing 
sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus it is very clear that the 
Head Start program is not broken and should not be fixed. Absolutely, 
legislation that is making its way to this floor should not include a 
block grant provision that takes moneys away from this vital Head Start 
program, 38 years old, that provides nurturing and caring attitudes 
toward our children, a nurturing and supportive atmosphere for our 
parents, immunization and nutrition, giving some of these children two 
meals a day that they would have never have gotten. This effort to 
block grant this program even if it is only in eight States, Mr. 
Speaker, is misdirected and loses the point of what Head Start has done 
for 38 years. Clearly, we can work to improve our program; but we 
should not abolish it, and we have people in Congress today, Head Start 
professionals and parents, who are advocating do not abolish Head 
Start; and I hope that our colleagues will listen to them.
  I would say also, Mr. Speaker, that we have another job yet undone, 
and that is to provide a tax credit for low-income children. Yes, this 
legislation is extremely important. But today, June 17, 2003, America's 
low-income children still do not have a tax credit. What we can do, Mr. 
Speaker, is immediately pass the Senate bill and send it to the 
President's desk and send the Senate bill to our low-income families. 
In my State of Texas, 2.129 million children are missing the impact of 
a low-income tax credit because we have stalled this legislation in the 
House. In addition, 12 million to 19 million children could be helped 
by the Senate bill along with the children of our military families, 
some of whom have their loved ones on the front lines of Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, this body should be a problem-solver. As the gentleman 
from Illinois (Mr. Davis) has said, we have a lot of work that we have 
accomplished, but much work to be done. Let us not abolish Head Start 
with this misdirected legislation headed to the floor. Let us pass this 
legislation enthusiastically to protect our children, but yet let us 
not leave 19 million children out in the cold without an effective 
child tax credit for low-income families. Let us pass that legislation 
as we pass S. 342, and let us work to secure and protect Head Start 
funding to the Head Start programs and not abolish it by block granting 
those funds to the State.
  I thank the distinguished gentleman for yielding me this time, and I 
ask my colleagues to enthusiastically support S. 342.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and the underlying 
Conference Report on S. 342, the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act 
of 2003. I join my colleagues and reiterate how important it is to 
protect our children from abuse and neglect.
  Many states are dependent on Federal money to meet the increasing 
demand for child abuse prevention programs. This legislation is 
important because it is the only Federal legislation that directly 
addresses the prevention of child abuse. Currently, there is a $2.5 
billion spending gap between what this country spends on child abuse 
prevention and what is needed. As a nation we cannot rest, we can not 
sit idly by with the knowledge that millions of children are not being 
properly cared for.
  Child abuse and neglect victims may experience one or more kinds of 
maltreatment including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, 
psychological or other maltreatment. Neglect is the most common form of 
child maltreatment and in recent years close to 63 percent of child 
abuse victims suffered neglect (including medical neglect). Of the 
millions of children who are reported abused or neglected, 24 percent 
suffered physical abuse, 12 percent suffered sexual abuse, 6 percent 
suffered emotional maltreatment and three percent suffered from medical 
neglect. Sadly, almost 40 percent of the children were under the age of 
6.
  I am particularly concerned with that 12 percent of cases involving 
sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse includes actual physical abuse such as 
touching a child's genital area or molestation, and it also includes 
sexual assault, self-exposure (flashing), voyeurism, and exposing 
children to pornography.
  Unfortunately, in my home state of Texas 47,400 children are 
confirmed victims of abuse or neglect. I want to put that number into 
perspective, Mr. Speaker. There are over six million children in Texas. 
Over one million Texas children live in poverty. Many of the children 
and families I am talking about would not have been eligible for the 
Republican's child tax credit. Studies have shown that poverty is one 
of the many societal elements that can increase the occurrence of child 
abuse. I am glad to say that this underlying bill will lead to services 
for all families, including those whose incomes are low.
  It is beyond reprehensible that anyone would treat children in this 
way. Furthermore,

[[Page H5442]]

it would be despicable for this Congress not to do everything possible 
to help prevent such abuse.
  Between 1993 and 1999, the incidence of child abuse and neglect 
declined on the national level. However, after 1999 the incidence of 
child abuse rose. We must turn that tide back around. We must not be 
discouraged by the size of the problem we must seek to work together, 
in a bipartisan way. Because the matter of protecting our children is 
not political or partisan it is simply the most important thing that 
this body can do.
  There is more that we can do. In fact, there is more that we must do. 
The underlying bill is a step in the right direction therefore I 
support the rule on the Conference Report for S. 342.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Nevada (Mr. Porter), vice chairman of the subcommittee.
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the conference 
agreement to S. 342, the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 
2003. Mr. Speaker, this legislation builds upon changes made during the 
last reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 
and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, directing its 
efforts towards the prevention of child abuse and neglect and family 
violence in collaboration with child protective services. It would 
ensure that States have the necessary flexibility and resources for 
identifying and addressing the issues of child maltreatment and family 
violence before they occur and works to protect and treat abused and 
neglected children and victims of family violence.
  According to the United States Department of Health and Human 
Services, in 2001 there were an estimated 903,000 victims of abuse or 
neglect nationally. Almost three-fifths of all victims suffered from 
neglect, and the most victimized children were in the zero to three age 
group. In Clark County, Nevada, while there was an increase in the 
number of child abuse and neglect reports, up in 2001 to 8,316, in 2000 
there was a drop to 7,932. There was a decrease in the substantiated 
child abuse reports as a percentage of the total reports in 2001, 
having continually declined from 1997. And with the improvements we 
have established throughout the intense conference negotiations on the 
Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003, I hope to see a further 
decline in child abuse and family violence across this country.
  It is important that children and families can lead safe and healthy 
lives. Treatment and preventative measures are essential to stopping 
this abuse. I urge my colleagues to support this conference report.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, I noticed that the chairman of the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce has come to the floor, and again I want to 
reiterate my commendations to him for the outstanding leadership that 
he has provided in bringing this legislation before us and to the floor 
of the House.
  I have always been told that the greatness of a society can be 
determined by how well it looks after its old, how well it looks after 
its young, and what it does for those who have difficulty in looking 
out for themselves. And when we think about abused and neglected 
children, we are thinking about individuals who have difficulty looking 
out for themselves.
  For the last 10 or more years each Christmas Eve, I and a group of my 
friends visit what we call halfway houses for neglected and abused 
children; and to see little children in the basements of apartment 
buildings, in the basements of churches or in many instances just 
places that the keepers of these facilities have found and to see them 
there with little hope, with no real encouragement, and not even 
knowing what the season is about, and to see the glee and the joy that 
they have just when they are given an apple or an orange or some fruit 
or a toy that someone else may have just given away, that speaks to 
what this legislation will mean. If we can prevent families from taking 
out their frustration on children, if we can find children who have 
left home, who themselves are confused, if we can bring hope to the 
hopeless and help to those who are helpless, then that is really what 
America should be about; and that is one of the things that this 
legislation helps to do. So once again, I commend all of those who have 
been instrumental in bringing it to this point.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would like to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for the 
kind words and the tone of discussion and the debate today. It is not a 
debate. We have worked very positively in a bipartisan way to bring 
this legislation not only through the House but through a conference 
committee, and one of the instrumental leaders in making sure that that 
is a tone that we have on the committee and the tone for this piece of 
legislation is the chairman of the full committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman 
Boehner) and express our appreciation and thanks for having the 
opportunity to move this bill.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding me this 
time.
  I thank both him and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) and many 
others for their efforts in bringing us here, and I rise today in 
support of the conference report to S. 342, the Keeping Children and 
Families Safe Act of 2003. This conference report reauthorizes the 
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and the Family Violence 
Prevention and Services Act and related programs and acts. The 
conference report represents, I think, our efforts and commitment to 
once again ensure that programs aimed at the prevention of child abuse 
and neglect are strengthened and continue to serve vulnerable children.
  When this process began, we wanted to ensure that the final bill 
reflected our strong belief that every child in America deserves the 
security of being part of a safe, permanent, and caring family. And I 
am pleased to say that the conference report that we have before us 
does just that. It aims to improve program implementation, making 
enhancements to current law to ensure that States have the necessary 
resources and flexibility to properly address the prevention of child 
abuse and neglect. This conference report retains language to ensure 
that children are protected from abuse and neglect through best 
practice prevention and treatment services. And, importantly, it 
continues to reflect our belief that we can help achieve this goal by 
maintaining resources for adoption opportunities, identifying and 
addressing the needs of abandoned infants, and ensuring that resources 
continue to be available to promote family violence prevention 
activities. This conference report also retains language to address the 
problem of child abandonment and abuse with effective solutions that 
make a real difference in the lives of children.
  In addition, this conference report continues to appropriately 
address issues regarding child protective services across the United 
States by enhancing training for personnel, requiring more effective 
partnerships between child protective services and private and 
community-based organizations, and improving public education on the 
children protection system. This conference report enjoys a strong 
bipartisan support and is widely supported throughout the child abuse 
prevention and family violence prevention communities. I want to thank 
all the conferees from both the House and the Senate for their efforts 
in getting us to this point.
  I especially want to thank the Select Education Subcommittee chairman 
(Chairman Hoekstra) for his leadership and dedication to the completion 
of this conference report; the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Greenwood); the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa); the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis); and the gentleman from California (Mr. George 
Miller), my friend and the ranking member of our committee.

                              {time}  1530

  I wish to thank Senator Gregg, the Chairman of the Senate Health 
Committee, Senator Kennedy, the ranking member, and Senator Dodd for 
their assistance in finalizing and helping us bring this legislation 
forward today.
  I also want to thank the staff for their hard work and their 
dedication, especially Krisann Pearce, Pam Davidson, Kate Houston, 
Holli Traud, Alexa Marrero, and Jo-Marie St. Martin of

[[Page H5443]]

my committee staff; Ruth Friedman with the gentleman from California 
(Mr. George Miller), Ricardo Martinez with the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Hinojosa), Rebecca Hunt with the staff of the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra), Judy Borger and Matt Haggerty with the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), and the counsel from the 
minority side, Mort Zuckerman, whom I see in the Chamber. They have all 
worked in an especially close way to help bring us here today.
  So I want to urge my colleagues to support the conference report to 
S. 342, and thank them for all of their hard work.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am going to note it is a pleasure to see as many 
children in the Chamber as there are to see this bipartisan legislation 
being approved. I would reiterate that there is nothing more important 
that America could do than to demonstrate how important children are 
and prepare for the future leaders of our Nation to emerge, to have the 
kind of services that they need, the kind of programs.
  We cannot afford to lose a single one. So every time we can go out 
and bring in a child who may have been lost, may have been neglected or 
may have been abused we are actually doing the best work that we could 
do. I would urge support of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to just reiterate my support to the 
comments of the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis). It is absolutely 
true that society will be measured by how we take care of those who are 
least able to take care of themselves. This bill is a step in the right 
direction. I hope that we can continued working on these issues and 
other issues to make sure that we do not leave a single child behind, 
either at this stage in life through the education process or later on 
as they enter into higher education.
  Those are all the kinds of issues that we will either consider at the 
subcommittee or the full committee level, and hopefully we can continue 
to maintain this bipartisan support on these very, very critical 
issues, recognizing that we each come from different communities with 
different perspectives, different backgrounds and different needs, and 
that by bringing those perspectives to the committee, by bringing those 
perspectives to the House, we will reach the appropriate kind of 
legislation that will have the most impact and most beneficial impact 
across America.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I commend the committee leadership in both 
Chambers for bringing forth this agreement, which represents a 
bipartisan, bicameral effort to protect children.
  As with the Amber Alert legislation, and the Runaway, Homeless and 
Missing Children Protection Act that passed the House earlier this 
year, this legislation shows that we are unified in our desire to 
protect young people who are in danger. I am proud to be a part of this 
effort.
  I won't repeat all the technical aspects of the bill, but this effort 
will focus on the prevention and treatment of child abuse by 
authorizing grants to States to help with the functions of the child 
protection system. It also provides authority for research and 
demonstration projects, enhances investigations and prosecutions of 
maltreatment, and provides grants for local community-based programs.
  I am pleased that we were able to include in the final agreement 
demonstration programs to assist children who witness domestic violence 
as well as an Internet enhancement of the domestic violence hotline.
  There is no more important task before this Congress than to protect 
the most vulnerable of our Nation's children.
  I only hope that our commitment to children will extend beyond 
rhetoric to the resources needed to fully fund these and other programs 
for children. Unfortunately, help for poor, disadvantaged children has 
taken a backseat to tax breaks for the wealthy. We are sending a clear 
message to our young people, not only will we leave you behind, we will 
also leave you the bill.
  I firmly urge all my colleagues to support the final conference 
agreement. When the time comes, I also urge you to support the 
resources necessary to protect, defend, and educate our children.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Flake). Without objection, the previous 
question is ordered on the conference report.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the conference report.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question are postponed.

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