[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 5970]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  CHILD MEDICATION SAFETY ACT OF 2003

  (Mr. BURNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, last year the House Committee on Government 
Reform held a hearing exploring an issue that should shock all of us. 
Witnesses at the hearing testified that some school officials have 
taken it upon themselves to decide that a child needs to be placed on 
psychotropic drugs. These school officials are not licensed medical 
practitioners, and yet some of these officials have told parents that 
their child must be on a drug such as Ritalin, or their child would not 
be allowed to attend school any longer.
  No child should face denial of educational services because they are 
not taking a psychotropic drug.
  Last night, I introduced the Child Medication Safety Act of 2003. 
This legislation will address a significant problem facing children and 
their parents throughout the Nation and provide parents with 
protections from being forced into making decisions about their child's 
health under duress.
  This bill has a simple message: States that take Federal education 
funds must prevent school district personnel, teachers, principals, and 
other nonlicensed medical professionals from forcing a child to be on 
psychotropic drugs in order to attend school or receive services.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of 
legislation.

                          ____________________