[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 174 (Tuesday, December 10, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1821-E1822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              KILAH DAVENPORT CHILD PROTECTION ACT OF 2013

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                     HON. ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 9, 2013

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, we all agree that child abuse is 
a horrific problem, and the abuse of Kilah Davenport is a tragedy. We 
must take appropriate steps to try to prevent such future tragedies.
  Child abuse is a widespread problem. In 2011, approximately 681,000 
children were victims of maltreatment, and approximately 3.3 million 
children received preventative services from Child Protective Services 
agencies in the United States. Furthermore, nearly five children die 
every day in America from abuse and neglect, and more than 78 percent 
of reported child fatalities as a result of abuse and neglect were 
caused by one or more of the child victim's parents.
  In addition to harming children directly, child abuse contributes to 
future crime.
  Children who experience child abuse and neglect are about 9 times 
more likely to become involved in criminal activity. We should 
therefore get serious about reducing child abuse by enacting the type 
of meaningful legislation proven to actually reduce child abuse--and 
save money in the process--like nurse family partnerships.
  Nurse family partnerships are an evidence-based community health 
program that provide home visits from registered nurses to low-income, 
first-time moms from pregnancy until the child turns two years old. In 
medical and scientific journals, nurse family partnerships are most 
often cited as the most effective intervention to prevent child abuse 
and neglect.
  The approach of H.R. 3627 is to allow sentences of up to 10 years for 
those convicted for the third time for domestic abuse which, with this 
bill, will include child abuse. But it only applies to those offenses 
committed in national parks, military bases, Indian country, and on 
other federal land.
  So of all of the cases of child abuse committed nationally, this bill 
unfortunately reaches only a negligible portion of the cases--those 
committed on federal land by people with two prior offenses.
  Moreover, I am concerned that by increasing the penalties for third 
offenses, this bill implies that federal judges don't know what to do

[[Page E1822]]

with a defendant convicted for a third time of these heinous offenses.
  As I have described, child abuse is a serious problem, and in order 
to determine the appropriateness of expanding federal laws, we should 
have had a hearing on this issue, which we did not. We have received no 
evidence suggesting that federal judges impose such sentences on these 
third-time offenders that they keep getting out of prison and 
committing child abuse again.
  The reason the bill before us today can only apply to federal lands 
is because we do not have jurisdiction over local crimes. The issue of 
child abuse is traditionally a matter for the states, and therefore 
this issue might have been best, first considered by the over-
criminalization task force.
  If our goal is to actually reduce the ravages of child abuse, we 
should not limit our efforts to the negligible number of prosecutable 
cases involving third offenses on federal lands.
  I say prosecutable because most child abuse is not reported at all, 
and many chases that are reported are difficult to prosecute because 
family members may be unwilling to testify against one another. In 
fact, we have received no evidence that this bill would have even 
applied to the Kilah Davenport case, which does not appear to have 
occurred on federal land or have been committed by a third-time 
offender.
  We need to focus federal efforts on supporting programs which will 
prevent these crimes from happening in the first place.
  H.R. 3627 does, however, include a worthwhile provision that requires 
the Attorney General to issue a report outlining the child abuse laws 
in the 50 states. The states can then review their statutes to see how 
they compare to other states and decide if their state laws need to be 
amended.
  I agree with the desire to do more to protect our children from such 
tragic victimization, and we should work together to reduce child 
abuse. However, I think there are better ways to do it.

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