Robert Pittenger: “Thank you, Mr. Collins. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of precious Kilah Davenport, a sweet little girl at the age of 3…”

“Thank you, Mr. Collins. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of precious Kilah Davenport, a sweet little girl at the age of 3 years old, who was taken by her caregiver and bashed her head against the wall. As a result, Kilah has suffered irreparable damage to the extent that at this point she is immobile, she is paralyzed and has suffered severe brain damage. You can see pictures right here of Kilah, a young girl, and then the next day the condition that she is in. She has made some progress. Her family is encouraged. They assist her 24/7. It has changed their lives. But to the credit of the Davenport family, they wanted what occurred to their child to make sure that that never happened again. They focused their intention and their efforts, their commitment, to passing a law in North Carolina where I live. Now we have a statute that gives a minimum sentence of 10 years to anyone who is convicted of this type of egregious child abuse. Prior to this time, the minimum sentence for such an abuse was 4 years, maximum 6 years. This type of severe cruelty warrants a measure of sentencing commensurate with what has been enacted. So I congratulate my colleagues, whom I served with at one time in the North Carolina Senate and the House--Senator Tarte, Senator Tucker, and Senator Curtis; and House members Horn and Arp--for the leadership that they gave in North Carolina and provided what will be, I truly believe, a role model for the rest of the country because, Mr.…”