On the recordMarch 3, 2010
In just Texas and California, there were 33,000 cases reported to the committee in one year. If that is not a statistic that can make your hair curl, I don't know what is. Even Ranking Member Kline said that we are in urgent need of further statistics, because he does believe that this is a serious question. But just to make the point, to make the case even stronger, the gentlelady's State, North Carolina, the reason why we need this bill, she says some States have rules that already deal with this problem. Let me read you a little bit about what North Carolina's law says. It says it allows for seclusion and restraint to maintain order or calm or comfort in the classroom and does not require that there be imminent danger or an emergency, and people can use it for discipline and to write it into IEP, or individualized education programs. That is exactly why we need this, because some States, like her home State, don't understand that this shouldn't be the way we deal with children, children with special needs or other challenges.
