[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 394-400]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT

  Mr. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in 
the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 764) to reduce the incidence of 
child abuse and neglect, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Senate amendment:
       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

        TITLE I--THE CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT

     SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

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

     SEC. 102. 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 protection against child sexual abuse, and 
     placement of children in foster care.''.

     SEC. 103. 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 
     inserting a semicolon; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(27) enforcing child abuse and neglect laws, including 
     laws protecting against child sexual abuse, and promoting 
     programs designed to prevent child abuse and neglect; and
       ``(28) establishing or supporting cooperative programs 
     between law enforcement and media organizations, to collect, 
     record, retain, and disseminate information useful in the 
     identification and apprehension of suspected criminal 
     offenders.''.

     SEC. 104. CONDITIONAL ADJUSTMENT IN SET ASIDE FOR CHILD ABUSE 
                   VICTIMS UNDER THE VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT OF 1984.

       (a) In General.--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 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.''.
       (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.

                        TITLE II--JENNIFER'S LAW

     SECTION 201. SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as ``Jennifer's Law''.

     SEC. 202. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

       The Attorney General is authorized to provide grant awards 
     to States to enable States to improve the reporting of 
     unidentified and missing persons.

     SEC. 203. ELIGIBILITY.

       (a) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant award 
     under this title, a State shall submit an application at such 
     time and in such form as the Attorney General may reasonably 
     require.
       (b) Contents.--Each such application shall include 
     assurances that the State shall, to the greatest extent 
     possible--
       (1) report to the National Crime Information Center and 
     when possible, to law enforcement authorities throughout the 
     State regarding every deceased unidentified person, 
     regardless of age, found in the State's jurisdiction;
       (2) enter a complete profile of such unidentified person in 
     compliance with the guidelines established by the Department 
     of Justice for the National Crime Information Center Missing 
     and Unidentified Persons File, including dental records, DNA 
     records, x-rays, and fingerprints, if available;
       (3) enter the National Crime Information Center number or 
     other appropriate number assigned to the unidentified person 
     on the death certificate of each such unidentified person; 
     and
       (4) retain all such records pertaining to unidentified 
     persons until a person is identified.

     SEC. 204. USES OF FUNDS.

       A State that receives a grant award under this title may 
     use such funds received to establish or

[[Page 395]]

     expand programs developed to improve the reporting of 
     unidentified persons in accordance with the assurances 
     provided in the application submitted pursuant to section 
     203(b).

     SEC. 205. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
     title $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 
     2002.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Jenkins) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Jenkins).


                             General Leave

  Mr. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on H.R. 764.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 764, the child abuse 
prevention and enforcement act, as amended and passed by the other body 
on November 19, 1999.
  This legislation was introduced by the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. 
Pryce) last year; and on October 5, 1999, it passed the House by a vote 
of 425-2.
  The purpose of this bill is to increase the funds available at the 
State and local level to combat and prevent child abuse and neglect. It 
will do this by amending existing grant programs that provide funds to 
States for crime-related purposes.
  First, H.R. 764 will amend the Crime Identification Technology Act, a 
bill enacted in 1998 to improve the operation of the criminal justice 
system by upgrading criminal history and criminal justice record 
systems.
  H.R. 764 will amend that Act to authorize grants that will help 
provide timely, accurate, and complete criminal history record 
information to child welfare agencies, organizations, and programs that 
conduct risk assessment and other activities related to the protection 
of children, including protection against child sexual abuse and the 
placement of children in foster care.
  These agencies and organizations often do not have access to criminal 
history 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 
Federal funds to be used to provide these agencies access to State 
records will help alleviate this problem.
  Second, H.R. 764 will modify the Federal Crime Control Assistance 
Program, known as the Byrne Grant Program. This program authorizes the 
Federal Government to award both block grant and discretionary grants 
for specified activities. Block grants are allocated to the States 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 Program statute specifies 26 permissible uses for 
these funds. H.R. 764 will amend the Grant Program to add two 
additional permissible uses for these Federal funds.
  The first of these was contained in H.R. 764 when it passed the House 
last fall and it would authorize grant money to combat and prevent 
child abuse and neglect.
  The second permissible use was added by the other body by way of an 
amendment, and I support its inclusion in this bill. It will authorize 
funds to assist in establishing or supporting cooperative programs 
between enforcement and media organizations to collect, record, retain, 
and disseminate information useful in the identification and 
apprehension of suspected criminal offenders.
  Third, H.R. 764 will 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 and provides money to States to compensate crime victims 
directly and to support 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 earmarked for grants relating to child abuse prevention and 
treatment. As the fund grows in size, more money should be made 
available for child abuse prevention and treatment.
  H.R. 764 will permit more money to be earmarked for this purpose for 
any fiscal year in which the amount of money deposited in the fund 
exceeds what was deposited in fiscal year 1998. When more than that 
amount of money is deposited, 50 percent of the excess would be 
allocated for child abuse prevention and treatment, but the total 
amount available in any fiscal year would not exceed $20 million.
  Finally, H.R. 764 was amended by the other body to include Jennifer's 
Law, a bill introduced by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) which 
passed the House last June by a vote of 370-4. Jennifer's Law will 
authorize the Attorney General to award grants to enable States to 
improve the reporting of unidentified and missing persons to Federal 
and State law enforcement agencies to increase the likelihood that they 
will be identified or found. The bill authorizes the appropriation of 
$2 million for each of three fiscal years beginning with this fiscal 
year.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been brought to my attention that there is a one-
word drafting error contained in the bill that is technical in nature. 
The error appears twice in the bill. Following consideration of this 
bill, I will ask unanimous consent that the House move to immediate 
consideration of a concurrent resolution I have introduced that directs 
the enrolling clerks to correct this minor error.
  In conclusion, I believe the amendments made to H.R. 764, including 
Jennifer's Law, strengthen the bill; and I urge all of my colleagues to 
support this important piece of legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the problem of child abuse and neglect is disturbing and 
far-reaching. The United States Department of Health and Human 
Services, in a report issued in April of last 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. And, therefore, the proportion of cases investigated has 
decreased from 44 percent in 1986 to 28 percent in 1993.
  The failure to adequately address the problem of child abuse and 
neglect is costly in many ways. First and foremost, there is the human 
tragedy related to the victimized child. Obviously, abused and 
neglected children carry physical and emotional scars with them forever 
affecting every aspect of their life.
  In addition, the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse estimated 
in 1993 that the annual cost of child welfare, healthcare, and out-of-
home care for abused and neglected children totaled $9 billion. And I 
must add that this is a conservative estimate in light of the fact that 
it does not include other related costs, such as long-term physical and 
mental impairment, emergency room care, lost productivity, special 
education services, and the cost to adjudicate child abuse cases.
  Yet another cost of child abuse is in the area of increased criminal 
activity. According to a 1992 Department of Justice report entitled 
``The Cycle of Violence'', 68 percent of youths arrested had a prior 
history of neglect and abuse.

                              {time}  1415

  The study also indicated that childhood abuse increased the odds of 
future

[[Page 396]]

delinquency and adult criminality by approximately 40 percent.
  On the positive side, Mr. Speaker, we know how to address the 
problem. The National Child Abuse Coalition reports that family support 
programs and parental education programs have demonstrated that 
prevention efforts work. As we have seen in other areas such as drug 
treatment programs, community-based programs supporting families can be 
implemented to prevent future child abuse at far less than the dollars 
that we now spend to treat and manage child abuse and neglect problems.
  The legislation being considered today is a step in the right 
direction. The bill provides increased grant authority for services to 
abused and neglected children and also provides an increase in the 
existing set-aside for child abuse and neglect cases from the Victims 
of Crime Fund. In addition to these important provisions, the Senate 
has included a new section entitled ``Jennifer's Law.'' The section 
provides for a grant program to improve the reporting for unidentified 
and missing persons and authorizes $2 million for that purpose in each 
of the next 3 fiscal years.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, this bill would not have been possible without 
the hard work and dedication of the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) 
and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce). I would like to thank them 
personally for their leadership and bipartisan cooperation which has 
made this bill possible.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear that prevention and early intervention 
treatment for child abuse and neglect victims benefits everyone. This 
bill represents a positive step in that direction. I, therefore, ask my 
colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time 
allocated to the majority.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hastings of Washington). Is there 
objection to the request of the gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Pryce), the author of this bill.
  Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding me 
this time.
  Mr. Speaker, today we consider the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Enforcement Act, the CAPE Act, a bill that represents an important step 
in the fight against child abuse.
  Children are our Nation's most precious resource. As a former judge 
and prosecutor, I have seen the terrible impact that abuse has on the 
lives of our children. It has an impact that robs them of their 
childhood and resonates throughout their adult lives, inflicting 
irreparable damage on these children, their families and society. As 
federal legislators, as parents, as individuals, we have no greater 
responsibility than to protect our children from this harm.
  The CAPE Act focuses on two critically important aspects of child 
abuse, prevention and improved treatment of victims. In doing so, it 
recognizes that the people best equipped to make a difference for our 
children are those who are on the front lines: the child protection 
workers, the police, the judges, the court-appointed special advocates, 
the doctors and nurses, the foster families, the nonprofit volunteers. 
That is just naming a few. These are the people who offer the best hope 
of real progress in our ongoing battle against child abuse. We must 
provide them with the resources to coordinate their efforts so that 
recognition of abuse or potential abuse situations is swift and 
treatment of child abuse victims is handled in a manner that adds no 
more confusion or fear to an already traumatized child. The CAPE Act 
will do this.
  Briefly, CAPE accomplishes this with three important steps. First, it 
provides State and local officials the flexibility of using existing 
Byrne law enforcement grants, the major source of federal funds to 
States for fighting crime, for child abuse prevention. Second, it 
increases the set-aside out of the Crime Victims Fund for improving 
child abuse treatment. The Crime Victims Fund comes from forfeited 
assets, forfeited bail bonds and fines paid to the government, not 
taxpayers' dollars. These funds can be used for training police 
investigators and child protective workers.
  The funds can also be used for building more child advocacy centers, 
places where victims of child abuse can receive help and treatment in a 
manner that will not cause them further emotional and psychological 
stress. By creating these centers, we can overthrow the cold, 
bureaucratic maze of probing and prodding which children used to have 
to endure and replace it with a one-stop experience in a child-friendly 
environment so that examination by police, the prosecutors, the 
doctors, and the child protection workers does not have the unintended 
consequence of revictimizing the child abuse victim.
  Third, the CAPE Act allows existing grant funds to be used by States 
to help provide child protective services workers access to criminal 
conviction records and provide law enforcement instant and timely 
access to court child custody, visitation, protection, guardianship, or 
stay-away orders. This will ensure that abused and neglected children 
are placed in foster and adoptive homes as expeditiously as possible so 
that they do not languish in bureaucratic limbo. Healing for abused and 
neglected children only begins when they are in a permanent, safe 
environment free from fear and danger. The CAPE Act accomplishes all 
this without tapping the United States Treasury.
  Along with CAPE, today we will be passing Jennifer's Law, an 
inspirational piece of legislation sponsored by the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Lazio). It will take great strides in the effort to identify 
missing children and adults.
  By taking these steps together, we can make a difference in the lives 
of children. And we can do this without additional cost to the 
taxpayer, as the CAPE Act will do nothing more than remove federally 
imposed straitjackets on federal funds and give local officials and 
workers the necessary flexibility to be successful in their struggle 
against abuse. Given that this bill requires so little from us and 
nothing additional from the Treasury, can we do anything less than pass 
it today?
  Passage of this bill will strengthen the national arsenal of 
resources that can be used in the prevention and treatment of child 
abuse. I urge my colleagues' support. I am thankful for the continuous 
support and the hard work of the original cosponsors of this bill, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. 
Jones), the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), the gentleman 
from Illinois (Mr. Ewing), and the help of the Committee on the 
Judiciary and all the staff involved. Their efforts toward ending child 
abuse should be commended by all.
  We must never waver in our fight to protect our children from abuse 
and neglect. We must be ever vigilant, ever resourceful and always 
striving to do more to improve the lives of all the Nation's children.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones), the lead cosponsor on this piece of 
legislation who has worked diligently and in a bipartisan fashion.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, first of all I would like to thank 
the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) for her support and the work we 
have done together on this piece of legislation. We two have similar 
backgrounds, coming from the bench as well as serving as prosecutors; 
and we saw this area as an important part that we need to implement 
here in the Congress. I would like to thank the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Scott) on the Committee on the Judiciary for kind of guiding me 
through this process. Without him, I would not have understood some of 
the things that happened with this piece of legislation as it went 
through the process.
  I rise today to speak in strong support of the Child Abuse Prevention 
and Enforcement Act and Jennifer's Law. Together, these bills will mean 
a great deal for victims and their families

[[Page 397]]

throughout America. This legislation has deep and diverse support which 
is evidenced in the list of cosponsors on both sides of the aisle. The 
House has passed both of these bills on their own merit by wide margins 
in the last session of Congress. Now thanks to the foresight of the 
other body, we have the opportunity to send these bills to the 
President together.
  Child abuse prevention is an extremely important issue. A child 
cannot grow in an environment in which he or she is subject to 
emotional and physical abuse. We can offer a helping hand to America's 
children through the passage of this legislation. Through CAPE, we are 
funding child advocacy centers and training those who deal with 
children who are abused. In Cuyahoga County, my experience as a 
prosecutor and as a judge told me and taught me that there are many 
instances in which many of our child-abuse protection workers are new 
to the job, they are undertrained, they are overworked and burnout 
reaches them very quickly. It is important that we give them an 
opportunity to have greater insight into the job that they need to 
perform as well as to give them an opportunity to step away, step back 
and be able to see situations as they arise. With better training they 
will be able to have an opportunity to prevent abuse and treat the 
victims of abuse.
  CAPE will increase the funding available. This money will not cost 
taxpayers any extra money. It will come strictly from forfeited bail 
bonds and other fines paid to the government and taken from the Crime 
Victims Fund. The allocation of this money comes under the Byrne Law 
Enforcement Grant Program for Child Abuse Prevention and is allocated 
through State and local funding by local officials. As a former 
prosecutor, I served on the Byrne Grant Memorial Fund as a person who 
was responsible for the allocation of those funds. I can recall 
distinctly that in many instances there could have been opportunities 
where our children and family services unit could have applied for 
funds which were dedicated to other programs. I am so happy to be able 
to report to them that upon the passage of this bill, we will be 
specifically designating dollars to allow them to train their people as 
well as to create an advocacy center.
  In my home, the State of Ohio, there is a child abused or neglected 
every 3 minutes. Every day throughout the country, 8,470 children are 
abused or neglected. Throughout America every day, 13 children are 
homicide victims and firearms kill 14 children.
  CAPE is supported by the National Child Abuse Coalition, which 
includes the Children's Defense Fund and the Child Welfare League. It 
is supported by Prevent Child Abuse America, the Christian Coalition, 
the Family Research Council and the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children.
  Attached to the CAPE Act is Jennifer's Law. This legislation is an 
excellent addition to the bill. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) 
introduced this bill to create within the National Crime Information 
Center a link between missing persons files and unidentified persons 
files. This will allow the families of missing victims to know their 
loved one may have been found and end the doubt of not knowing the fate 
of one of their family members. Prior to this legislation, there was no 
sharing between these two computer systems. The cross-referencing 
system that Jennifer's Law will create will allow States to apply for 
competitive grants to cover the costs of linking to those computer 
systems.
  I believe that this combined legislation will help victims and their 
families in crisis, help them treat victims and inform families of the 
status of their loved ones. This bill addresses all aspects of 
victimization. I strongly support the legislation and recommend to my 
colleagues that they vote in favor of this bill.
  Again, I want to thank all of my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle for the support that they have given to me in the process of 
putting this piece of legislation through. I look forward to working 
with them on other pieces of legislation that will impact families 
throughout America.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the majority whip.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I too want to congratulate the gentlewoman 
from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and 
especially the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) for all the hard work 
on this very, very important issue.
  Mr. Speaker, abuse against children is one of the unpardonable sins 
we must all work to end in this century. This Child Abuse Prevention 
and Enforcement Act takes a very big step toward making America safer 
for all of our most vulnerable youngsters. Without question, too many 
of our young ones are having their innocence stripped away. Two years 
ago, there were 3 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.
  At the federal level, we have to help lift these children out of 
despair while simultaneously giving more flexibility to States to deal 
with their 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 money is not the solution and one-size-
fits-all federal programs often allow 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 we can 
beat. CAPE is the first step toward this goal. This legislation allows 
State and local officials to take advantage of existing Byrne law 
enforcement grants for child abuse prevention work.

                              {time}  1430

  It also mandates that localities may use Identification Technology 
Act grants to provide criminal history records to child protection 
agencies. This bill also now includes Jennifer's Law, a sensible 
measure that simply makes certain that descriptive case information is 
reported to the FBI computer database. These measures simply make use 
of resources that already exist, while cutting out wasteful repetitive 
action from different agencies at different levels of government.
  Along with these steps, CAPE also increases the set-aside for child 
abuse services in the Crime Victims' Fund, all of which comes from non-
taxpayer 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 the victims of abuse that it seeks to protect.
  Just one example of the good work CAPE assists is the Court Appointed 
Special Advocates, COSA. COSA is a group of volunteers who provide 
millions of hours of 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 many that do tremendously good work.
  Mr. Speaker, there are no lack of ideas in the fight to prevent child 
abuse and neglect, but many people do not know where to start. 
Supporting this legislation is a good start.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Cummings), a strong supporter of crime prevention 
initiatives and effective child advocate.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, as America's lawmakers, we direct the 
focus of our Nation through the stances we take, the resolutions we 
adopt, and the legislation we approve. It is important that we take a 
strong stand with regard to pressing issues, pressing issues like a 
child being reported abused every 12 minutes in my home State of 
Maryland; pressing

[[Page 398]]

issues like 50 out of 1,000 children currently being reported as 
maltreated; pressing issues like the 2,000 children a year who die from 
abuse or neglect.
  It is time that we act for our children in the way of their 
protection. H.R. 764 acts by providing increased funding for prevention 
training, child advocacy and treatment, and increased access by 
protective service workers with regard to criminal conviction records.
  It is important that the message we send to our children is that we 
are not afraid to act in their favor, that we realize that they are our 
future, and that they are invaluable. Support H.R. 764.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Lazio), who was a sponsor of Jennifer's Law.
  Mr. LAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking the gentlewoman 
from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) for 
their great work; the majority whip, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
DeLay); and of course, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum). And I 
rise in strong support, Mr. Speaker, of the CAPE Act, which includes 
Jennifer's Law.
  Mr. Speaker, just about everybody knows the famous line by Charles 
Dickens: ``It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.'' As 
every parent knows, this is a shorthand for the conflicting feelings we 
all come to know once we have children. We start with the overwhelming 
joy of childbirth, when you first hold a beautiful new creation, life's 
greatest gift, in your arms. It is a humbling experience. The joys 
start immediately. The fears and uncertainties are not really very far 
behind.
  For most of us, the fears will never fully be realized. 
Unfortunately, for more parents than we would like to admit, tragedy 
strikes and their lives become a nightmare from which they cannot 
awake.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1993, 21-year-old Jennifer left her family's suburban 
New York home for California in pursuit of a dream, a dream to make it 
on her own. Nine months later Jennifer's mom sent her a plane ticket to 
return home for a visit. Jennifer never made it home. She disappeared 
that day and is still missing.
  Jennifer's mom describes her daughter as an extraordinary, open, 
caring and sensitive child. At only 3 years old, Jennifer befriended a 
local homeless man. In her kindergarten class, a classmate wore a 
prosthetic arm. The teacher called Jennifer's mother one day very 
excited because Jennifer was the only classmate to hold this girl's 
hand. And in 5th grade, Jennifer threw a party for all the kids who 
never got invited to other parties.
  Jennifer's disappearance has drained the life out of her family, 
parents and siblings alike. Jennifer's brother Steven was only 14 years 
old when he found out his sister had disappeared. His life began to 
question. He questioned his sister's existence and his own worth. He 
could not understand any of it.
  Today, 6 years later, Jennifer's mom, Susan Wilmer, still suffers 
terribly, beside herself with sadness. And even though her intuition 
tells her that Jennifer is not alive, she has not allowed herself to 
grieve, and instead floats somewhere between hope and resignation.
  Mrs. Wilmer came to me last year asking that I help her and other 
families who have suffered these types of losses. She told me her 
story. When Susan Wilmer reported Jennifer missing to the police, she 
breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that at least that Jennifer has not 
been found dead or lying in the hospital, unaware that there are people 
who loved her and missed her.
  Then to her horror, 8 months into the search, she discovered that 
that wasn't the case. She found out that our Nation does not report 
bodies to a central agency. She found that, in many States, when a body 
is found, local attempts are made at identification, possibly through 
the local TV news or a local paper. She found if no one claims the 
body, it is buried in a Potter's field as a Jane or John Doe or a baby 
Doe. The family never gets notified. The victim's fingerprints are not 
taken. No dental records or DNA sample is gathered. Victims' families 
are left to wonder, going to their grave never quite knowing for sure 
what has happened to the child that they first brought into this world.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, this story is all too common. People 
report thousands of missing persons each year. Sadly, many of these 
people will never be found, or are found and not identified.
  For example, last year in New York State, more than 4,500 missing 
persons were reported, but only 279 unidentified persons. Back in my 
home county, Suffolk County, more than 2,200 children under the age of 
17 were reported missing in 1999, and more than 700 adults shared the 
same fate. These missing persons sometimes tragically end up as 
unidentified victims. However, their families sometimes never find out 
that their loved ones have been found.
  These statistics beg the big question: What might we do to bring some 
measure of peace of mind to these families? We can help them know the 
truth. The bill before us, the CAPE act, includes my legislation called 
Jennifer's Law. It will provide States the opportunity to apply for 
funding to help law enforcement agencies gather all the identifying 
information about unidentified victims. This information can then be 
entered into a national database that can be cross-referenced with 
missing persons' reports.
  Currently this technology exists and is available to all law 
enforcement officials. However, the problem is that the system remains 
severely underutilized. The issue is not negligence, but instead stems 
from inadequate funding. The funds that Jennifer's Law will bring to 
the States can help eliminate the cruel phrase ``unidentified 
deceased'' from our vocabulary. Jennifer's Law is designed to bring an 
end to the unbearable uncertainty, the purgatory of the unknown.
  Jennifer is a symbol of the value society places on a human life. 
Every person is important, unique, and has worth. Mr. Speaker, we vote 
today to recognize that worth, to restore the dignity of identity to 
the victims, and to give families the closure that they deserve.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
McCollum) for his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor, and 
particularly thank our two colleagues, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. 
Jones) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce), for their dedication 
to our children and for demonstrating what can happen when we work 
together in a constructive, bipartisan planner. I frankly hope that 
their work on this bill will be a model to the way we handle other 
legislation on the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hastings of Washington). The gentleman 
from Florida is recognized for 45 seconds.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that there is nothing 
more heart wrenching than child abuse cases, than missing children 
cases. This bill addresses both of those.
  I, too, compliment the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce) and the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) for the initiation of these pieces 
of legislation that combined here today are before us. What we are 
going to be doing here is providing additional grant money to the 
States to let them improve their systems, particularly on missing 
children and on the question of child abuse and neglect.
  The bill will specifically provide the opportunity for welfare 
agencies and others who conduct risk assessments to get criminal 
history records that they have not had access to in the past. It will 
provide money that is long overdue in the sense of what is required 
with regard to a lot of the block grant programs that are out there 
that could not before be used for the child abuse-neglect arena, 
including the Byrne Grant program.
  Mr. Speaker, I again compliment my colleague, the gentleman from 
Virginia

[[Page 399]]

(Mr. Scott), for his work on it; the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Pryce); 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio). And I encourage the passage of 
this important legislation on child abuse, neglect, and missing 
children.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 764, the 
Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act. This legislation is similar 
to H.R. 3902, which I introduced during the 105th Congress. The bill 
provides funding for grants that will make the child abuse judicial 
process more effective and responsive to the needs of the participants. 
For example, this measure allows for the purchase of closed-circuit 
television equipment so children can record their testimony instead of 
appearing in court in person. It also provides for the use of 
additional court-appointed special advocates. These are people trained 
to work with families as they go through the court system. Both of 
these valuable provisions help to humanize what can be a very 
intimidating and frightening process.
  During my 16-year career in the Michigan Legislature, I was a leading 
advocate on child abuse and family issues, and I appreciate the work of 
my colleagues Congresswomen Deborah Pryce and Stephanie Tubbs Jones on 
this matter. Domestic violence and child abuse affect the victims for 
the rest of their lives. It is essential that we do everything in our 
power to make the courts accessible, empathetic institutions, capable 
of compassion as well as justice. Without this effort, the future is 
less bright for kids that have already been robbed of their innocence. 
I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this legislation.
  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 764, the Senate 
Amendments to Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act. This is a 
solid piece of legislation that will help to prevent child abuse, 
provide assistance to victims, and help states to improve the reporting 
of unidentified and missing persons.
  As the Health and Human Service Department (HHS) recently documented, 
there was nearly one million documented cases of child abuse and 
neglect in the United States in 1997. This number only reflect the 
cases that were reported and detected by the authorities.
  In the most advanced economy in the world, I strongly believe that 
children should be allowed to grow up as children: To attend schools, 
to learn and play and enjoy their childhood. No child should be 
subjected to abuse and neglect.
  I believe this bill provides a sensible approach to prevent child 
abuse and to provide much-needed assistance to the victims of abuse. 
H.R. 764 would authorize the release of additional funding from the 
Crime Victims Fund to be set aside for child abuse and domestic 
assistance program. The bill also expands the allowable uses of grant 
money to protect abused children from further trauma by testifying in 
court through electronic means, and authorized $6 million through FY 
2000-2002 for states to improve the reporting of missing and 
unidentified persons.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe this is a strong and sound piece of 
legislation that will help protect our nation's children and I strongly 
support H.R. 764.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Child 
Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act offered by Congresswoman Deborarh 
Pryce. This bill will expand child abuse grants and allow states 
flexibility in programs for child abuse protection services and 
programs to prevent the incidents of child abuse. I also want to thank 
Congressman Rick Lazio for his work on Jennifer's Law. A missing loved 
one is a terrible trauma to endure and his efforts will provide those 
families and friends with a sense of closure.
  Currently, about 47 out of every 1,000 children are reported as 
victims of child mistreatment. Based on these numbers, more than three 
children die each day as a result of child abuse or neglect or a 
combination of neglectful and physically abusive parenting. 
Approximately 45 percent of these deaths occurred to children known to 
child protective service agencies as current or prior clients.
  The Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act, expands as 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. This bill allows individual states and 
communities to develop and update their programs to meet these changing 
needs.
  I urge my colleagues to support the amended CAPE Act.
  Mr. EWING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Child Abuse 
Protection and Enforcement Act--also known as the CAPE act.
  The CAPE act is a much needed piece of legislation that will not only 
help children in my home state of Illinois, but children in every 
community across the nation.
  In working on this legislation I was shocked to find out that:
  Each day there are nearly nine thousand reported cases of child abuse 
or neglect in the United States. That's over 3 million cases per year. 
Keep in mind these are only the reported cases.
  Since 1987 the total number of reports of child abuse nationwide have 
gone up by 47 percent.
  Of the cases of abuse, 54 percent resulted in a fatality and over 
18,000 children were permanently disabled as a result of physical 
abuse.
  And finally, what is most concerning--
  Many victims of abuse--as adolescents or adults--turn to crime, 
domestic violence and child abuse.
  These statistics make it clear there is a problem, but for me, what 
illustrates the problem most clearly are the people that I talk to in 
my district who work with these kids every day.
  We must put our best efforts forward to address the issue of child 
abuse here in America just as we have with many other problems in the 
past.
  To help protect kids, the CAPE act allows local law enforcement and 
social service agencies greater flexibility in using federal grants to 
combat child abuse.
  Under this proposal, we've also increased the earmarked money within 
existing accounts for assistance from $10 million to $20 million to 
help child abuse victims.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that individual communities can be encouraged 
to do a better job combating problems like child abuse if Washington 
steps back and gives them some breathing room.
  The CAPE act does just that.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle to 
support the CAPE Act so we can truly begin to make a difference for 
abused children across America.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, thousands of children are reported missing 
each year. To many of us, the numbers are nothing more than statistics, 
albeit tragic statistics. But to a unique group of people, these 
numbers represent the pain and uncertainty that accompanies the loss of 
a child, grandchild, brother, sister, or friend.
  We should be using every resource within our power to find children 
who are missing or to get information about them to their families. We 
have the technology to find most of these children, but as is often the 
case, the technology is not being used to its fullest capability.
  Jennifer's law will help solve this dilemma. Linking national missing 
person files and unidentified persons files will make it much easier 
for local, State, and Federal law enforcement officials to get all of 
the information they need to solve a missing persons case.
  We would like to reunite every missing child with their families, but 
in reality this is not always possible. Even so, families with missing 
children deserve to have an end to their suffering and a sense of 
closure. Jennifer's law will help make this possible.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time has expired. The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Jenkins) that the 
House suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill, 
H.R. 764.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair announces that a 5-minute vote on 
the passage of H.R. 1838 will occur immediately following this vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 410, 
nays 2, not voting 23, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 4]

                               YEAS--410

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Allen
     Andrews
     Archer
     Armey
     Baca
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldacci
     Baldwin
     Ballenger
     Barcia
     Barr
     Barrett (WI)
     Bartlett
     Bateman
     Becerra
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop
     Blagojevich
     Bliley
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonior
     Bono
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Canady
     Cannon
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Castle
     Chabot
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Coburn
     Collins
     Combest
     Condit
     Conyers
     Cook
     Cooksey
     Costello
     Cox
     Coyne

[[Page 400]]


     Cramer
     Crane
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Danner
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (VA)
     Deal
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     Deutsch
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Dixon
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Ewing
     Farr
     Filner
     Fletcher
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fossella
     Fowler
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gejdenson
     Gekas
     Gephardt
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hall (OH)
     Hall (TX)
     Hansen
     Hastert
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hill (IN)
     Hill (MT)
     Hilleary
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inslee
     Isakson
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jefferson
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson, E.B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind (WI)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kleczka
     Klink
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     Kuykendall
     LaFalce
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Lantos
     Largent
     Larson
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lucas (OK)
     Luther
     Maloney (CT)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Martinez
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Metcalf
     Mica
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Minge
     Mink
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Morella
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Nethercutt
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Ose
     Owens
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pease
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Phelps
     Pickering
     Pickett
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Riley
     Rodriguez
     Roemer
     Rogan
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rothman
     Roukema
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Rush
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Sabo
     Salmon
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sawyer
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaffer
     Schakowsky
     Scott
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shows
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Sisisky
     Skeen
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Souder
     Spence
     Spratt
     Stabenow
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stump
     Stupak
     Sununu
     Sweeney
     Talent
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Thurman
     Tierney
     Toomey
     Towns
     Traficant
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Vitter
     Walden
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Waters
     Watkins
     Watt (NC)
     Watts (OK)
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Weygand
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson
     Wise
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Young (AK)

                                NAYS--2

     Chenoweth-Hage
     Paul
       

                             NOT VOTING--23

     Barrett (NE)
     Barton
     Bass
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Bryant
     Campbell
     Carson
     Chambliss
     DeMint
     Fattah
     Graham
     Hinojosa
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Kaptur
     Myrick
     Rivers
     Sanchez
     Sanford
     Tiahrt
     Turner
     Vento
     Young (FL)

                              {time}  1501

  Mr. HILLIARD and Mr. WATKINS changed their vote from ``nay'' to 
``yea.''
  So (two-thirds having voted in favor thereof), the rules were 
suspended and the Senate amendment was concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated for:
  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, during rollcall vote No. 4 on February 1, 
2000, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have 
voted ``yea.''

                          ____________________