On the recordApril 10, 2014
I certainly favor the goals of this legislation. The Senator will remember we passed a childcare bill that included many of the same background check provisions for childcare employees. Those provisions were negotiated between Democrats and Republicans on our committee to address issues that were raised about the implementation of any federally prescribed background checks for childcare settings. We would like to undertake a similar process in the K-12 context to ensure any concerns raised by either side be addressed. That is what the committee process is for. What the Senator from Pennsylvania is asking for in this bill will have an impact on nearly every public school in the country and every employee, not just teachers--not just teachers--who might have any unsupervised access to children. So that requires us to do some due diligence. I don't want anyone to misunderstand me. I am willing to work with the Senator from Pennsylvania and others on this legislation, but I do believe we need to take a closer look at it, talking with relevant stakeholders--States, school districts, employees--about the bill and some perhaps unintended consequences of it. We were able to do that in the childcare bill, and I believe we can achieve similar success with the legislation of the Senator from Pennsylvania. I am ready and willing to engage with the Senator, his staff, and his office in that process. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
