[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 3, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3351-S3352]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Speak Up Act

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise this morning just before the noon 
hour to talk about our children, a topic which does not get nearly 
enough attention in Washington. I will try to focus on just one issue. 
Both parties in this body and in the other body indicate, on a pretty 
frequent basis, that they are in favor of supporting strategies to 
protect and to help our children, but not enough attention is paid to 
what that strategy should be and what the elements of it should be.
  I believe it should at least have four major components. One is to 
make sure children have every opportunity for more early learning. In 
addition, we need to make sure more children are covered by health 
insurance and get quality health care. We made a lot of strides in that 
in the last couple of decades, but we still have a ways to go.
  We need to make sure children are protected, an issue I will speak 
about today in particular. Obviously, we want to put in place better 
strategies to make sure children have enough to eat and are eating food 
that is nutritious. So today I will focus on the question of 
protection.
  We know that as we head into the last couple of days of the school 
year, children are starting to look forward to summer activities such 
as camp and summer sports and other activities. That is the good news. 
The bad news is that can create opportunities for people who would do 
them harm. It is important to reiterate the responsibility adults have 
generally but in particular at this time of the year.
  Adults have an abiding responsibility to protect children from harm 
and to speak up, literally to speak up when

[[Page S3352]]

they suspect a child is a victim of abuse or neglect. We know many 
cases of abuse and neglect go unreported, sometimes for years, 
sometimes even until a child has died or suffered other terrible 
consequences as a result of years of neglect or abuse.
  For example, in 2012, in Pennsylvania there were 3,565 substantiated 
reports of child abuse and neglect. Across the Nation, 678,047 children 
were victims of abuse and neglect in the country as a whole, although I 
think it is important to point out the number I read from Pennsylvania: 
3,565 substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect.
  That means two things: It was reported, and we know the overwhelming 
number do not get reported. So even among the category of those that 
were reported, they had to be substantiated reports of abuse and 
neglect. I believe if we had just a broad category of children in our 
State--and it is true of a lot of other States as well--who are the 
victims of abuse and neglect, it would far exceed 3,565 cases, but that 
number alone is horrific and should cause us to do a lot more than we 
are doing, not just in Pennsylvania but around the country. We saw in 
Pennsylvania a horrific example. Many people read the news about Penn 
State over the last couple of years. In that case, children were being 
abused by an individual they were supposed to be able to trust, an 
authority figure and other authority figures who did little about 
reporting it.
  We know there is a significant variation across the country in the 
types or categories of adults who are required by law to report 
suspected or known child abuse and neglect. Not all States require, for 
example, camp counselors to be so-called mandated reporters under the 
law, meaning an adult who has a legal duty by statute to report on 
child abuse or suspected child abuse. Some States have a long list of 
categories, some States have shorter lists. We know not all States 
require camp counselors or even coaches to report instances. So we need 
to do something about that. That is why I have introduced legislation 
to directly address it.
  The Speak Up to Protect Every Abused Kid Act, which is more simply 
known as the Speak Up Act, would require all States to pass and enforce 
a law requiring adults with a professional responsibility to children 
to report instances of known or suspected child abuse in order for 
States to receive funding through the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act, the so-called CAPTA legislation, the Federal statute 
that focuses on child abuse and neglect prevention and response.
  So if they are going to have the benefit of those Federal dollars, 
they have to do more to protect children. That is what we are saying to 
States. The legislation will close a loophole that allows abusers to 
get away with heinous crimes and emphasize the responsibility of all 
adults to protect children from abuse and neglect.
  States have a wide variety of standards, as I mentioned, for whom 
they designate as so-called mandated reporters. Some States require all 
medical professionals to be mandated reporters. Others only specify 
certain types of health care providers. Under the Speak Up Act, States 
would have to require all of these adults to be mandated reporters or 
forfeit their Federal funding under the so-called CAPTA Act, the Child 
Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act.
  The Speak Up Act also requires that these mandated reporters give 
their reports directly to State authorities responsible for 
investigating child abuse and neglect. In some States, and in 
Pennsylvania I am pleased to report, there is a unified system of 
reporting, which is called the ChildLine, that accepts all reports. In 
this case, in Pennsylvania, one could call an 800 number and report 
child abuse and neglect.
  I have asked myself--and I am not sure we will ever get the answer to 
this--what if--not only in a random set of cases but in the case of 
Penn State--one adult or more than one adult had called an 800 number 
early in the case history, even with a suspicion, reason, or grounded 
in fact, but a suspicion or direct evidence of child abuse? What if 
they had called that number. Could children have been protected; could 
child abuse have been prevented?
  I don't know the answer, but I think if more people use that kind of 
method, they might be able to prevent a lot more cases of abuse.
  Other States may require reporting to law enforcement or so-called 
child protective agencies.
  Finally, the act itself, the Speak Up Act, closes a loophole in an 
existing law that can leave children in danger because their abuser is 
from another State or because a child was visiting another State when 
he or she was abused.
  In the summer this becomes especially relevant when children may be 
attending camps where they are not just going back and forth to camp--a 
camp where they stay overnight, night after night, or other programs 
where they might have access to or be enrolled in, I should say, 
another State. Under the Speak Up Act, we make it clear that the State 
where the incident occurred has the obligation to investigate the 
incident, and other States must help if necessary. So that gives a 
further protection to children that is not in the law today.
  The legislation in the Speak Up Act will provide as well standard 
reporting requirements across all States while still allowing States to 
go beyond what is required if they seek to do that.
  I don't know why we don't have this in law already. Why should we 
have a variety of measures in place to protect children? We should 
standardize that. Every State should meet a certain minimum standard 
when it comes to protecting children. If States want to add people to 
their mandated reporter list, require more adults or more categories of 
adults to be listed, then they could do that, but there should be a 
standard reporting requirement across the country.
  So as we begin the summer, I urge adults who work with children to 
remember their responsibility to speak up and to act to protect 
children, to make sure they know how to report abuse and neglect, if 
necessary.
  If you are in that category of mandated reporters already, you 
obviously not only have a legal duty to report, but I think you have a 
responsibility to find out today how you report, what method will you 
employ, what resource will you access to report instances of child 
abuse or suspected child abuse. But even if you are not sure you are in 
that category of mandated reporter, if you are an adult and you have an 
obligation to or your job entails working with children, I believe you 
have an obligation to find out not only when you are a mandated 
reporter but how you can report suspected cases of abuse and neglect.
  Of course, if you are an adult, it may not be legally required. It 
doesn't, of course, foreclose the possibility that you could and should 
report instances of abuse and neglect, even if you don't have a legal 
duty.
  I believe every adult has some kind of duty--maybe not in law but 
certainly a duty as a citizen and as an adult--to be vigilant, to keep 
your eyes open, and to focus your attention on protecting children. We 
all have an abiding obligation.
  This is a time of the year when children have a lot of time away from 
school, and they have a lot of enjoyment in the summer. We should make 
sure we are being very vigilant, though, at this time of the year to 
speak up and to protect our children.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  Ms. STABENOW. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.