[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.

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