[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16221]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            CHILD CRUSADERS

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, in the days of the recent past, when a child 
was sexually assaulted, the criminal justice system continued to 
victimize the child, because the victim was bounced all over town 
relating the story to numerous strangers.
  Sometimes a child, when interviewed at the police station, actually 
came in direct contact with the offender. Also, the child could wait 
for hours in the same county emergency rooms as other victims of 
stabbings, car wrecks and overdoses.
  But times have changed. There are over 680 child advocacy centers in 
the United States, including one in Houston, where victims go when 
assaulted. At the center are trained police, therapists, doctors and 
lawyers that are experts in dealing with children. Here the child is 
helped before the trial, during the trial, and, yes, after trial.
  The National Children's Alliance, led by Nancy Chandler, is the 
umbrella organization that helps these 600-plus centers throughout the 
Nation. All these child crusaders are in Washington this week working 
to make our land safer for kids.
  America is grateful to these members of the victims' posse that help 
protect our greatest resource, children. After all, it shouldn't hurt 
to be a kid in the United States.
  And that's just the way it is.

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