[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 107 (Friday, September 10, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     GARRETT LEE SMITH MEMORIAL ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 8, 2004

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, S. 2634, the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, 
contains some very important language that I would like to point out to 
my colleagues. The bill requires written, informed parental consent 
before a child may participate in the programs funded under this bill. 
The bill provides an exception for this in cases where there is an 
emergency and the safety of the child or other students is at risk and 
in cases where parental consent cannot reasonably be obtained.
  Mr. Speaker, this language is very important. The topic of suicide 
and death is very sensitive, especially for younger children who are 
very impressionable. I believe that parents, not schools, should be the 
first line of defense for educating against and preventing their 
children from considering suicide. Studies have shown that in some 
cases, suicide education has actually led to suicides. Parents should 
have the option of keeping their child out of such classes. In 
addition, if parents are aware that their child is in such a class or 
program at school, they will be able to look for any warning signs that 
their child is considering suicide.
  The exceptions included in the parental consent requirement are 
intended to be very narrow--emergency situations and cases where 
parental consent cannot reasonably be obtained. Emergency situations 
will be obvious--this would be a situation where a student is 
threatening his life or the life of someone else. Obviously, in such a 
case, the counselor or teacher should immediately counsel the student 
to stop the threatened activity.
  Some may wonder what is meant by cases where parental consent cannot 
be ``reasonably'' obtained. This is intended to mean situations where 
the parent, despite the best efforts of the school or other 
organization operating a suicide intervention program, cannot 
personally give consent. One such situation would be where a single 
parent in the military has gone overseas for duty and the child is 
temporarily staying with grandparents. But let me be clear--this is not 
a loophole for those who find obtaining parental consent to be 
inconvenient or time-consuming. It is for those rare and very limited 
situations in which a parent simply is not able to provide consent.
  I would like to thank Chairman Barton for working so diligently on 
this important language.

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