[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 4017]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      LET US REMEMBER THE CHILDREN

  Mrs. CARNAHAN. Madam President, nearly 2,000 years ago, a ``poll'' 
was taken on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. We are told that 
only one out of three was willing to turn from their personal pursuits 
to help someone who had been physically assaulted and left without 
care. This story of the Good Samaritan is an ancient and familiar 
teaching. We must be the people today who will pause in our own 
pursuits to help heal the wounds in our society.
  April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Today I want to challenge all 
of us to face this horrific national tragedy head on. We should never 
lose sight of the pressing needs of our most precious resource, our 
children. Across the nation, neglect and abuse figures reach 2.5 
million. Not only has the reported number of abused and neglected 
children increased, but their problems are more severe and difficult to 
treat. Abuse is not new, nor is it likely to go away, but I believe we 
are lowering the tolerance for this kind of behavior. Policy makers, 
community leaders, educators and parents came together on April 1st in 
Kansas City to demonstrate their commitment to the issue. These are the 
types of actions we need to help build strong families and eliminate 
the circumstances leading to abuse.
  As legislators, we are making significant strides in our crusade 
against abuse. I supported $82.6 million in continued funding of the 
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act during the appropriations 
process. President Bush signed the appropriations bill into law on 
January 10, 2002.
  I was pleased to support the Promoting Safe and Stable Families 
Amendments Act that the President also recently signed into law. This 
bill reauthorizes and expands several programs designed to help 
children and families in high-risk situations. Specifically, the bill 
established grants for programs for mentoring children of prisoners, 
and amends the Foster Care Independent Living program to provide for 
educational and training vouchers for youths aging out of foster care. 
It also extends adoption assistance eligibility and prevents states 
from opting out of criminal background checks for foster and adoptive 
parents.
  In addition, I have cosponsored a bill, which would restore the 
Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) funding. Missouri uses its Social 
Services Block Grant funds to provide aid to families and children with 
identified problems in the areas of child abuse and neglect, and 
services to juvenile offenders committed to the custody of the State's 
Division of Youth Services as well as other services to our most 
vulnerable citizens. I am committed to increasing funding for this 
important program.
  Yes, we have had significant victories, but there is much left to do. 
As long as there is one child that needs our help, we must remain 
committed.
  In closing, let me share a few lines from a poem I ran onto recently. 
I hope you will keep its vivid imagery before you as we continue to 
search for solutions.

     Let us remember the children
     who can't bound down the streets in a new pair of sneakers,
     who never go to the circus,
     who live in an X-rated world.

     Let us remember the children
     who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
     whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
     whose monsters are real.

     And let us remember the children who want to be carried and 
           for those who must,
     for those we never give up on and for those who don't get a 
           second chance,
     for those who cling to the shadows and for those who will 
           grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.

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