[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 115 (Monday, July 14, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H6441-H6443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECKS PILOT EXTENSION ACT OF 2008

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 3218) to extend the pilot program for volunteer groups 
to obtain criminal history background checks.

[[Page H6442]]

  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The text of the Senate bill is as follows:

                                S. 3218

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Criminal History Background 
     Checks Pilot Extension Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PILOT PROGRAM.

       Section 108(a)(3)(A) of the PROTECT Act (42 U.S.C. 5119a 
     note) is amended by striking ``a 60-month'' and inserting ``a 
     66-month''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Schiff) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the Criminal History Background Checks Pilots Extension 
Act of 2008 will allow a simple 6-month extension to the National Child 
Safety Pilot Program passed as a part of the PROTECT Act of 2003.
  I am proud to sponsor the House version of this bill. The Senate has 
already taken up the legislation by unanimous consent, so if the House 
votes to pass this bill, as I hope it will, it will go to the President 
to be signed into law.
  We're fortunate to have millions of Americans who generously give 
their time and energy to volunteer and mentor children. In 1986, as a 
then young lawyer, I volunteered as a Big Brother for a 7-year-old in 
the Greater Los Angeles area. That relationship has been one of the 
most rewarding and enduring that I've ever had. It also taught me 
firsthand the trust that we place in the adult in a mentoring 
situation. It's important that we protect children by taking reasonable 
and practical steps to help guard against the chance that a convicted 
child abuser or sex offender might conceal his or her past and place 
our children at risk.
  Since 2003, and earlier, States have been authorized to access 
national fingerprint-based background checks through the FBI on behalf 
of youth-serving organizations. Unfortunately, as of today, only one-
third of States have the infrastructure in place for a youth-serving 
organization to get a background check from the FBI in an affordable 
and timely manner.
  In passing the PROTECT Act, Congress acted in response to the need to 
protect children from predators who could gain access to children under 
the guise of volunteering. Mentoring groups, large and small, want 
access to the information they need to protect children, and the pilot 
has been extremely successful in providing that access through a fee-
supported system at no cost to taxpayers.
  The pilot demonstrated that there was a clear need for this program 
to protect children. Six percent of checks conducted came back with 
serious criminal records, in many cases records that would have not 
turned up through a search of a State database or through a name-based 
commercial search. We have cases from around the Nation in which 
applicants for volunteering positions with children were sex offenders, 
repeat felons, and child abusers.
  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reviewed files 
in which an applicant had a criminal record in four States, including a 
conviction for murder, which they didn't reveal to the organization. 
Losing access to these checks would be disastrous for hundreds of 
small, community-based mentoring organizations.
  Due to the success of the program, we have extended the pilot twice 
before. It is now set to expire July 31 unless we extend it again. This 
bill would provide a 6-month extension to give us all time to work on 
an appropriate permanent bill that protects our children, while also 
protecting the privacy of potential volunteers.
  I am proud to sponsor, along with my colleague, Mr. Rogers of 
Michigan, the Child Protection Improvements Act, a bill which would do 
just that. We will continue to work with stakeholders and the Judiciary 
Committee to put in place a permanent system of protection.
  The pilot program has demonstrated that youth-serving organizations 
correctly want to watch out for children and want access to affordable, 
accurate and prompt background checks to help them do so. We need to 
keep the pilot program in place while we develop the permanent bill.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 3218, the Criminal History 
Background Checks Pilot Extension Act of 2008, which extends the Child 
Safety Pilot Program for volunteer organizations for an additional 6 
months.
  Originally created in 2003 under the PROTECT Act, the Child Safety 
Pilot Program has proven to be an effective resource for groups such as 
the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the National Mentoring 
Partnership, and the National Council of Youth Sports.
  Through the pilot program, any nonprofit organization that provides 
youth-focused care, as defined in the National Child Protection Act of 
1993, may request criminal history background checks from the FBI on 
applicants for volunteer or employee positions that entail working with 
children.
  Currently, over 10,000 background checks have been administered 
through the Child Safety Pilot Program. Of those checks, 7.5 percent of 
all workers screened had an arrest or conviction on their record. 
Crimes uncovered included rape, child sexual abuse, murder, and 
domestic battery. Over 25 percent of applicants with a criminal record 
committed crimes in States other than where they were applying to work. 
If it weren't for the Child Safety Pilot Program, employers may not 
have known that the applicants had criminal records.
  Volunteer organizations across the country are working hard to 
provide safe learning and growing environments for our children. That 
means hiring professional and responsible employees. S. 3218 extends a 
program that has successfully helped these groups do just that.
  I urge my colleagues to join in supporting this important 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleague in urging passage 
of this legislation.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of S. 3218, the ``Criminal History Background Checks Pilot Extension 
Act of 2008''. First, I would like to thank my distinguished colleague, 
Adam Schiff of California, for introducing this much-needed piece of 
legislation. This bill will amend the ``PROTECT Act of 2003'' by 
extending for six months the currently expiring Child Safety Pilot 
Program. This program will allow certain volunteer organizations to 
obtain national and state criminal history background checks on their 
volunteers. I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this act.
  The ``Criminal History Background Checks Pilot Extension Act of 
2008'' is critical because it will ensure that our Nation's children 
remain safe from predators and sex-offenders. By allowing volunteer 
organizations working with children the option of State and Federal 
background checks, we protect our children from our greatest fear: that 
the very organizations that set out to help our children, inadvertently 
harm them.
  The ``PROTECT Act of 2003'' was aimed at defending children from the 
horrors of exploitation, abuse, and abduction. Yet, if we fail to act 
now, the act's 60-month ``Child Safety Pilot Program'' will expire. We 
cannot afford to leave volunteer groups without this critical tool, and 
in the process leave countless children at risk.
  Upon enactment, the ``Criminal History Background Checks Pilot 
Extension Act of 2008'' will extend by 6 months the ``Child Safety 
Pilot Program'', and will allow certain volunteer organizations to 
continue utilizing the national and state criminal history background 
checks. With passage of this act, we take one step forward to a day 
when all the children of our Nation are safe from the harms and horrors 
of abuse.

[[Page H6443]]

  Currently in the US, there are over 100,000 cases of child abuse, 
abduction, or exploitation, each year. It is imperative that we do not 
allow this number to escalate out of carelessness. Why should we allow 
an extra Amber Alert to occur when it would be so easy to prevent?
  The Amber Alert Network which was first implemented in the State of 
Texas is an important element in attaining a truly secure environment. 
This system is part of an additional level of protection. Yet, programs 
like Amber Alert lose their significance when they are not accompanied 
by meaningful precautions. The background checks that the ``Criminal 
History Background Checks Pilot Extension Act of 2008'' makes possible, 
allow us to stop Amber Alerts before they happen.
  I have always seen the safety of children as an issue of tremendous 
importance. Whether it is through this bill, protecting children from 
sex-offenders, or in recent legislation such as H.R. 3397, safeguarding 
children against lead-poisoning, or in other acts improving school 
safety, I believe that the well-being of our children must be one of 
our foremost concerns.
  I urge my colleagues to support this act to protect the children of 
Texas' 18th and the children of our Nation.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the Senate bill, S. 3218.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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