[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 163 (Tuesday, December 18, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H6837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1220
                 PREVENTING THE NEXT SANDY HOOK TRAGEDY

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, in our continuing efforts to turn the tragic 
events at Newtown to high purpose, I include in the Record today two 
articles from the USA Today newspaper, one entitled, ``A Boy Lost in 
the Shadows,'' and another, ``Newtown Puts Mental Services in 
Spotlight.''
  These articles remind me of a conversation I had a few years ago with 
a caring grade-school teacher from my own district who became quite 
frustrated with the local school system's inability to help her manage 
the behavior of a child in her elementary classroom. After repeated 
attempts that took 3 years--and let me emphasize 3 years--the teacher 
was able to have the child referred to behavioral specialists and 
placed in a more appropriate learning environment.
  As a society, we seem to lack the methods to identify troubled youth 
and to put them on a proper path early to healing. Too often, a child 
is left floundering due to our collective inabilities to help him find 
a constructive path forward. Many of our local boards of education 
often are not properly equipped to identify and assist children who are 
uncivil or who are completely alienated in their surroundings.
  Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased with the President's announcement the 
other night, that of a commission on youth violence to be formed to 
look into what is happening across our country; let us hope that it 
provides a national forum to listen to those voices among us who 
grapple with these human challenges every day. This must be our 
responsibility to future generations.

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