[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 22, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H2843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SAFETY NEEDS OF CHILDREN AS A NATIONAL PRIORITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. George Miller) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, in the wake of the 
horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children were 
murdered, the issue of keeping children safe has been on the minds of 
all Americans. Since this tragedy occurred in a school, districts and 
States have, understandably, focused conversations on preventing and 
responding to violent crime that occurs in the school building itself. 
However, protecting children will require much more than preventing an 
outside intruder from committing acts of violence against students or a 
good emergency response plan to deal with an event. We need to 
recognize that violence--or the fear of violence--against children does 
not begin or end at the schoolhouse door. That's why I've devoted this 
month to introduce legislation that focuses on the safety needs of 
children as a national priority.
  First, I introduced legislation to establish the minimum safety 
standards to prevent abusive seclusion and restraint practices in 
schools across the country. The Keeping All Students Safe Act would 
protect schoolchildren from inappropriate uses of seclusion and 
restraints and provide school personnel with the necessary tools, 
training, and support to ensure the safety of all students and school 
personnel. These practices are, at best, cruel and, at worst, deadly. 
They continue to be used on children across the country.
  In Indiana, an 8-year-old girl with Down syndrome had her shoes duct-
taped painfully to her ankles because she refused to put her shoes on. 
In North Carolina, a 14-year-old boy with a traumatic brain injury was 
confined inside a cardboard box as a form of timeout. In some cases, 
children have even died from improper restraints and seclusion. My bill 
also would stop these abusive practices, but safety shouldn't stop at 
the schoolhouse door.
  Investigations conducted by the Government Accountability Office, at 
my request, in 2007 and 2008 found that private and public residential 
programs, including therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness camps, 
boot camps, and behavior modification facilities are not always run in 
a safe manner. Recently, the Tampa Bay Times confirmed that problems of 
abuse and neglect continue, with stories of children being bruised, 
bloodied, and choked into unconsciousness at these programs, all in the 
name of discipline. More horrific stories of child abuse, including 
deaths in some cases, have been documented in seven States' residential 
programs in just the past 2 years.
  Last week, I introduced the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs 
for Teens Act, a bill that would set basic health and safety standards 
the State would need to adopt to enforce and protect teens from 
physical, mental, and sexual abuse in these programs. It would also 
create easily accessible information for parents about the safety 
records of the programs so that parents can make sound decisions about 
if they want to send their child there or not.
  No one disputes that our schools and residential programs must be a 
safe place for children where they can focus on learning and improving 
their lives, not fearing for their lives. Though some States have made 
progress developing policies to protect children from acts of violence, 
abuse, and neglect, a patchwork of protections, riddled with holes, is 
not acceptable when it comes to our Nation's children. We cannot sit 
idly by as incidents of children being abused or killed continues to 
occur.
  Today, I'm introducing legislation that will prevent registered sex 
offenders and criminals convicted of crimes against children from 
working at schools. The Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent 
Predators Act would require public schools to conduct comprehensive 
background checks on any employee, using State criminal and child abuse 
registries and the FBI's fingerprint database. It would also prohibit 
school districts from hiring or retaining anyone who has been convicted 
of certain violent crimes, including crimes against children, crimes 
involving rape or sexual assault, and child pornography.

                              {time}  1020

  Mr. Speaker, keeping our children safe isn't a partisan issue; it's a 
moral obligation. This Congress must do more to protect our children. 
One way Congress can immediately help to ensure that students and 
schools have the support needed to address all aspects of violence is 
through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act. Through a bipartisan rewrite of the Nation's education law, we can 
ensure that schools and students have the necessary support to provide 
key nonacademic services essential for students to succeed in a safe 
and healthy learning environment.
  In the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Democrats will be 
fighting for these critical services, including other measures to 
promote safety, such as school services for violence prevention 
activities, bullying and harassment prevention, drug and alcohol abuse 
prevention, and programs to prepare for and respond to natural 
disasters and emergencies in our schools.
  Mr. Speaker, on my last point, my thoughts continue to be with the 
victims and families of all those who have suffered and continue to 
suffer from the terrible tragedy that took place in Oklahoma earlier 
this week. We are just amazed and honor all of the efforts of school 
staff, teachers, and parents trying to get children out of harm's way, 
and our heart goes out to those who were unsuccessful. I hope that 
Congress can support these communities in healing in every possible 
way. As always, keeping kids safe requires the coordinated efforts of 
children, principals, superintendents, community partners, and parents.
  And protecting children from violence and freeing students to learn 
and better their lives means ensuring that states, districts, schools 
and communities have the resources and supports needed to implement 
evidence-based approaches that are tailored to the unique needs of 
children in that area.
  My bills are only part of the solution, but an important step 
forward.
  We owe it to parents and to the children and to the school officials 
who follow the rules to consider these bills.
  We also owe it to them to send a strong message that people who abuse 
children or do not do their jobs to keep children safe will face 
serious consequences.
  I hope that this Congress will be able to take an even more 
comprehensive approach to protect children in our schools and 
residential programs, and I urge all of my colleagues to support these 
bills.

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