[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 75 (Tuesday, June 13, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H3805-H3808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN ACCESS TO NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION DATABASES
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 4894) to provide for certain access to national crime
information databases by schools and educational agencies for
employment purposes, with respect to individuals who work with
children.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 4894
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. ACCESS TO NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION DATABASES BY
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES FOR CERTAIN
PURPOSES.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General of the United States
shall, upon request of the chief executive officer of a
State, conduct fingerprint-based checks of the national crime
information databases (as defined in section 534(f)(3)(A) of
title 28, United States Code, as redesignated under
subsection (e)), pursuant to a request submitted by an entity
of the State, or unit of local government, which is
designated to conduct background checks on individuals
employed by, under consideration for employment by, or
volunteering for, a private or public elementary school,
private or public secondary school, local educational agency,
or State educational agency in that State in a position in
which the individual would work with or around children.
Where possible, the check shall include a fingerprint-based
check of State criminal history databases. The Attorney
General and the States may charge any applicable fees for
these checks.
(b) Protection of Information.--An individual having
information derived as a result of a check under subsection
(a) may release that information only to an appropriate
officer of a private elementary school, private secondary
school, local educational agency, or State educational
agency, or to any person authorized by law to receive that
information.
(c) Criminal Penalties.--An individual who knowingly
exceeds the authority in subsection (a), or knowingly
releases information in violation of subsection (b), shall be
imprisoned not more than 10 years or fined under title 18,
United States Code, or both.
(d) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``elementary
school'', ``local educational agency'', ``secondary school'',
and ``State educational agency'', have the meanings given to
those terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(e) Technical Correction.--Section 534 of title 28, United
States Code, as amended by section 905(a) of the Violence
Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act
of 2005 (Public Law 109-162), is further amended by
redesignating the second subsection (e) as subsection (f).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms.
Jackson-Lee) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Sensenbrenner).
{time} 1245
General Leave
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4894 currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4894 sponsored by the
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter). This legislation provides our
Nation's schools with an additional tool to ensure the safety of our
schoolchildren when hiring teachers, staff and volunteers.
Children are our Nation's greatest resource. Parents trust that when
they send their children off to school they will be provided a safe
environment in which to learn. Teachers are vested with a tremendous
responsibility of preparing kids for a successful future, and the
overwhelming majority of our educators conduct themselves as consummate
professionals.
Unfortunately, we sometimes hear about teachers who engage in
criminal conduct involving students. These few bad apples not only
jeopardize our children's safety, but tarnish the reputation of those
in the educational community. While all incidents of this nature are an
outrage, the tragedy of some is compounded when these deplorable
actions are perpetrated by individuals whose past criminal record
should have identified them as potential threats.
Today all States require some type of background check for school
employees. Unfortunately, some individuals with alarming records of
criminal conduct slip through the cracks. Last year police in
Charlevoix, Michigan, discovered that a convicted sex offender was
volunteering as the director of the AmeriCorp program for the local
school district. The man had an arrest record dating back to 1964,
including sex offenses involving children.
School officials submitted the man's date of birth, Social Security
number and driver's license number for a background check through the
State system. However, his criminal record did not show up because the
man had legally changed his name some 20 years earlier. Authorities
learned of his criminal history only after he underwent a fingerprint
check for a weapons permit.
In May, a California teacher was convicted on 17 counts of molesting
nine students. Just last week, a second California teacher was arrested
on charges that he molested a third-grade student. Even more disturbing
is that this man had been suspected of a similar incident in 1990 and
arrested for attempted rape in 1994.
This bill gives States direct access to Federal fingerprint databases
to make sure that convicted sex offenders never work in a school again.
Many school districts are experiencing a surge in growth that in turn
increases the demand for qualified teachers and staff. Schools are
under added pressure to expedite the hiring process to meet this
demand. H.R. 4894 streamlines access to the Federal fingerprint
databases so schools can be confident that they are hiring upstanding
teachers and staff.
The bill authorizes the Attorney General to provide States with
accurate fingerprint-based background checks for current school
employees and prospective faculty, staff and volunteers who work with
children. Either the Attorney General or the State may charge a fee for
the check. The background information may be released only to the
appropriate school official or State education agency, and any person
who exceeds this authority or misuses the background information may be
fined or imprisoned for up to 10 years.
I commend the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter) for his work on this
issue, and urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, allow me first of all to say that in our work on the
Committee on the Judiciary, and particularly the Subcommittee on Crime,
there is no doubt that one of the most prevalent issues that we address
is a way to protect our children, whether it is against sexual
predators, whether it is against the heinous acts of individuals who
not
[[Page H3806]]
only sexually abuse our children but then ultimately kill them, and
certainly we are aware of the far-reaching impact that the lack of
structure and process has on our educational system, particularly
individuals who are working in our schools, primary and secondary, and
work with our children as it relates to sports activities.
So I am certainly in support of H.R. 4894, and clearly I would argue
that we have a better product. I do not want to be anywhere suggesting
that we are not fighting for our children. I do want to offer the fact
that, as I indicated, that we have a better product, that we can agree
that the criminal background checks done on individuals working with
children is something we all want, and certainly we want to be able to
include those who pose a threat.
But we do want to have a criminal background check system, of course,
that has the elements of some order and constitutional protection.
Might I just say to my colleagues that a version of the language that
is in this bill already passed twice in H.R. 3132 and H.R. 4472, which
really means in a bipartisan way we agree with this. So I thank the
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter) for reinforcing our agreement.
I do hope as we talk about our particular issues that we would
recognize that it is important to be able to put in the processes that
would question whether all raw data is the kind of data that we should
include for access by these institutional entities.
I do believe as we move toward the Senate and have a conference on
this bill, we will find common ground so that what we put forward will
protect our children absolutely and as well be a system that will be
readily accessible to our educational institutions and at the same time
give them the information that they need to ensure that those who are
apt to injure, harm our children, are weeded out of our educational
system.
We like the streamlined process. We like the fact that the Attorney
General is, if you will, able to handle the fingerprints and data. But
I know as we make our way toward conference we will have even a further
opportunity to make this bill the kind of bill that provides the
support and safety in the employment place of our educational
institutions for all of our children.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Nevada (Mr. Porter), the principal author of the bill.
Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Sensenbrenner, the majority
leader, Mr. Boehner, Mr. McKeon, and my good friend, Mr. Kirk, who has
helped me organize this agenda for the country, and the 50 some
cosponsors.
Mr. Speaker, we have an epidemic in the United States. We have an
epidemic of sexual predators following our children, whether it be on
the computers, whether it be in our public parks, whether it be in the
workplace, or even our schools.
I would suggest that all Members of Congress take a look at maps that
local law enforcement have of the sexual predators that hang around our
schools, that move into our school areas, if not adjacent across the
streets from our schools. We need tools. We need additional tools to
help our teachers and professionals, our administrators in our schools
to streamline the process to get as much information as possible.
As Chairman Sensenbrenner mentioned the Michigan example, it is
unacceptable that a teacher could change his name legally and still
teach, having been in prison for having molested an 8-year-old child.
Currently, only 26 States are in the compact approved by Congress in
1999 giving States the tools to do background checks through the FBI.
That means there are 27 million students in 24 States that do not have
this same tool available to them to make sure their environment is
safe.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is common sense. It streamlines the process
for all 50 States. It allows access by all 50 States to this
information, and will not circumvent existing background checks and
procedures by our school districts, who I know are trying to do the
right thing.
We are fortunate to have some of the greatest and best teachers in
the world, but we want to make sure that those few that try to sneak
through the system are caught in advance.
As a Member of Congress from one of the fastest growing States in the
country, we hire close to 2,500 new teachers a year, close to 5,000
support staff and faculty. We need to make sure that the fast-growing
States and the balance of States in this country have as much
information as available because I cannot imagine the pain as a parent
myself of having my child molested by someone in our schools.
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of our teachers and administrators and
school boards for what they are doing. We need to make sure they have
the latest in technology available. Through this bill, all school
districts will have access to this information. I would ask for the
support of this body for H.R. 4894. I appreciate the time we have
today.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, let me just say as I indicated, I applauded Mr. Porter
for his vision on protecting our children and also for responding to
many of the educational institutions around America who have asked for
some sort of format, some sort of structure to help them be able to, if
you will, navigate themselves around this massive criminal justice
system that in fact has an impact on how children are cared for in our
schools and day care centers and places of sports activities.
But I do think as I support this legislation that Americans also
understand that we want people to have an opportunity for
rehabilitation, to engage in a productive life and to be able to
provide for their families. Putting aside the sexual predators and
those who are plagued by violent crimes and violent crimes against
children, I would offer to say that we want to make sure as well that
those who are perpetrators of nonviolent crimes or individuals charged
with petty theft, but people who have been out of the system for
decades have the opportunity for employment and rehabilitation.
I hope as we make our way toward conference again that these
considerations will be taken into account and we will review this so we
can work with Mr. Porter and work with conferees and work with the
Senate to make sure that we get constructive legislation to help us
all.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
Mr. Speaker, the leader on the Democratic side has given two
speeches. The speeches are supposedly in support of the bill, but then
there is a whole long list of problems with it. Now we cannot make the
perfect the enemy of the good when we are trying to protect children.
This is a bill that gives school districts the tool to get additional
information on people who might try to harm children. So I think our
committee has done a very good job in considering this legislation and
making it not maybe a perfect bill but a very, very good one. We do not
need a conference. We ought to pass it today, and then the other body
ought to pass it and let's get on with it.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Keller).
Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this
time.
I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4894. This is a commonsense
piece of legislation to protect our schoolchildren from being exposed
to convicted pedophiles on a daily basis. Isn't it a matter of common
sense that a school in my hometown of Orlando, Florida, can do a
nationwide criminal background check to make sure that its janitors,
coaches and schoolteachers are not convicted pedophiles from New York,
Massachusetts, California, or Texas?
Well, that is not happening right now. What does happen is they
perform a background check in-state to make sure that someone hasn't
been convicted in Florida of being a pedophile, and they perform a
background check in 26 other States that signed on as part of a
reciprocity agreement in 1998. What they don't check, however, is if
anyone has a pedophile conviction from 24 other States, including the
largest States in this country, States like California and New York and
Texas and Massachusetts.
[[Page H3807]]
I became involved in a mentoring program as a volunteer back when I
was practicing law called the Compact Mentoring Program. I personally
went out and recruited 700 individuals in my community to be mentors to
kids who were at risk of dropping out of high school.
{time} 1300
My number one fear is that one of those people I recruited may be a
convicted pedophile from another State. We didn't have the tools to do
anything about it.
Congressman Jon Porter's bill gives us the tools to do something
about it. I think this bill should get an award for the most
commonsense piece of legislation we have considered all year.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4894.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick).
Mr. FITZPATRICK of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I am proud today to
join Mr. Porter and my fellow members of the Suburban Caucus in support
of H.R. 4894. It is fitting that this legislation is the first bill to
reach the floor for consideration as part of the Suburban Agenda. H.R.
4894 follows the commonsense set of issues that frames the Suburban
Agenda, protecting kids and families at home and at school, providing
families with better ways to save for college, and protecting our
resources for a sustainable future.
As the father of six children, I want to know that when I or my wife
drop our kids off at school that they will be well taken care of. Our
teachers are responsible for our children's welfare for the 6 or 8
hours that they are at school, and we need to know without question
that their safety will be paramount on the minds of teachers, faculty,
and also volunteers.
Unfortunately, some would take advantage of their students. Instead
of guiding our children, they are preying on them. Mary Kay Letourneau
and Debra Lafave have become household names. But for each high-profile
case of inappropriate encounters between teacher and student, how many
go unnoticed, unreported?
That is why today's legislation is so important. H.R. 4894 would give
schools the ability to request background checks on candidates for
employment. Teachers, janitors, administrative staff, all would be
subject to a background search through the Department of Justice's
national crime information databases.
This legislation protects our kids, our communities, and maintains
the high standard that we set for our educators. I am proud to support
the legislation today and call on my colleagues to support it as well.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4894, the
School Safety Acquiring Faculty Excellence Act, and I congratulate the
leadership of my friend and colleague, Mr. Porter, and of course of
Chairman Sensenbrenner, for bringing this important piece of
legislation to the floor today.
This bill allows all States to access national criminal databases to
obtain criminal information when hiring teachers. The safety of our
children in America's schools is a major priority not only to our
Nation's educators, but to every parent and guardian; and that is why I
stand in support of it today. We need to make every resource available
to our schools to ensure that the qualifications and the background of
the faculty they hire are unquestioned.
This legislation streamlines the process and ensures that those who
are hired to work with and educate our children are trustworthy,
honest, and law abiding citizens. Mr. Speaker, this is a great
opportunity for the House of Representatives to take a stand with our
communities and our schools and give them the tools necessary to make
certain that our children are safe.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
distinguished Chair of the Republican Conference, the gentlewoman from
Ohio, and a former judge, Ms. Pryce.
Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, ask any group of parents what they
worry about most, and I guarantee you that keeping their kids safe in a
world that sometimes seems to get more dangerous by the day will be at
the very top of that list.
The legislation before us will help make kids in this country safer
by giving schools access to national criminal information databases,
allowing to them conduct more thorough background checks on prospective
teachers. It is as simple as that.
It goes without saying that the vast majority of teachers in this
country are praiseworthy men and women dedicated to the well-being of
the children that they teach. But, unfortunately, even schools are not
safe from the criminals and pedophiles who threaten the innocence and
safety of our kids.
It must be a priority of this Congress and our Nation to see that
anyone who has harmed a child is brought to justice, and this
legislation will help to ensure that no criminal ever finds a safe
haven in a school.
I want to thank Mr. Porter for his hard work, Chairman Sensenbrenner
for allowing this to go forward and for your hard work. And I am
especially pleased to see it move forward as part of the Suburban
Agenda. And I urge my colleagues to support the SAFE Act.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time
and am prepared to yield back if the gentlewoman from Texas will do the
same.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I have requests for time, and I would like
to proceed.
Mr. Speaker, let me, as well, thank Chairman Sensenbrenner and thank
Ranking Member Conyers, as well as Mr. Coble and Ranking Member Scott
for bringing forward a constructive answer to all of our concerns.
Mr. Speaker, I don't take a back seat to anyone in terms of advocacy
for children, and fighting against child predators that have harassed
and, if you will, violently attacked our children across America. We
should stand up for them. I hope that this House will eventually take
up the DNA legislation that I have that has a separate, distinctive DNA
bank for those who are child predators.
We are grateful that in the subcommittee with Mr. Scott and Mr. Coble
this bill has addressed many of the issues that look at this in a
broader sense. So it is important when we talk about bills that we want
to be as near perfect as we can get. And I believe that we have the
political will and the good conscience of this House and the Senate
that we will get there. The idea is to protect our children, and the
idea as well is to recognize that the parameters of our Constitution
will allow us to do that while addressing those concerns. So I am
hoping that we will have a perfect bill because our children deserve so
and, as well, that we will have a bipartisan effort to work on this
issue.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I said I had no further requests for
time. Is the gentlewoman from Texas prepared to yield back to allow me
to close?
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have the great pleasure of
yielding 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr.
Davis).
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the committee
for bringing this item before us. I am often before this committee with
a different issue that relates to the whole business of how do you help
individuals reintegrate. But I rise to express strong support for this
legislation because I remember the words of the songwriter who said
that our children are the future. And given the fact that they are, we
have a responsibility to do everything within our power and possibility
to make sure that they can grow up safe and secure.
I want to also commend my colleagues and the chairman of one of my
subcommittees, Mr. Porter from Nevada, for his work on this
legislation. I strongly support it and urge its adoption.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I have no further speakers, and I close
simply, Mr. Speaker, by thanking the distinguished gentleman from
Illinois who has represented the broadness of our view. We must protect
our children, and I believe that this bill is on its way to its
perfection so that our children will not be subjected to infractions in
this legislation, but truly be protected. And I hope that any other
legislative
[[Page H3808]]
initiative that comes forward to protect our children will receive this
bipartisan cooperation that we have achieved in the House Judiciary
Committee.
I ask my colleagues to vote for the legislation of Mr. Porter.
I yield back my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is not even close to the outer parameters of
the Constitution. What it does is it allows the sharing of fingerprint
data identification that has all been constitutionally collected with
school districts who are hiring new personnel to find out if they have
something in their background that would disqualify them from a job
working with children. And that is all there is to it.
The fingerprints were valid. It is merely sharing the fingerprints
with somebody who has got a legitimate use for them.
Now, there are criminal penalties involved for those who use those
fingerprints for other than verifying somebody who is applying for a
job at a school or volunteering there, for any other purpose
whatsoever.
What has been said in the debate, using the Michigan cases and the
two California cases, shows that there are loopholes in the present
system that allow people who wish to molest children to get jobs
undetected of their past record. And what the gentleman from Nevada is
doing is making sure that those people are identified before they can
wreck another young life.
What's wrong with that? This doesn't need perfection. It is simple;
it is straightforward. And it ought to pass.
Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4894, the
School Safety Acquiring Faculty Excellence Act, a measure to provide
school districts with the ability to ensure the safety of their
classrooms.
I thank Mr. Porter for leading the charge in making certain that
children in our schools are learning in the safest environment
possible. America's teachers are at the very heart of our education
system and play a vital role in the lives of children. Their daily one-
on-one interaction with the children in their classrooms cannot easily
be matched.
It is for those reasons that we want to be certain that our teachers
are of no threat to our children. The School Safety Acquiring Faculty
Excellence Act is a logical and realistic approach to providing school
administrators the tools necessary to help ensure their schools are
safe.
Mr. Speaker, teachers deserve our utmost appreciation for their
service and lifelong dedication to education. It is through this
legislation, however, that we also address the realities of today and
provide reassurance that we are keeping predators out of our
classrooms. The safety and protection of our schoolchildren is
imperative.
Again, I would like to thank Mr. Porter for his continued efforts to
help guarantee the safety of our schools, and I urge my colleagues to
support this bill.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4894, to
provide for certain access to national crime information databases by
schools and educational agencies for employment purposes, with respect
to individuals who work with children. Our children are America's
future. It is important that they receive the best education we can
offer them. It is also important that they be placed in a safe learning
environment. Furthermore, local government has an obligation to provide
for the safety and security of students. We help ensure that America's
children learn without being put at risk by allowing local, territorial
and state educational agencies to access national crime information
databases.
Teachers play a prominent role in the lives of children and in the
shaping of their character. This bill gives public and private schools
the tools they need to ensure that the teachers they hire uphold the
highest standards of conduct while educating our children. I support
H.R. 4894 because it will help keep America's children safe inside the
classroom.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Feeney). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4894.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. 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 and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will
be postponed.
____________________