[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 21, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





           STRONGER CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 20, 2019

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as the founding Chair of the 
Congressional Children's Caucus and a senior member of the Committee on 
the Judiciary, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2480, the 
``Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.''
  I support H.R. 2480 because this legislation will help states to 
address the recent rise in child abuse and neglect by providing 
strategic funding to build networks of prevention services designed to 
strengthen families and to improve the quality of child protective 
services.
  Madam Speaker, child abuse and neglect is a pervasive public health 
problem that continues to affect millions of children across the 
country.
  Although we witnessed significant declines in the rate of child abuse 
and neglect across the 1990s and 2000s, the rate of child maltreatment 
has ticked up in recent years as the opioid epidemic has devastated 
families and communities across the country.
  In 2017, more children received an investigation or response from 
child protective services agencies than any other time in the decade 
prior.
  It is long past time for the federal government to provide the 
necessary funding to reverse the rise in child maltreatment.
  The ``Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act'' authorizes 
$270 million for the expansion of prevention services to reach over 3 
million children annually and another $270 million to foster new 
research and support state child protective services agencies to expand 
services to meet increased demand without sacrificing quality.
  Madam Speaker, another reason I strongly support this legislation is 
that it will also help address child abuse and neglect by improving the 
quality of federal and state data.
  Specifically, the ``Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 
Act'' establishes uniform standards for counting child fatalities and 
near fatalities related to child maltreatment and will create an 
electronic system that allows states to share data from their child 
abuse and neglect registries with other states.
  H.R. 2480 also combats childhood maltreatment and protects children 
by initiating protocol designed to detect infant abuse earlier, prevent 
child injuries and fatalities and halting the effects of maltreatment 
before they even develop.
  By supporting the training and careers of medical and child welfare 
professionals, the ``Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 
Act'' will help successfully identify and respond to signs of potential 
abuse in infants under age three, better protecting them from the 
immediate and lifelong negative impacts of childhood maltreatment and 
offering an ensured solution to end abuse.
  Madam Speaker, it is unconscionable that 1 in 7 children in the 
United States suffers from child abuse or neglect.
  The effects of this abuse are far-reaching and severe, hindering a 
child's mental, physical, and emotional development with consequences 
that may follow the person through his or her lifetime.
  Childhood maltreatment has also been linked to higher risk for a wide 
range of long-term and future health concerns, including diabetes, lung 
disease, and cancer.
  It does not have to be this way, Madam Speaker, and we can do 
something about it, starting with passage of H.R. 2480, the ``Stronger 
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.''

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