[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 23847-23859]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Jenkins). Pursuant to House Resolution 
321 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of 
the Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the 
bill, H.R. 764.

                              {time}  1432


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 764) to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect, and for 
other purposes, with Mr. Hansen in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as having 
been read the first time.
  Under the rule, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum) and the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum).
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. I rise in support of H.R. 764, the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Enforcement Act.
  The bill was introduced by the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) and 
has 54 cosponsors and bipartisan support. The Crime Subcommittee of the 
Committee on the Judiciary held a legislative hearing on the bill on 
May 12, 1999; and last week, the full Committee on the Judiciary 
ordered the bill favorably reported by a voice vote.
  The purpose of the bill is to increase the funds available for the 
investigation of child abuse crimes and programs designed to prevent 
child abuse and other domestic violence. It will do this by amending 
existing grant programs that provide funds to States for crime-related 
purposes so that funds can also be used to provide child protective 
workers and child welfare workers access to criminal conviction 
information and orders of protection.
  These workers often do not have access to criminal history records 
and information and may be unaware that when they place a child in 
foster care or return a child to a parent, that they are placing the 
child in the custody of a person with a criminal history. Allowing 
these Federal funds to provide child protective and child welfare 
workers with access to State records will help alleviate this problem.
  This bill would accomplish this purpose by doing two things. First, 
section 2 of the bill would amend a small Justice Department grant 
program that currently helps States provide equipment and personnel 
training for closed circuit television and videotaping of the testimony 
of children in criminal child abuse cases.
  H.R. 764 would permit the Department to make grants for an additional 
purpose, namely, to provide child protective workers and child welfare 
workers in public and private agencies access to criminal conviction 
information and orders of protection based on the claim of domestic or 
child abuse or to improve law enforcement access to judicial custody 
orders, visitation orders, protective orders, and guardianship orders.
  Section 3 of the bill would modify the federal crime control 
assistance program known as the Byrne Grant Program. This program 
authorizes the Federal Government to award both block grants and 
discretionary grants for specified activities. Block grants are 
allocated to the State on the basis of population and are to be used 
for personnel, equipment, training, technical assistance, and 
information systems to improve criminal justice systems. The 
discretionary program funds are distributed to non-federal public and 
private organizations undertaking projects that educate criminal 
justice personnel or that provide technical assistance to State and 
local governments.
  The Byrne Grant statute specifies 26 permissible uses for these 
funds. This bill proposes to amend the Byrne Grant program to add an 
additional permissible use for these funds, namely, ``to enforce child 
abuse and neglect laws

[[Page 23848]]

and programs designed to prevent child abuse and neglect.''
  Third, Section 4 of the bill would amend the Victims of Crime Act of 
1984. This law was passed to assist States in directly compensating and 
providing support services for victims and families of victims of 
violent crimes. Funding for this purpose comes from the Federal Crime 
Victims Fund, into which are deposited criminal fines, penalty 
assessments, and forfeited appearance bonds of persons convicted of 
crimes against the United States. In fiscal year 1998, $363 million was 
deposited into this fund for distribution in FY 1999.
  There are two principal programs established under the act. The 
victims' compensation program provides funds to States which have in 
place their own programs to compensate victims of crime. The Federal 
funds are used by States to reimburse victims of violent crimes or 
their survivors for non-reimbursable medical costs, lost wages and 
support, and funeral expenses arising from a crime-related injury or 
death.
  The victims' assistance program also provides grants to States which 
are then authorized to distribute the funds to support public and 
nonprofit agencies that provide direct services to victims of crime, 
such as 24-hour crisis hotlines for victims of sexual assault and 
shelters for victims of spousal abuse.
  Under current law, the first $10 million of the funds deposited in 
the fund each year are to be expended by the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services for grants relating to child abuse prevention and 
treatment. Of the remaining funds, 48.5 percent are to be used for 
grants to State crime victims' compensation programs, 48.5 percent for 
victims' assistance programs, and 3 percent for grants for 
demonstration projects and training in technical assistance services to 
be eligible for crime assistance programs.
  H.R. 764 would increase the earmark for child abuse and domestic 
assistance programs from $10 million to $20 million. Doubling this 
earmark would, therefore, result in a $10 million reduction in the 
funds that would otherwise be available for grants to victims' 
compensation programs and victims' assistance programs.
  Mr. Chairman, we all know that much more needs to be done to reduce 
the incidence of child abuse and neglect across the country. It is a 
very serious problem, and Congress has an important role to play by 
assisting the States to do all they can to reduce the incidence of such 
abuse. It is vitally important for child care and protective agencies 
working in concert with law enforcement to have access to criminal 
history information. Getting timely and complete information to these 
agencies will save lives.
  I want to commend the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) for her work 
in making this bill possible and for working with the Crime 
Subcommittee to improve it.
  Later today, I will offer an amendment in the nature of a substitute 
to address the two concerns that I have with this bill.
  Mr. Chairman, I include the following Congressional Budget Office 
Cost Estimate for the Record:

                                                    U.S. Congress,


                                  Congressional Budget Office,

                                  Washington, DC, October 1, 1999.
     Hon. Henry J. Hyde,
     Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of 
         Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
     prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 764, the Child 
     Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act.
       If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
     pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark 
     Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Barry B. Anderson
                                             (For Dan L. Crippen).
       Enclosure.

       Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate, October 1, 1999


   H.R. 764: Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act, As ordered 
 reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on September 28, 1999

       CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 764 would not result 
     in any significant cost to the federal government. Because 
     enactment of H.R. 764 could affect direct spending, pay-as-
     you-go procedures would apply to the bill. However, CBO 
     estimates that any impact on direct spending would not be 
     significant. H.R. 764 contains no intergovernmental or 
     private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
     Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or 
     tribal governments.
       Under current law, the first $10 million available for 
     spending from the Crime Victims Fund is earmarked for grants 
     for child abuse victims; H.R. 764 would increase this 
     allotment to $20 million. The bill also would permit 
     recipients of certain grants from the Department of Justice 
     to use those funds for various child protection programs. 
     Because these provisions would reallocate federal funds among 
     similar activities, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 764 
     would not significantly change the net direct spending from 
     the Crime Victims Fund or the net discretionary spending from 
     the affected grant programs.
       The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz, 
     who can be reached at 226-2860. This estimate was approved by 
     Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget 
     Analysis.

  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleagues very much for the very hard work 
that they have put in for this legislation. I say to the gentlewoman 
from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones), the 
very difficult job of focusing on something so sensitive to be able to 
help us bring to the floor the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement 
Act, this is a good day for many of us.
  Mr. Chairman, so many of us have had a tragic story to talk about in 
our State as it relates to child abuse. I can call off the names of so 
many children in the State of Texas. As a convening chairperson of the 
Congressional Children's Caucus, one of the issues we have debated here 
in the United States Congress is the access of our children to mental 
health services.
  Many times our children are in need of counseling because they have 
suffered abuse in their homes. We are well aware of the very famous 
case in Colorado, JonBenet. Her murder is still unsolved, but we know 
that she met a very tragic death; and, as well, we know that the 
perpetrator is still at large.
  In addition, we are quite familiar with a case that I saw just last 
evening, the case of little Collin in Florida, where time after time 
those who are responsible for protecting her life, taking her away from 
an abusive father, failed to see the abuse in the home until 
ultimately, out of anger of the parent, little Collin was killed.
  The problem of child abuse and neglect is disturbing and far-
reaching. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in a report 
issued in April of this year, indicated that there were over 950,000 
documented cases of child abuse and neglect in 1997.
  Further, in an earlier report, HHS indicated that while the number of 
child abuse and neglect cases has increased since 1986, the actual 
number of cases investigated by State agencies has remained about the 
same. As a result, the proportion of cases investigated has decreased 
from 44 percent in 1986 to 28 percent in 1993.
  Mr. Chairman, this is a failure on our part. This is again not 
holding to our responsibility to be the protectors of our children. The 
failure to adequately address the problem of child abuse and neglect is 
costly in many ways. First and foremost, there is a human tragedy 
related to the victimized child.
  How many of us, Mr. Chairman, have cried at the television and 
newspaper reports of the abused and sometimes mutilated bodies of dead 
and/or badly injured children? Obviously, abused and neglected children 
carry physical and emotional scars with them forever affecting every 
aspect of their life.
  Might I note that many times murderers who are murderers as adults, 
when we begin to look into their background, it has been determined, 
although the murder is of course no less horrible, that they were 
abused as children in their childhood.
  In addition, the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse estimated 
in 1993 that the annual cost of child welfare health care and out-of-
home care for abused and neglected children totaled $9 billion. I must 
add that this is

[[Page 23849]]

a conservative estimate in light of the fact that it does not include 
every related cost, such as long-term physical and mental impairment, 
emergency room care, lost productivity, special education services, and 
costs to adjudicate child abuse cases.
  That is why the Congressional Children's Caucus has focused on 
greater mental health access to children so that maybe in counseling 
some of those who have been heretofore afraid of talking about being 
abused will be able to tell an adult about their abuse.
  Yet another cause of child abuse is in the area of increased criminal 
activity. According to a 1992 U.S. Department of Justice report 
entitled the Cycle of Violence, 68 percent of youth arrested had a 
prior history of abuse and neglect. The study also indicated that 
childhood abuse increased the odds of future delinquency and, as I said 
earlier, in adult criminality by approximately 40 percent.
  On the positive side, we know how to address this problem. The 
National Child Abuse Coalition reports that family support programs and 
parental education have demonstrated that prevention efforts work. And 
as we have seen in the other areas, such as drug treatment programs, 
community-based programs, supporting families can be implemented to 
prevent child abuse for far less than the dollars it now costs to treat 
and manage a child abused and neglected.
  The legislation being considered today is a step in the right 
direction. I congratulate the proponents. This bill provides increased 
grant authority for services to abused or neglected children. It also 
provides an increase in the existing set-aside for child abuse and 
neglect services from the Crime Victims Fund, in which I hope that we 
will not cap it so that we will not be able to get those funds.
  The McCollum amendment provides for a formula which will tie the 
increased set-aside for child abuse and neglect services to the overall 
increase in the Crime Victims Fund. I support the amendment.
  I will offer an amendment to specify that this bill also covers 
children's sexual abuse, as noted by the evidence that suggests that 
JonBenet was sexually abused. It is clear that prevention and early 
treatment for child abuse and neglect victims benefits everyone. This 
bill represents a positive step in that direction and, as a result, I 
support H.R. 764, as amended, offered by the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. 
Pryce) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) and as amended by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum).
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Pryce) the author of this bill.
  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Florida 
for yielding me the time.
  Mr. Chairman, this morning, in coordination with today's House 
consideration of the CAPE Act, I and a number of my colleagues from 
both sides of the aisle toured the D.C.'s Children Advocacy Center, 
otherwise known as Safe Shores.
  For those who are not familiar with the children's advocacy centers 
like Safe Shores, they provide child abuse victims with a child-
friendly environment where they can seek initial treatment and 
examination under one roof in one visit.

                              {time}  1445

  This is far superior to the more traditional method which subjected 
children to a cold bureaucratic maze of probing and prodding that often 
have the unintended consequences of re-victimizing them.
  Mr. Chairman, like most children's advocacy centers, Safe Shores has 
a toy room which is where the cruel reality of child abuse really comes 
to life. I think we would all agree that toys should represent happy 
times in children's lives, but at Safe Shores they are merely temporary 
distractions from the nightmare inflicted upon them by adults who 
should be loving them. It is for those children at Safe Shores and all 
abused children around our Nation that I introduced the CAPE act and 
why we must pass it today.
  The CAPE Act focuses on two critically important aspects of child 
abuse, prevention and improved treatment of child abuse victims. 
Moreover, the bill recognizes that it is those on the front lines in 
our communities who are in the best position to make a difference for 
our children, the child protection workers, the police, the judges, the 
court-appointed special advocates, the doctors and nurses, the foster 
families, and the volunteers, just to name a few.
  In a nutshell, this bill takes three important steps to help 
children, and they have already been described by the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. McCollum), so I will not go into the technical aspects; 
but suffice it to say that all the money for this bill comes from 
forfeited assets, forfeited bail bonds, fines paid to the Government, 
not taxpayers' dollars.
  So, without tapping the U.S. Treasury, the bill will increase the 
amount of funds which can be used for such things as training child 
abuse investigators, training child protection workers, and the 
development of children's advocacy centers like the one I toured this 
morning in Washington and the one which is evolving at Children's 
Hospital in my own hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
  In fact, I am very proud that Children's Hospital soon will be 
embarking on a brand new state-of-the-art children's advocacy center on 
its campus in Columbus, building on its 10 years of experience and 
success in its existing location inside the hospital.
  Also, this bill gives State and local officials the flexibility to 
use existing grants to provide child protection agencies access to 
criminal history records. This will help ensure that abused and 
neglected children are placed in safe foster and adoptive homes as 
expeditiously as possible so that they do not languish any longer than 
necessary in bureaucratic limbo.
  The bill will make a difference in the lives of children without any 
additional cost to the taxpayer. It removes federally imposed straight-
jackets on Federal funds and gives local folks the flexibility to 
invest in our children as they know best how to.
  Quite appropriately, Deborah Sendek, Director of Columbus Children's 
Advocacy Center at Children's Hospital is with me today in Washington, 
for she is on the front lines in the fight to protect our children. It 
is heroes like this that the bill is designed to empower in their 
tireless efforts to bring care and comfort to our children to make sure 
that they are protected from their abusers.
  In closing, I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
McCollum), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime, and the chairman, 
the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), for all their perseverance in 
helping me bring the CAPE Act from the Committee on the Judiciary, to 
the House floor. I also want to express my gratitude to the original 
cosponsors of this bill, the distinguished majority whip, the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. DeLay), who is a devoted foster parent and a tireless 
champion of the CAPE Act, to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Ewing), 
to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), and last but not 
least, to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones), my fellow colleague 
from the Buckeye State, who has so much experience in this issue.
  Finally, I want to tip my hat to all the child advocates around the 
Nation in our communities, some of whom are here today, for all they do 
to nurture and treat victims of child abuse.
  Mr. Chairman, abused children do not have high-priced lobbyists in 
Washington, nor are they a powerful voting block; but they are counting 
on us to act on their behalf, and the CAPE Act is for them. I urge 
adoption of this CAPE Act.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones), the original 
Democratic cosponsor of this legislation.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, first of all I would like to thank 
my colleague, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), my 
colleague, the gentlewoman from Ohio

[[Page 23850]]

(Ms. Pryce), and all the other persons that were original sponsors and 
cosponsors on this piece of legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, I will not repeat what has been said by the other 
presenters as to what the CAPE Act will do. What I want to speak to is 
why the CAPE Act is so necessary.
  I served for 8 years as the prosecutor from Cuyahoga County, Ohio. In 
Cuyahoga County I had 180 assistants, and many of them were responsible 
for prosecuting child abuse cases. One of the things that I realized as 
prosecutor was the need to specially train prosecutors who worked in 
that area. They needed to be able to speak to a young child witness; 
they needed to be able to understand and see when that child was 
drawing back and understand the behavioral manifestations from child 
abuse. They needed to be able to speak with a child-protection worker 
and have a worker who was as well trained as they were. They needed 
police officers who were also specially trained in dealing with child 
abuse victims.
  Ultimately, we made a determination that we had to come up with an 
organization or interagency group that could handle these types of 
cases, and that is why what the CAPE Act will be able to do is so very 
important. Many of the child protection workers who work throughout 
this country need additional training. Many of them come right out of 
school into child protection work. Many of them find that because of 
the type of job that they are involved in, burnout comes quickly; and 
there are very few opportunities for reward or encouragement. Through 
providing dollars through the Byrne grant for training, we will be able 
to say to these child-protection workers, You are important to us. You 
are important to us not only because of who you are, but who you work 
with.
  They will be working with young people, young abuse victims and 
providing dollars for their training is of particular importance. We 
were able to, through the work that we did and ads at the advocacy 
center that we visited today, to see that there were joint interviews 
being done with a one-way mirror so that in the course of being 
interviewed or handled as a young person or a child victim, they were 
not abused over and over again by so many interviews. That takes 
special technique, that takes great experience, and the funds that we 
are proposing from the Byrne grant will also be able to be used for 
training in that area.
  It is very important also to understand that the work that forms the 
basis of the child-protection workers' work becomes the basis or 
foundation of the prosecutor's case as we go to trial; and very often 
we find ourselves in Cuyahoga County not being able to win some of our 
cases because early work done in those cases was not appropriately 
done, and it was not because the people working in the area were not 
able to do the job. It was because they were overwhelmed or maybe not 
specially trained in the area of child abuse and child sexual and 
physical abuse.
  So these dollars are good, could be used for that training area. I 
want to salute all the child-protection workers, police officers, 
prosecutors who work out in this area and tell them that we really need 
them to continue to work hard, and by working to pass the Child Abuse 
Prevention and Enforcement Act, we are saying to them, we know you're 
important, and you're important enough for us to set aside an 
allocation specifically in the Byrne grant funds for you to be trained 
and you to be saluted for the work that you do.
  I want to thank all of my colleagues who are here and in support of 
this legislation.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. DeLay) who is our majority whip.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Chairman, I too want to thank the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. McCollum) for bringing this very important piece of 
legislation to the floor, and I particularly want to thank the two 
gentlewomen from Ohio for all the hard work in putting this together; 
but I particularly want to thank one of my staff members, Autumn 
Hannah, whose tireless work and her work in raising the visibility of 
the abused and neglected children in this country has been so 
exemplary, and we greatly appreciate all her hard work.
  Mr. Chairman, abuse against children is one of the unpardonable sins 
we must all work to end in this country. The Child Abuse Prevention and 
Enforcement Act takes a big step towards making America safer for all 
of our most vulnerable youngsters. There is no topic more important and 
no issue more pressing than the welfare of our Nation's children. But 
for far too long the tragedy of abuse has been swept under the rug. The 
result is that the culture of abuse continues because we, as a Nation, 
have at times been afraid to admit our own failings.
  It is time for the silence to end. It is time for the years of 
relative inactivity to be turned into humane action. After all, the 
health of a society is easily reflected in how it treats its most 
vulnerable.
  Today, too many of our young ones are having their innocence stripped 
away. Two years ago there were three million cases of child abuse and 
neglect in this country. Today, as I speak, there are at least a half a 
million American kids in foster care because it is not safe enough for 
them to live with their own families.
  These numbers are as staggering as they are hard to comprehend. The 
sheer sadness that poisons so many little lives must move us all to 
action. There are many ways that we can help, though the task is 
complicated. At the Federal level we have to help lift our children out 
of despair while simultaneously giving more flexibility to States to 
deal with their own local concerns. In other words, we must take action 
and get out of the way and not interfere with the good work that is 
already taking place.
  Nationally, billions upon billions of dollars have been spent on 
child welfare programs, but this is not just a question of dollars and 
cents because it would be worth every dime if money was the solution to 
ending abuse and neglect. But money is not the solution, and a one-
size-fits all Federal program often allows too many children to fall 
through the cracks.
  Such failure directly translates into trouble for our communities in 
the future as children with a bad formation predictably make bad 
choices in life. No one is surprised to learn that there is a 
correlation between adolescent crime and child abuse, but this is a 
cycle of trouble that we can beat. CAPE is the first step towards that 
goal.
  This legislation allows State and local officials to take advantage 
of existing Byrne law enforcement grants for child prevention work. It 
also allows localities to use the identification technology act to 
provide criminal history records to child protection agencies. These 
measures simply make use of resources that already exist while cutting 
out wasteful repetitive action from different agencies and different 
levels of government.
  Along with these steps, CAPE also increases the set-aside for child 
abuse services and the crime victim fund, all of which comes from 
nontaxpayer dollars. In short, this bill expands services, cuts red 
tape, and works within already existing programs. It is good for 
government at the Federal level, better for State governments and most 
importantly, it is great for victims of abuse that it seeks to protect.
  Just one example of the good work CAPE assists is the court-appointed 
special advocate, a group of volunteers who provide millions of hours 
to have courtroom support for abused children. In Texas alone, these 
programs save the Federal Government an estimated $80 million a year at 
least, all while maximizing support services for children and 
minimizing their time in foster care, but this is just one program of 
so many. The point is that there are no shortage of ways and no lack of 
ideas in the fight to prevent child abuse and neglect; there is only a 
lack of involvement.
  Mr. Chairman, too many Americans sit on their hands idly while others 
raise their hands in silence; but in most cases, Mr. Chairman, people 
simply do not know how they can make a difference in the lives of 
children. One easy way is to support this legislation.

[[Page 23851]]


  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the 
distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings).
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding this time to me and I want to thank her for all her hard work 
in this area and the sponsors of this legislation, I thank them too. As 
lawmakers and human beings we have an obligation to care, to care that 
every 12 minutes in my home State of Maryland one child is reported 
abused or neglected.

                              {time}  1500

  To care that currently 50 out of 1,000 children are reported 
maltreated, and to care that 2,000 children die each year as a result 
of abuse or neglect. But our higher duty is to transfer this care into 
prevention. H.R. 764 does this by providing for increased funding for 
prevention training, child advocacy and treatment, and increased access 
by protective service workers to criminal conviction records.
  The Children's Defense Fund logo, written by a child, states quite 
succinctly: ``Dear Lord, be good to me; the sea is so wide and my boat 
is so small.''
  Mr. Chairman, if we do not demonstrate that we care, this child and 
all others abused and neglected across this land will drift away in 
their small boats and eventually sink and die.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Gilman).
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to rise in strong support of H.R. 764, the 
Child Abuse Prevention Act. And I thank the sponsor of this important 
legislation, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce); and the 
distinguished subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
McCollum); for bringing the measure before us today; and the ranking 
minority member, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee); the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones); and our distinguished whip for 
supporting this measure.
  The U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect reports that 2,000 
children die each year as a result of abuse or neglect. Moreover, it 
has been reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
that there has been a 1.7 percent increase over the prior year of 
substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect. As we begin to enter 
the next century, it is imperative that we make certain that we take 
care of our Nation's children. Our future as a Nation and as a caring 
people depend on that.
  History will not look kindly upon a society that chose to ignore the 
plight of its children over issues of politics, wealth, or new 
technology. Accordingly, it is imperative that Congress provide our 
local communities and our States the tools needed to end child abuse 
and neglect.
  This measure, H.R. 764, will permit the Department of Justice to 
provide the kind of grants to States for the enforcement of laws to 
prevent child abuse and will provide technical assistance to local law 
enforcement to help in that battle.
  Accordingly, I urge all of my colleagues to fully support this 
important measure.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Chairman, they say that home is where the heart 
is, but where is the home of a child whose heart beats rapidly in fear 
that he will be beaten black and blue because dad has had a bad day at 
work today? What about the child who avoids his drunk mother for fear 
that he may irritate her?
  Because of the alarming statistics of child abuse today, at least 
500,000 children in the United States are making foster care, group 
shelters, and other institutions their permanent homes. As responsible 
legislators, it is imperative that we work to ensure safety for all of 
our children. We must do everything within our power to foster healthy 
environments where children can learn, can play, and can prepare to be 
the future of our country.
  With statistics on child abuse ever increasing, it is evident that 
CAPE, the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act, is very needed. 
This legislation will help to improve conditions faced by at-risk 
children by expanding technology and enabling child protecting agencies 
to access criminal history records.
  I challenge our colleagues to commit themselves to finding a solution 
for child abuse and take the first step by voting to pass the Child 
Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act.
  I congratulate our colleague, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce), 
for her leadership in sponsoring this bill that was also a legislative 
priority for our mutual friend, former Congresswoman Sue Molinari. I 
especially want to acknowledge the hard work of the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. DeLay), who has made fighting child abuse a key legislative 
priority for all of us through our Shine the Light on the Children in 
the Darkness project.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, it is my distinct pleasure to 
yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. 
Morella).
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Chairman, I first of all want to thank the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), who chairs the Children's 
Caucus, for yielding me time. I also want to commend the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. McCollum), who will be offering a floor manager's 
amendment to this bill, who chairs the Subcommittee on Crime of the 
Committee on the Judiciary who helped this bill through. The 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) on one side, the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Pryce) on one side, and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay). 
Boy, if this is not a good example of bipartisan cooperation on an 
issue that is so very important.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise obviously in strong support of the Child Abuse 
Prevention and Enforcement Act, the CAPE Act, introduced by the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce), to be amended by a floor manager's 
amendment. It expands the Byrne grants to allow the States flexibility 
in programs for child abuse protection services and also for programs 
to prevent the incidence of child abuse.
  Just citing some of the statistics, the National Committee to Prevent 
Child Abuse reports that in 1994, over 3 million children were reported 
to child protective service agencies for child abuse and neglect. This 
is in the United States, and the numbers continue to increase. 
Currently about 47 out of every 1,000 children are reported as victims 
of child mistreatment, and overall child abuse reporting levels have 
increased 63 percent between 1985 and 1994.
  Well, based on these numbers, more than 3 children die each day as a 
result of child abuse or neglect or a combination of neglectful and 
physically abusive parenting, and approximately 45 percent of these 
deaths occur to children known to child protective service agencies as 
current or prior clients.
  Prevention, early intervention, and protection are the three 
components of child abuse programs that the Interdisciplinary Report on 
At-Risk Children and Families recommended. Prevention efforts build on 
the resources presented in local communities by encouraging residents 
to participate in awareness programs. Special outreach components are 
recommended to ensure early intervention by establishing at-risk 
behaviors for educators and parents. The third component, protection 
services, focuses on protecting the child while keeping the family 
together by providing in-home services. These three principles, so 
needed, are all examples of grant funded programs increased by H.R. 
764.
  This bill, the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act, expands a 
key element of preventing child abuse and neglect by providing access 
to services that address specific needs of local communities. Services 
must be responsive to the range of ongoing and changing needs of both 
children and families. The bill allows individual States and 
communities to develop and update their programs to meet these changing 
needs.
  Mr. Chairman, I conclude with something that I think exemplifies it 
all. It

[[Page 23852]]

was once stated that if you touch a rock, you touch the past, and if 
you touch a flower, you touch the present, and if you touch a child, 
you touch the future.
  This bill is critically important. I urge my colleagues to support 
this urgently needed legislation.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Granger).
  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Child Abuse 
Prevention and Enforcement Act, and I give my great appreciation to 
those who have brought this act to the floor of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Chairman McCollum), the gentlewoman from Ohio 
(Ms. Pryce), and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  I do so because I believe a society is measured in large part by how 
it treats the young and the most vulnerable. This bill seeks to help 
communities to help themselves by giving them the tools to stop and 
prevent child abuse.
  The bill would give local and State officials the flexibility to use 
the Byrne Law Enforcement Act for Child Abuse Prevention, and increase 
the earmark for child abuse victims out of the crime victims fund.
  These simple steps are not earth shattering, but they could actually 
be life saving. By giving our States and local communities increased 
resources, we decrease the chances of losing our children to the 
predators of child abuse. Now, that is an investment worth making, and 
that is legislation I am proud to support.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Enforcement Act.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 3 
minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Millender-McDonald).
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the 
chairman and the ranking member and all of those who are associated 
with this very important piece of legislation, and like to commend my 
colleague, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) for her amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, as a mother of five and a grandmother of four and a 
former teacher, I know the importance of bringing up children in 
healthy environments that protect them from abuse and neglect. 
According to the Children's Defense Fund, in my home State of 
California every minute a child is reported as being abused or 
neglected. That translates to 60 children being abused and neglected 
during the 1 hour of debate that has been allotted for this bill. That 
is why it is evident that we need H.R. 764. The CAPE Act would allow 
additional grant monies to enhance services related to child abuse and 
neglect cases. Also it would expand the definition of abuse under 
existing law to include the taking of a child in violation of a court 
order.
  These are just but two, Mr. Chairman, of the great provisions of this 
CAPE Act. I am indeed happy to be standing here in a bipartisan effort 
to pass such an important bill.
  As a member of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus and the 
Co-Vice Chair of the Women's Caucus, I urge all of my colleagues to 
join us in voting ``yes'' to H.R. 764. We need to do more to prevent 
abuse and neglect and protect our children, which are, of course, our 
future.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Ewing).
  Mr. EWING. Mr. Chairman, my association with the sponsor of this bill 
goes back to the last Congress when Susan Molinari, Congresswoman 
Molinari from New York, introduced a similar piece of legislation, and 
I was a cosponsor of it.
  I am very pleased this time to be a cosponsor, along with our good 
friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce). The need 
here is really great, and this bill, while it does not spend a lot of 
extra money, I think we are going to get a lot more bang for our buck 
if we pass this bill.
  Each day there are 9,000 reports of child abuse in America. That 
totals out to over 3 million cases in a year. Since 1987, the total 
number of reports of child abuse nationwide have gone up 47 percent. Of 
the cases of abuse, 54 percent result in a fatality, and over 18,000 
children were permanently disabled as a result of physical abuse. 
Finally, those who are abused as children, when they become adults, are 
more apt to abuse their own children.
  This is a problem in our society of enormous magnitude. It gets at 
the very basis of the next generation and future generations, and is 
something that we must do all that we can to address.
  I think this is an excellent piece of legislation, and we should 
overwhelmingly pass it.

                              {time}  1515

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Foley).
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman and the gentleman from 
Florida for yielding time to me.
  Mr. Chairman, childhood is the time of life that should be treasured 
and protected. The truth is, many children are robbed of their 
innocence or even worse at the hands of abuse.
  Even while our overall national crime statistics have declined 
dramatically, child abuse continues to rise. The U.S. Advisory Board on 
Child Abuse and Neglect reports that 2000 children die each year as a 
result of abuse and neglect. In the State of Florida alone, a child is 
reported abused or neglected every 3 minutes. With these statistics, it 
is clear our Nation needs to do more to protect our children from 
abuse. We need to do everything we can to prevent it from happening in 
the first place.
  Child abuse and prevention not only help protect the child, it also 
helps protect society in the long run, since statistics show that 
abused children are more likely to commit future acts of child abuse 
and domestic violence.
  Last year the Volunteers for Children Act, a bill that I sponsored, 
was signed into law by the President. Volunteers for children will help 
protect children in after-school activities from being in the care of 
people with dangerous criminal records. This is an important step, but 
it is certainly not enough. We must attack child abuse at every 
opportunity, by investigating reported abuse thoroughly, by ensuring 
that children are not returned to abusive environments they have been 
taken out of, and by making penalties for convicted abusers much 
tougher.
  Furthermore, we must ensure that children have safe places to go 
whenever they are in danger. As such, we need to continue empowering 
those on the State and local level in their efforts to prevent child 
abuse and treat victims.
  That is what the CAPE Act is designed to do, to give local and State 
officials the flexibility to use law enforcement grants for child abuse 
prevention. It would increase the earmark, currently $10 million for 
child abuse victims, out of the Crime Victims Fund. This funding can be 
used by the States for important things such as training child 
protective service workers; training court-appointed special advocates; 
and child advocacy centers, which are one-stop child-friendly places 
where all parts of an abused child examination and treatment are 
brought together under one roof.
  Among others, the CAPE Act is supported by the National Child Abuse 
Coalition, which includes the Children's Defense Fund and the Child 
Welfare League, Prevent Child Abuse America, the Christian Coalition, 
the Family Research Council, and the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children.
  I urge my colleagues to join these groups in supporting the bill. I 
thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), and I thank again 
the chairman, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum), for being part 
of this great legislation.
  I urge adoption by the Members.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird).
  Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding time to me, and those who have sponsored this critically 
important legislation.

[[Page 23853]]

  Mr. Chairman, I am here today to address one of the most ugly, 
horrific crimes and experiences that can befall children, physical and 
sexual abuse. Before coming to Congress I spent more than 23 years of 
my life working as a psychologist in the mental health field helping to 
heal and counsel people who were the victims of child abuse and other 
terrible experiences.
  I can tell Members that as ugly as it is, child abuse cannot be 
wished away. It is something we have to face square on, and the bill we 
are addressing today will help us do precisely that.
  Earlier today I spoke with folks back in my own district, back in 
Vancouver, Washington. They told me some very frightening and troubling 
statistics. Referrals for child abuse were actually up in 1998 by 2 
percent from the previous year. In one year we had over 3,957 
referrals. Those are not just numbers, those are children whose lives 
have been harmed and damaged, and who will perhaps pass that harm on to 
others if we do not help them and intervene early on.
  Some might say, what is the big deal, it is just a 1 or 2 percent 
increase? But this is happening in the best of economic times. We know 
that child abuse goes up when economic times go bad, but if we are 
having this many cases in good times, we have to act now to stop that 
before it gets worse.
  My home State actually does a very good job of trying to prevent 
child abuse. I have visited many of the treatment centers myself. They 
do an outstanding job. They make use of scarce resources, and they put 
together innovative and effective programs to combat the problem, but 
they need help. They need additional resources and they need H.R. 764.
  The legislation before us today puts more resources in the hands of 
the folks who need them most. This bill will expand the grant authority 
to provide funds to enhance services related to child abuse prevention 
programs. It will help fund the prevention and early intervention 
programs that have been shown to work, and it will help communities 
make sure those who commit these horrible crimes are prosecuted to the 
full extent of the law.
  We need to provide more opportunities to prevent, to investigate, and 
to prosecute child abuse and neglect cases. We need this bill, and I 
urge my colleagues to give it their full support.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Oxley).
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Chairman, I want to first thank the chairman of the 
subcommittee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum), and 
particularly my colleague, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce), for 
their leadership in this legislation. I have had numerous discussions 
with her particularly about this important legislation.
  The U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect reports that 2,000 
children die each year as a result of abuse or neglect. In my home 
State of Ohio alone, a child is reported abused or neglected every 3 
minutes of every day. With these statistics, it is clear our Nation 
needs to do more to protect our children from abuse and prevent it from 
happening in the first place.
  That is why this legislation is so important, because it focuses in 
on prevention. Child abuse prevention is true crime prevention, and all 
of us, I am sure, support that concept.
  We needed to recognize that on the State and local level, the child 
protective workers, the police, prosecutes, judges, doctors, the 
nurses, are in the best position to prevent child abuse and find ways 
to treat those who have been abused.
  We need to empower those on the State and local level in their 
efforts to prevent child abuse and treat victims. That is what the CAPE 
Act is designed to do. The bill would give State and local officials 
flexibility to use Byrne law enforcement grants for child abuse 
prevention, to increase the earmark currently at $10 million for 
education out of the crime victims fund, and the best news of all is, 
it does not cost taxpayers' dollars because it comes from forfeited 
assets, forfeited bail bonds and fines paid by the government.
  This funding can be used by the States for important things such as 
training child protective service workers, training court-appointed 
special advocates, and child advocacy centers. Child advocacy centers 
help provide treatment and examination for abused children in a way 
which will not revictimize the child.
  We are fortunate in this country to have the assets necessary to 
carry out this important function. This act is supported by the 
National Child Abuse Coalition, Prevent Child Abuse America, the 
Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council, and the National 
Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to yield 4 
minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), the distinguished 
minority whip.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Chairman, I first of all would like to thank the 
distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) for her efforts 
on this bill, and also the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce), and the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum), for their good work on this 
legislation as well.
  Mr. Chairman, in another life prior to entering politics, I used to 
work as a probation officer, and worked with juvenile delinquents. I 
worked in a youth home as an attendant there and also as a caseworker, 
and had some experience as an adoption caseworker. In that work, I had 
the occasion to witness situations in homes that cried out for 
attention.
  Over the years, we have watched as governments at all levels have 
done relatively little to address this need. This need is quite 
extensive. Over 1 million cases of child abuse were committed in 1997. 
A child is abused or neglected in Michigan every 5 minutes, every 5 
minutes, and about 300 cases are reported a day. That is according to a 
nonprofit group called Michigan's Children's Trust Fund.
  Sixty-eight percent of youths arrested had a prior history of abuse 
and neglect, 68 percent. So what we have here is a vicious cycle of 
abuse, neglect, crime, violence, more abuse and neglect from generation 
to generation.
  Lest we think of this as statistics, let me cite an example that was 
recently reported in the press, in the Detroit papers, and in other 
papers throughout Michigan about a mother who beat her 10-year-old and 
13-year-old with an electrical cord and burned them with an iron. I 
know these are graphic pictures that I am creating for Members here, 
but it is what happens. The children escaped the house, they wandered 
the city, it was dark, at night, looking for their friend's house 
somewhere near what they said was Tiger Stadium. They were found cold 
and scared in the middle of the night; scarred, certainly physically, 
but more importantly, mentally for the rest of their lives. This is 
what happens on a regular basis.
  So Mr. Chairman, I just rise in support of this bill. I rise in 
support of the efforts of the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) on 
this bill. She has done an excellent job. She knows this issue from the 
perspective of one elected local law enforcement officer and other 
activities in her community.
  Mr. Chairman, this is a good bill because it will start to address 
the issues of child abuse and neglect. It will take a positive, 
preventive step in addressing this issue. Groups like Covenant House, 
which have 15 shelters throughout this country, and other groups in my 
district, child welfare agencies, will hopefully receive the support 
they need to continue their good work and to expand it so we can get at 
the root of these problems, and address them in a humane way so we can 
break the cycle and we can develop the love that is needed for our 
children to succeed.
  In conclusion, I just want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. 
Jackson-Lee) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) for all of 
their efforts, and my colleague from Florida, as well as my colleague 
from Ohio.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood).
  Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time 
to me.

[[Page 23854]]

  Mr. Chairman, there is a Jesuit expression that says, let us have the 
children for the first 7 years, and then the world can have them. What 
that means is that when children in their earliest years are loved and 
nurtured, and when they are instilled with values and self-confidence, 
then they will have the strength and resilience that they need to face 
life's challenges and to resist its evils.
  The opposite is most certainly true. When children are battered, when 
children are neglected, when children are sexually or psychologically 
mistreated and abused, they become weak, they become infirm, they 
become troubled. It is fitting that I follow the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Bonior), because I, too, was a caseworker with abused 
children.
  Over the years as I worked with these children, and many of these 
children appear in my life 20 years later, calling me at home, we find 
these children, so many of them, not only just in the child welfare 
system as battered, but we find them in the juvenile justice system as 
delinquents, we find them in the mental health system as psychopathic 
or maladjusted, we find them in the drug and alcohol system as addicts, 
we find them in the domestic violence systems of batterers of their own 
spouses, and often, too often, batterers of their own children. Then we 
find them ultimately in the criminal justice system in our jails.
  This legislation, introduced by my colleagues from both sides of the 
aisle, is not only compassionate, and it is the right thing to do for 
the innocent and helpless children of the country, but it is also the 
right thing to do, because this $10 million or $20 million will become 
multiplied many times over, for each child that is protected from abuse 
will be one less child in one of these other social service systems 
that is not only costly to American society, but causes so much more 
additional pain.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones).
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I would be remiss if I did not take 
the opportunity to thank my staff for all the support and work they did 
with me in trying to get the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act 
passed.
  I would like to thank my staff on the record, Dan Weinheimer and 
other members of my staff.

                              {time}  1530

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I think that was an extremely important statement, and I do 
appreciate the work of the staff on all of the committees and all of 
the Members' staff, and let me simply say we have heard a phrase used 
in another effort: a mind is a terrible thing to waste. I would 
paraphrase it to say that a child is a terrible person to lose or to 
waste their lives or to see that child abused.
  So I want to applaud the proponents of this legislation; I am 
delighted to join and be a cosponsor of it, and I hope that we can 
quickly move this legislation to see not one other life snuffed out. 
Not only another child's life snuffed out because we have been 
neglectful in providing the resources that we need to detect child 
abuse and prevent child abuse.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Chairman, what I think our legislative role is day in and day out 
here is to provide ways to preserve and protect our great quality of 
life and freedom for our children and our grandchildren. We are the 
greatest free Nation in the history of the world. It is all about 
children. And in this case, we are talking about protecting them not 
only in that broad sense but in the very specific sense against child 
abuse, one of the worst things that can happen in this Nation to 
anyone.
  And so I am pleased that the authors have brought this bill forward 
today. I am proud to have been a part of the team that has brought it 
out in the committee and subcommittee, and I look forward to the 
passage of this bill.
  Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Chairman, the statistics on the abuse of our most 
precious resource--our children--is heartbreaking. We must protect our 
children from those who would abuse their trusting souls and prey on 
their innocence. It is a moral obligation that binds us together, 
regardless of race, religion, gender, or party affiliation.
  Today, the House can reiterate its commitment to our children by 
passing the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act.
  As we know, our states are each different, with different needs and 
different resources--what works for Florida's children may not work for 
Maine's. This Bill encourages each state's creativity to deal with the 
unique needs of their children by offering greater flexibility with 
federal funds.
  The bill also doubles to $20 million a year the amount of money from 
the Crime Victims Fund that can be earmarked for child abuse victims. 
This fund is not taxpayer money, but money from the pockets of 
criminals--poetic justice, you might say. Finally, this bill increases 
access to criminal records by child protective services, making it 
easier for those who work to protect our children to do their jobs.
  No one entity can fight child abuse alone. Working together, as 
partners, states and Congress can make a difference.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Chairman, as a cosponsor of H.R. 764, the Child 
Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act, I am proud to rise in strong 
support of its passage. I am also equally proud of my colleagues 
Congresswomen Pryce and Jones of Ohio for their leadership in bringing 
this bill forward. I applaud them for their efforts and on behalf of 
children across this country thank them and all of the cosponsors of 
this bill.
  The abuse, and I include neglect, of children is a most heinous 
crime, for all of the obvious reasons. Adults are supposed to protect 
and nurture children, and provide a suitable and supportive environment 
for their optimal development. It is a sacred trust, and one that must 
be upheld at all costs. H.R. 764 will help us to do this better.
  I also find that it is the most insidious of crimes, because in many 
of the problems that plague our country--domestic abuse, teen 
pregnancy, drugs addiction, youth violence and delinquency, as well as 
many adult crimes--one will find that child abuse is generally a root 
cause.
  The national statistics on child abuse are also very alarming. Many 
of my colleagues will recount these disturbing facts as we debate H.R. 
764 today. Even in my own district, the U.S. Virgin Islands, we have 
seen an unacceptable increase in the numbers of children affected. And 
we know, that as in every other district, not every case is found or 
reported. This fact, as well as, the fact that it is a crime that has 
far and long reaching consequences that can affect even subsequent 
generations of our children, makes our responsibility and response to 
this issue even more critical.
  The Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act, through making 
resources available to those individuals who work every day to prevent 
child abuse and protect our children, makes a vital and most important 
contribution, not only to each and every child that is saved, but also 
to the future of this nation.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 764 is not an investment we ought to make. It is 
one we must make. Our children deserve and need us to do everything 
within our power to protect them and to ensure the kind of safe and 
nurturing environment that will allow them to develop their fullest 
potential.
  I strongly support H.R. 764 and I ask my colleagues to vote in favor 
of its passage.
  Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 764, the 
Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act.
  Providing for the safety and well-being of our children is one of 
society's most sacred obligations. Our children represent the future. 
But child abuse takes away their future. It cruelly takes away their 
hope and promise of realizing their talents and dreams. Child abuse 
denies our children a life of happiness and fulfillment by inflicting 
emotional and psychological scars that persist for the rest of their 
lives.
  This important piece of legislation will confront child abuse head 
on. It will protect our children, and assist those vulnerable children 
who've been the victims of abuse. One of the aims of this legislation 
is to prevent child abuse before it happens. Because law enforcement is 
best conducted at the local level, law enforcement officials in 
communities across America will be given the flexibility and resources 
to combat the incidence of child abuse.
  This legislation also will increase the funding for the Crime Victims 
Fund. These are not taxpayer dollars, but revenues from forfeited 
assets and fines paid to the government. This

[[Page 23855]]

funding can be used by the states for critical services such as 
training child protection workers and supporting child advocacy 
centers.
  I recently had a very tragic case of child abuse in my district. 
Three-year old Ashley Taggart from Lancaster, Ohio was abducted and 
abused. After an excruciating ordeal, she was returned to safety. 
Though we cannot take this experience away, we can try to give Ashley a 
chance to lead a normal life.
  Mr. Chairman, this legislation is for Ashley, and for the thousands 
of children like her across America. It is for the safety and well-
being of all our children who deserve the best that life can give them.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation 
introduced by my colleague from Ohio, Congresswoman Pryce.
  This body has long worked to promote policies which seek to protect 
our children, guided by common sense, and by the general idea that a 
child's environment and experiences may have an influence on the type 
of person he or she will turn out to be.
  Extensive research on child development issues in recent years has 
made it increasingly evident that the relationship between the nature 
of a child's upbringing and the mental and emotional health of that 
child undoubtedly exists. Though there is still much for us to learn, 
we know that the link is there, and this knowledge alone should be 
enough to strengthen our resolve to enact policies which shelter our 
children from harmful behavior and influences. I believe the work of 
this Congress attests to an active recognition of the importance of 
promoting such policies. In June, I was encouraged to see the House 
approve unanimously as an amendment to the juvenile justice legislation 
my bill on child hostages, which strengthens the penalties against 
those individuals who take a child hostage. The House consideration of 
H.R. 764 today, I think, further demonstrates the strength of this 
body's commitment to our children, and I urge my colleagues to support 
its passage.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. All time for general debate has expired.
  Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read for amendment under 
the 5-minute rule.
  The text of H.R. 764 is as follows:

                                H.R. 764

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Child Abuse Prevention and 
     Enforcement Act''.

     SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF ACCESS TO CERTAIN COURT AND LAW 
                   ENFORCEMENT RECORDS TO PREVENT CHILD ABUSE.

       (a) Description of Grant Program.--Section 1402 of the 
     Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
     3796aa-1) is amended by adding before the period at the end 
     the following: ``or to provide child protective workers and 
     child welfare workers (in public and private agencies, who, 
     in the course of their official duties, are engaged in the 
     assessment of risk and other actions related to the 
     protection of children, including placement of children in 
     foster care) access to criminal conviction information and 
     orders of protection based on a claim of domestic or child 
     abuse, or to improve law enforcement access to judicial 
     custody orders, visitation orders, protection orders, 
     guardianship orders, stay away orders, or other similar 
     judicial orders''.
       (b) Application To Receive Grants.--Section 1403 of such 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 3796aa-2) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting before the semicolon at 
     the end the following: ``or to provide child protective 
     workers and child welfare workers (in public and private 
     agencies, who, in the course of their official duties, are 
     engaged in the assessment of risk and other actions related 
     to the protection of children, including placement of 
     children in foster care) access to criminal conviction 
     information and orders of protection based on a claim of 
     domestic or child abuse, or to improve law enforcement access 
     to judicial custody orders, visitation orders, protection 
     orders, guardianship orders, stay away orders, or other 
     similar judicial orders''; and
       (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the period at the 
     end the following: ``or to provide child protective workers 
     and child welfare workers (in public and private agencies, 
     who, in the course of their official duties, are engaged in 
     the assessment of risk and other actions related to the 
     protection of children, including placement of children in 
     foster care) access to criminal conviction information and 
     orders of protection based on a claim of domestic or child 
     abuse, or to improve law enforcement access to judicial 
     custody orders, visitation orders, protection orders, 
     guardianship orders, stay away orders, or other similar 
     judicial orders''.
       (c) Review of Applications.--Section 1404(a) of such Act 
     (42 U.S.C. 3796aa-3(a)) is amended in the matter preceding 
     paragraph (1) by inserting after ``to receive a grant'' the 
     following: ``for closed circuit televising of testimony of 
     children who are victims of abuse''.
       (d) Definitions.--Section 1409(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
     3796aa-8(2)) is amended by inserting before the period at the 
     end the following: ``or the taking of a child in violation of 
     a court order''.
       (e) Conforming Amendment.--Part N of title I of such Act 
     (42 U.S.C. 3796aa) is amended in the heading to read as 
     follows:

``PART N--GRANTS FOR CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISING OF TESTIMONY OF CHILDREN 
  WHO ARE VICTIMS OF ABUSE AND FOR IMPROVING ACCESS TO COURT AND LAW 
    ENFORCEMENT RECORDS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PREVENTING CHILD ABUSE''.

     SEC. 3. USE OF FUNDS UNDER BYRNE GRANT PROGRAM FOR CHILD 
                   PROTECTION.

       Section 501(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
     Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3751) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (25);
       (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (26) and 
     adding ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(27) enforcing child abuse and neglect laws and programs 
     designed to prevent child abuse and neglect.''.

     SEC. 4. INCREASE IN SET ASIDE FOR CHILD ABUSE VICTIMS UNDER 
                   THE VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT OF 1984.

       Section 1402(d)(2) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 is 
     amended by striking ``$10,000,000'' and inserting 
     ``$20,000,000''.

  The CHAIRMAN. During consideration of the bill for amendment, the 
Chair may accord priority in recognition to a Member offering an 
amendment that he has printed in the designated place in the 
Congressional Record. Those amendments will be considered read.
  The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may postpone a request for 
a recorded vote on any amendment and may reduce to a minimum of 5 
minutes the time for voting on any postponed question that immediately 
follows another vote, provided that the time for voting on the first 
question shall be a minimum of 15 minutes.
  Are there any amendments to the bill?


    Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute Offered by Mr. McCollum

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Mr. 
     McCollum:
       Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Child Abuse Prevention and 
     Enforcement Act''.

     SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM.

       Section 102(b) of the Crime Identification Technology Act 
     of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 14601(b)) is amended by striking ``and'' 
     at the end of paragraph (15), by striking the period at the 
     end of paragraph (16) and inserting ``; and'', and by adding 
     after paragraph (16) the following:
       ``(17) the capability of the criminal justice system to 
     deliver timely, accurate, and complete criminal history 
     record information to child welfare agencies, organizations, 
     and programs that are engaged in the assessment of risk and 
     other activities related to the protection of children, 
     including placement of children in foster care.''.

     SEC. 3. USE OF FUNDS UNDER BYRNE GRANT PROGRAM FOR CHILD 
                   PROTECTION.

       Section 501(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
     Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3751) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (25);
       (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (26) and 
     adding ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(27) enforcing child abuse and neglect laws and promoting 
     programs designed to prevent child abuse and neglect.''.

     SEC. 4. CONDITIONAL ADJUSTMENT IN SET ASIDE FOR CHILD ABUSE 
                   VICTIMS UNDER THE VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT OF 1984.

       Section 1402(d)(2) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 
     U.S.C. 10601(d)(2)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``(2) the next $10,000,000'' and inserting 
     ``(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the next 
     $10,000,000''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(B)(i) For any fiscal year for which the amount deposited 
     in the Fund is greater than the amount deposited in the Fund 
     for

[[Page 23856]]

     fiscal year 1998, the $10,000,000 referred to in subparagraph 
     (A) plus an amount equal to 50 percent of the increase in the 
     amount from fiscal year 1998 shall be available for grants 
     under section 1404A.
       ``(ii) Amounts available under this subparagraph for any 
     fiscal year shall not exceed $20,000,000.''.

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I am offering an amendment today in the 
nature of a substitute to this bill to address two aspects that I have 
concerns with.
  First, H.R. 764 would authorize the Bureau of Justice Assistance to 
use a small grant program that helps purchase equipment so that 
children testifying in abuse cases can do so via closed circuit 
television to also fund the purposes stated in Section 2 of this bill. 
I am told there is just not enough money in this program to fund the 
CAPE Act. The funds for that program are consumed annually for their 
original purpose, and I do not believe we should dilute them.
  My amendment would authorize funding under the Crime Identification 
Technology Act, a bill enacted last year to improve the operation of 
the criminal justice system by upgrading criminal justice and general 
justice record systems. I supported the passage of that bill in the 
House last year, and I believe it is a perfect fit for the purposes 
behind the bill before us today.
  Secondly, H.R. 764 would also amend the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, 
which created the Crime Victims Fund. The fund is financed through the 
collection of criminal fines, penalty assessments, and forfeited 
appearance bonds of persons convicted of crimes against the United 
States. In fiscal 1998, $363 million was deposited into the fund for 
distribution during this fiscal year. The fund provides money to States 
to compensate crime victims directly, and it provides other grants to 
States which are then distributed to public and nonprofit agencies that 
provide direct services to crime victims. Under current law, the first 
$10 million deposited in the fund each year is to be expended by the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services for grants relating to child 
abuse prevention and treatment.
  This bill, the one before us today, would increase the earmark for 
child abuse and domestic assistance program from $10 million to $20 
million. Doubling this earmark would result in a $10 million reduction 
in funds that would otherwise be available for grants to the victims 
compensation programs and the victims assistance programs.
  Victims' rights groups oppose doubling the earmark. In fact, they are 
not enamored with the earmark to begin with. My amendment offers an 
alternative to the straight doubling of the earmark. It would leave the 
current earmark at $10 million in place except in any fiscal year when 
the amount of money deposited in the fund exceeds what was deposited 
for fiscal year 1998, $363 million. When more than that amount of money 
is deposited, half of the extra money would be allocated for child 
abuse prevention and treatment, but the total amount available in any 
fiscal year would not exceed $20 million.
  Mr. Chairman, it is my understanding it is likely that this fund will 
be well in excess of the $363 million figure over the next couple of 
years, so I think there will be more than an adequate amount of money 
to fund the programs that are in this bill. I believe my amendment to 
H.R. 764 balances the interests of all stakeholders and I urge all of 
my colleagues to support this.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the 
amendment offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum).
  Mr. Chairman, I just want to add my support for the McCollum 
amendment and to indicate that the value of adding dollars to prevent 
child abuse among many other things is a key part of the effort that we 
are trying to do today.


 Amendment Offered by Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas to the Amendment in the 
             Nature of a Substitute Offered by Mr. McCollum

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment to the 
amendment in the nature of a substitute.
  The Clerk read as follows:

  Amendment offered by Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas to the amendment in the 
nature of a substitute offered by Mr. McCollum: 

       On Page 1, line 15 after ``protection of children,'' insert 
     ``including protection against child sexual abuse,''.
       On page 2, line 11, after ``neglect laws'' insert, 
     ``including laws protecting against child sexual abuse,''.

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas (during the reading). Mr. Chairman, I ask 
unanimous consent that the amendment to the amendment in the nature of 
a substitute be considered as read and printed in the Record.
  The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman 
from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. First of all, Mr. Chairman, let me again 
thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum) for his leadership on 
the substitute and let me also thank the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. 
Pryce) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) for this legislation 
that I had the pleasure of cosponsoring.
  The focus of the amendment that I am offering is to emphasize the 
heinousness and the tragedy of child sexual abuse. So my amendment 
offers to clarify that child abuse includes child sexual abuse, and 
this will add to the information that the child abuse workers will be 
able to secure and to be able to investigate in order to determine 
whether there has been child sexual abuse.
  Let me emphasize why this is an important distinction, because most 
often when we think of child abuse we think of the physical abuse that 
may be noticeable. The knocked head, the bruised arm, the broken arm, 
the broken leg, the burn on the body, physical things that can be seen 
by a school counselor, a teacher, a friend or a pastor.
  But sometimes children suffer in the quietness and the horror of 
sexual abuse that cannot be detected by looking at a child fully 
clothed, and the idea is to ensure that in this new legislation we have 
a circumstance where this is on the minds of those child abuse 
investigators should they not also inquire, look, examine, and 
determine whether the child has been sexually abused.
  Let me cite the numbers of sexually abused children. The numbers are 
going up. In 1990, there were 127,000 children abused sexually. In 
1991, it goes up, 129,425. When we go to 1992, sexual abuse goes 
130,000, 14 percent. 1993, 139,000. Each year the number of children 
sexually abused increases. When we look at close to 3 million children 
who are reported abused, we find that 12 percent of them suffered 
sexual abuse.
  Mr. Chairman, might I offer to those who are able to, I guess, 
tolerate hearing about the horrificness, the heinousness about what 
happens when a child is sexually abused by citing the report on the 
autopsy of JonBenet Ramsey, a case that still stands as one of the 
singular cases of terrible child abuse and, of course, an unsolved 
murder of a child.
  What the autopsy says is that this particular child was found to have 
been whacked. Her head was whacked against something, and then she was 
still alive and strangled. The autopsy goes on to note there are two 
injuries in that autopsy that could have killed her. One is a 
strangulation, the other is the assorted brain injuries. It is not 
clear in what sequence. Meyer found an abrasion on the girl's hymen, 
which other experts said could indicate a sexual assault. The size of 
the girl's hymen, which Meyer measured at 1 centimeter by 1 centimeter, 
should have more significance. ``The thing that concerns me is that the 
hymenal opening is measured at 1 centimeter, which is too large,'' said 
Kirschner, a child abuse specialist, ``but if in fact that was the real 
measurement, that is twice the diameter that it should be. Usually a 
hymen in a young child like this should be 4 millimeters.''
  And so there was discussion, horrible discussion about whether or not 
JonBenet Ramsey was sexually abused. ``There is blood and contusions in 
the vagina and the hymen has been torn.''

[[Page 23857]]

  Yes, descriptive, horrific, but every day our children face this kind 
of assault. So I think it is extremely important that this language 
emphasizes the protection of our children as the legislation already 
does; but it emphasizes a real focus on sexually abused children along 
with other abuse. It does not in any way diminish the importance of 
other abuse, but realizes that children can suffer in silence with 
child abuse, and it cannot easily be detected.
  Mr. Chairman, I would hope that my colleagues would support this 
amendment because it again states to our child abuse investigators: be 
thorough in your work, do not be limited in your work, and realize that 
our children suffer in silence when they are sexually abused and you 
need to inquire and draw from them the information that will protect 
and save the lives of American children.
  Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment that I would like to offer to this 
bill. In its present form, this bill has a tremendous impact on the 
current abuse and neglect system by enhancing the services available. 
This amendment I am offering would give child protective and child 
welfare workers additional access to criminal records that would 
include convictions for sexual abuse.
  According to the statistics on abuse, 12 percent of the abuse is 
sexual abuse. Any discussion of child abuse is incomplete without 
including the growing problem of child sexual abuse and exploitation.
  Child sexual abuse is any sex act performed by an adult or an older 
child. This includes actual physical abuse such as touching a child's 
genital area or molestation, and it also includes sexual assault, self-
exposure (flashing), voyeurism, and exposing children to pornography.
  Sexual abuse is often committed by a family member. Incest is the 
most common form of child sexual abuse. However, anyone can commit 
sexual abuse against a child. It is often perpetrated by adults that 
have been entrusted with caring for a child--a family friend, 
babysitter, a teacher, day care worker, or even religious leaders. Even 
a child can commit sexual abuse against another child.
  The purpose of my amendment is to specify the importance of sexual 
abuse as a crime that should be recognized by child welfare and child 
protection workers when investigating incidences of child abuse.
  It gives protection and child welfare workers access to the 
conviction records and orders of protection based on sexual abuse, in 
addition to domestic and child abuse. A history of sexual abuse, 
whether it is against a child or an adult, is significant information.
  Sexual abuse against children is a harsh reality that is very common. 
At least one out of five adult women and one out of ten adult men 
report having been sexually abused as children. These cases may 
represent the untold stories of many children, now adults, who suffered 
in silence due to sexual abuse.
  Now, we have mechanisms in place to investigate incidences of child 
abuse. However, in some cases, certain information about an alleged 
abuser's past may not be available. This bill remedies that situation 
by making criminal records for sexual abuse available.
  In Texas, there were more than 111,000 investigations of child abuse 
and neglect by the Child Protective Services in Texas. Of those cases, 
7,650 were sexual abuse.
  In one infamous case, the death of JonBenet Ramsey, sexual assault 
may have been a factor in her death. The autopsy was released this 
summer and was inconclusive as to whether the child had been sexually 
assaulted. However, it was clear to the investigators that in a case 
such as this, an inquiry had to be made concerning possible sexual 
assault.
  This change only adds the term ``sexual abuse'' to the bill in an 
attempt to give child protection and child welfare workers another 
factor to consider when assessing the risk related to the protection of 
children.
  I ask my Colleagues to support this technical amendment to this bill. 
It is uncontroversial and it would further enhance the ability of the 
abuse and neglect system to combat child abuse. Thank you.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  Mr. Chairman, I will not take the 5 minutes. I do not oppose this 
amendment, but I want to point out to the gentlewoman that the term 
``child abuse'' is already defined in two different sections of the 
Federal Criminal Code, and in both cases the term is defined to include 
both physical violence and sexual abuse.
  In 18 USC Section 1169, the statute that requires doctors, teachers, 
and childcare workers to report any suspected case of child abuse that 
takes place in Indian country the term ``child'' and ``abuse'' are 
defined to include any case where the child is bruised, bleeding, 
malnourished, burned, has broken bones and other physical injuries, and 
also includes cases where is the child is sexual assaulted, molested, 
or otherwise subjected to exploitation of a sexual matter.
  In 18 USC 3509, the term ``child abuse'' is defined to mean the 
physical or mental injury, sexual abuse, exploitation, or negligent 
treatment of a child.
  So I believe the term is very clearly in law defined to include 
sexual abuse, but I think the gentlewoman's purpose here as she stated 
it is to make it clear that anyone reading the words that we publish 
today in this legislation, especially those who are caseworkers on 
matters of child abuse, will look further and make sure they look for 
sexual abuse as well. And to that end I compliment her for it and I 
support her amendment.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the 
requisite number of words.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bill, the Child Abuse 
Prevention and Enforcement Act, and commend my friends the gentlewoman 
from Ohio (Ms. Pryce), the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones), the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), and the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. McCollum) and many others for their work in bringing this 
important issue to the floor today.
  This is an important bill in the fight to end the cycle of violence 
in America's homes. In my State of New York, my home State of New York, 
a child is reported abused or neglected every 2 minutes. Two thousand 
children die each year as a result of abuse or neglect.
  To make matters even worse, many of these young people will grow up 
to abuse their children and the cycle will continue. That is why this 
bill is so important. It will put needed resources in places to help 
those children who need help the most. It will stress prevention which 
is very, very important in breaking the cycle of violence. It will 
double the funding used to train child protective service workers and 
court-appointed special advocates. A very important component of this 
bill allows grant money to be used to purchase equipment, allowing 
abused children to testify in court through closed circuit television.

                              {time}  1545

  This creates the least intimidating situation for children who are 
already under enormous pressure to tell their stories.
  We currently have a network of one-stop, child-friendly places where 
all services are housed under one roof.
  These Child Advocacy Centers perform life-saving work, but they need 
more money. According to Christine Crowder of the Child Advocacy Center 
in Manhattan, in the district that I represent, this bill helps 
children on a very basic level. It will provide a coordination of 
services, which is key to helping victims of child abuse.
  When a child abuse case is being assessed, it is important for the 
social workers and other advocates, police officers, to know about all 
protective orders, restraining orders, visitation orders, and 
guardianship orders. That is why this one-stop Child Advocacy Center is 
so important and the funding is so desperately needed.
  I congratulate all the Members of Congress who have been working on 
this legislation, and I congratulate them for focusing our efforts to 
prevent and combat child abuse.
  Mr. NETHERCUTT. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number 
of words.
  Mr. Chairman, I also rise to support this legislation that seeks to 
address the issue of child abuse and prevent it and treat it. It is a 
terrible problem in our society. More than anything, I want the House 
and the Speaker to understand the value of community-based child abuse 
prevention efforts, like that which exists in my hometown of Spokane, 
Washington.

[[Page 23858]]

  In the mid-1980s, a group of us decided that, in order to address 
this growing problem, something needed to be done to have a safe place 
for children who are potentially abused children to go until their 
parents or guardians or custodians could have a chance to get the 
variable social services that might be available, whether it is job 
loss advice or alcohol abuse advice or other assistance.
  So we started a group called the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery. It is 
a nonprofit charitable organization that exists today without any 
government funds. It is all community supported and assisted, from 
labor unions to community leaders, to business leaders, to social 
service assistance, to Junior League of Spokane and many, many others 
who have banded together to contribute clothing, have bought a house 
and converted it through the assistance of contractors and labor union 
tradesmen and made this house a home for children who are potentially 
abused children. To this day, they do not take any State or Federal 
money.
  So my point to the Speaker and the House is that it can be done 
outside of the auspices of government, but there is also a challenge 
that the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery has, and its wonderful director 
Sue Manfred in trying to have phase two of the crisis nursery be 
constructed, terribly expensive, terribly difficult to get more money 
to try to assist in this program. But it is a valuable program.
  My hope would be that, as we discuss the issue of child abuse and 
child abuse prevention, that we think about the nonprofit charity, I 
believe community-based and supported operations that can go such a 
long way to helping solve this problem of child abuse and protection of 
children without the bureaucracy and the strings that are attached 
many, many times to government money.
  So I would hope that my colleagues, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
McCollum) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) and others, 
the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) especially would think carefully 
about making money available to community-based organizations for 
proper purposes and with accountability but without so many strings 
attached and so much Federal or State control over what happens to the 
money once it gets there.
  Accountability is a good thing. It has to be. But at least the crisis 
nursery thus far has rejected Federal funds application or State funds 
application for just that reason. It is burdensome and creates more 
problems sometimes than it is worth.
  But I really think that the model that is established through the 
Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery in Spokane, I think it is the only one in 
our entire State that has addressed this issue of child abuse 
prevention. It is a safe haven respite care facility for kids, young 
children who are the subject of abuse or potential abuse. But it may be 
temporary.
  It is an opportunity for the parents of these kids or the custodians 
or guardians to get out and get some social services help, which I 
think probably will be help in this bill as well.
  So I commend my colleagues to this model, to the great success of the 
crisis nursery in Spokane, Washington, and I suggest that those who may 
be interested in this look to the crisis nursery as an example of what 
can be done in a nongovernmental charitable community-based 
organizational way.
  With that, I will support this bill, and I thank the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. McCollum) and others who work so hard to make this concept 
of child abuse a prominent one and prevent the child abuse that exists 
so much in our country today.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite 
number of words.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this great piece of legislation. 
Again, I would like to thank my colleagues, the gentlewoman from Ohio 
(Ms. Pryce), the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones), and especially the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), the amendment that I speak to 
now.
  Sexual abuse of children is a harsh fact of life in our society, Mr. 
Chairman. It is more common than most people realize. Some surveys say 
that at least one out of five adult women and one out of 10 adult men 
report having had sexual abuse in childhood.
  I would like to just give my colleagues an example, Mr. Chairman, of 
when I was a teacher and this young woman came to school. She was 
dressed in clothes, just like any other child would be, very nicely 
dressed; but deep down within, I saw a sadness in her eyes.
  When I attempted to talk with her, she started crying. I could not 
get her to divulge at that time what had actually happened. It was 
several days before I could draw from her that she had been sexually 
abused.
  Now we talk about abuse in all of the forms that I said earlier that, 
every minute, a child is abused or neglected in the State of 
California. But here we are talking about sexual abuse, something that 
is hard to detect, because it is not a visual thing, per se, not until 
one has been able to get that child to really talk out and speak out on 
what has happened.
  We also recognize, Mr. Chairman, that the majority of the children 
who have been abused were abused by people whom they knew. The victims 
usually know the offender in eight out of 10 reported cases.
  When we got to the bottom of this case, Mr. Chairman, we detected 
that this child had been abused by an uncle, an adult male in the 
family. She did not want to tell this because she really did not want 
to divulge something that would hurt the family, though she was hurt.
  We must do all that we can to train and teach parents to know when 
perhaps something is wrong with their child and the child has been 
sexually abused.
  Abuse in all other forms tends to be detected earlier than that of 
sexual abuse. So, Mr. Chairman, the American Academy of Pediatrics 
believe that parents need not feel frightened or helpless about this 
problem, and they provide the following information: One must teach 
one's child about the privacy of his or her body parts; listen to the 
child to ensure that, if something is wrong and it is difficult for 
them to bring this out, for one to really draw and continue to give 
them that support; giving one's child enough time and attention where 
he or she will divulge this; know one's child and what type of time is 
being spent with her; check one's child to make sure there is nothing 
wrong physically; talk to one's child about sexual abuse; let them know 
that even, yes, surely someone in the family could abuse them sexually; 
and then have them to tell somebody in authority when this has 
happened.
  We cannot, Mr. Chairman, continue to allow our young children to be 
sexually abused because it does, as it has been said, go on into 
adulthood, and then they, too, become an abuser.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, first of all, I appreciate 
the gentlewoman's personal stories as an educator. I appreciate the 
comments of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum). The reason for 
emphasizing sexual abuse is to note that children may be sexually 
abused by family members or nonfamily members and are more frequently 
abused by males, but boys and girls are victimized. One is not more 
than the other.
  The key of this is to give an extra added emphasis tool, if you will, 
not exclusionary tool, to these child abuse investigators to remember 
that sexual abuse can be the silent abuse, that one really must have to 
investigate very thoroughly.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I would 
like to say the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) has said it 
all. I support her amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) to the amendment in the nature 
of a substitute offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum).
  The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.

[[Page 23859]]


  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote, and 
pending that, I make the point of order that a quorum is not present.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 321, further proceedings 
on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-
Lee) to the amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum) will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.


Amendment Offered by Mrs. Jones of Ohio to the Amendment in the Nature 
                of a Substitute Offered by Mr. McCollum

  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment to the 
amendment in the nature of a substitute.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Amendment offered by Mrs. Jones of Ohio to the amendment in 
     the nature of a substitute offered by Mr. McCollum:
       Page 2, line 17, strike ``Section'' and insert ``(a) In 
     General.--Section''.
       Page 3, after line 6, insert the following:
       (b) Interaction With Any Cap.--Subsection (a) shall be 
     implemented so that any increase in funding provided thereby 
     shall operate notwithstanding any dollar limitation on the 
     availability of the Crime Victims Fund established under the 
     Victims of Crime Act of 1984.

  Mrs. JONES of Ohio (during the reading). Mr. Chairman, I ask 
unanimous consent that the amendment to the amendment in the nature of 
a substitute be considered as read and printed in the Record.
  The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman 
from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, my amendment is simple and 
straightforward. It strengthens the underlying bill and manager's 
amendment by ensuring that any increase in funding provided for under 
the bill will not be prejudiced by any dollar cap imposed on the 
victims of crime fund. This will help to ensure that Congress will not 
attempt to balance the budget on the backs of crime victims in general 
and victims of sexual abuse in particular.
  I wish I was not forced to offer this amendment, but I must do so 
because I fear that some will attempt to tap into money which will 
otherwise be available to assist in criminal enforcement and compensate 
crime victims. As a matter of fact, the Commerce, Justice, State 
appropriations bill, which has recently passed this House, would have 
us cap the amount of money available to crime victims at $500 million 
in a futile effort to balance the budget.
  I have some concern that any caps imposed by Congress could threaten 
the stream of victims compensation payments. As a matter of fact, in 
1996, the needs of crime victims were so great that we expended funds 
in excess of the proposed cap.
  To victim advocates such as myself, maximizing the stream of victim 
assistance grants through the Victims of Crime Act is of the utmost 
importance, given the many large gaps in victims services found in most 
communities today.
  We should never allow any cap to limit the amount of funds available 
for the prosecution of child abuse cases. This is why the amendment is 
supported by victims groups such as the National Organization for 
Victims Assistance. My amendment guarantees that this bill will take 
full and immediate effect regardless of any gap.
  If my colleagues support victims of crime in general and child abuse 
victims in particular, they should support this amendment. I urge 
Members on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this 
amendment.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Ohio 
for the amendment and say it is agreeable to me, and I am more than 
happy to accept the amendment she is offering. It is a perfecting 
amendment, as I understand it.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Florida 
for his support and encouragement.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the 
gentlewoman from Ohio for a very astute amendment. Without resources, 
we cannot do our job. I will be happy to support the amendment, and I 
congratulate the gentlewoman for her effort and vision.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) to the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum).
  The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 321, further proceedings 
on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) to 
the amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. McCollum) will be postponed.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
  The motion was agreed to.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Callahan) having assumed the chair, Mr. Hansen, Chairman of the 
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported that 
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 764) to 
reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect, and for other 
purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.

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