[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 117 (Thursday, July 30, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S8533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ANTHONY DEJUAN BOATWRIGHT ACT

  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I rise on an issue of particular 
importance. I am delighted Senators Burris and Dodd are on the floor. 
Along with Senator Chambliss, the four of us joined in a very important 
piece of legislation. In fact, in the gallery tonight is a lady named 
Jackie Boatwright, whose young son Juan, 8 years ago, was severely 
injured in a daycare center.
  For a second, I wish to talk about the legislation we have introduced 
and encourage all the Members of the Senate to support it. On September 
9, 2001, 2 days before the tragedy of September 11, on a Sunday 
morning, Mrs. Boatwright got up and took her son to daycare and went to 
church. On her way home, her cell phone rang. She got a call telling 
her that her son Juan was now in the hospital. While at the daycare 
center, he pulled up beside a mop bucket, bent over and fell headfirst 
in the bucket, which was full of dirty mop water and bleach.
  Juan, today, lies semicomatose in a hospital on a ventilator.
  The daycare center had no liability insurance. To Mrs. Boatwright's 
credit, from the day of that tragedy, she has advocated on behalf of 
parents and young children, so that it is required they be able to know 
the insurance available to them to protect their children in a daycare 
center. I mentioned that Senators Dodd, Burris, Chambliss, and myself 
have introduced legislation, which already passed the House. It 
requires that any daycare center receiving Federal funds from the Child 
Care and Development Block Grant Program must disclose, upon 
registration and admittance, to any child and their parents the 
liability coverage they have to protect that child.
  Mrs. Boatwright wants to make sure that what happened to little Juan, 
and what happened in her life as a tragedy, never happens in the life 
of any other mother anywhere in America. Mrs. Boatwright is a resident 
of Augusta, GA. I am proud of her for the example she has set. So many 
citizens don't think they can make a difference. Mrs. Boatwright is 
taking a tragedy and making a difference for thousands of parents and 
children for years to come.
  I am proud to encourage the Members of the Senate to help us get 
unanimous consent to agree with the House and pass this legislation, 
Juan Boatwright's legacy, the Anthony DeJuan Boatwright Act, requiring 
disclosure of liability insurance coverage to every parent whose child 
is entering daycare.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut is recognized.
  Mr. DODD. Madam President, I thank my colleague from Georgia. Along 
with Orrin Hatch, I am the original cosponsor of the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant Program more than 20 years ago, the first 
childcare program in this country since World War II. It was a long 
struggle to pass that legislation. There were battles over supporting 
people who could not afford expensive child care--to be able to do that 
for working families. In those days, when we drafted the legislation, 
it was very hard to convince people of the importance of establishing 
some standards in childcare. There was a lot of resistance to it. 
Nonetheless, we got the bill done at minimum standards.
  That bill made a huge difference in the lives of millions of people, 
particularly working women with young children, raising them on their 
own, to be able to hold down the job and make sure their child could be 
in a safe place. That was important. I remember talking about how we 
had better Federal regulations when it came to pets being cared for 
than we did for children. Your automobile got better care, under 
Federal regulations, than your child. Ultimately, that legislation 
became law.
  Along with my colleague from Georgia, I, too, commend Mrs. Boatwright 
for taking on this issue, showing how one individual can change things 
regarding the minimum requirement that parents be informed as to 
whether the childcare facility has appropriate insurance. In fact, I 
would have presumed that was the case, even as author of the original 
legislation, believing that was something States would have required, 
let alone Federal legislation.
  We have a bill that passed the other body before us, and it makes 
eminently good sense to me, as someone who has been involved in this 
issue for 25 years, along with Olympia Snowe, from Maine, a terrific 
advocate for the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program.
  I don't know where the objections are coming from. I am prepared to 
work with my colleague and say to Mrs. Boatwright and her family and 
others that we thank you for raising this issue. I will do whatever I 
can to see if we cannot get this cleared on the floor of the Senate and 
have it go to the President for signature. That is a small 
accomplishment on a major issue that can make a difference in the lives 
of families.

  I thank my colleague from Georgia.
  Mr. ISAKSON. I thank the distinguished acting chairman of the HELP 
Committee for offering that assistance and assisting in the passage of 
this legislation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Begich). The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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