[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 14, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H2159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING PREVENT CHILD ABUSE KENTUCKY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Barr) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Child Abuse 
Prevention Month and to highlight the important work of Prevent Child 
Abuse Kentucky.
  This organization is on the front lines to make sure that Kentucky's 
children are raised in a safe, loving home and are not abused, 
mistreated, or neglected. Their staff of eight train thousands of 
people annually. Their parent education groups, offered in every region 
of our Commonwealth, serve more than 10,000 people every year. 
Thousands of pinwheels will blanket the Commonwealth of Kentucky this 
month, all with the hopes of drawing awareness of child abuse and 
neglect in our communities, and there is much work to do.
  According to the most recent national statistics on child abuse, an 
estimated 1,520 children died from abuse and neglect in the United 
States, and that was in 2013 alone. An estimated 679,000 children were 
victims of abuse and neglect, and those are unique instances. Children 
in the first year of their lives had the highest rate of victimization, 
that of 23.1 per 1,000 children in the national population of the same 
age. Just under 80 percent of reported child fatalities as a result of 
abuse and neglect were caused by one or more of the child victim's 
parents.
  This is a personal cause for me. As the father of two girls and as 
the former president of the board of directors for Prevent Child Abuse 
Kentucky, I am incredibly proud of the great work that this group is 
doing for Kentucky children all year long. I hope all of my colleagues 
will join me in thanking Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky and similar 
organizations around the country as we recognize the critical work of 
these important groups and as we recognize the importance of National 
Child Abuse Prevention Month.

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