Virginia Foxx: “I thank my colleague from Kentucky for yielding, and for handling this bill today. I also commend my friend…”

“I thank my colleague from Kentucky for yielding, and for handling this bill today. I also commend my friend, Representative Comer, for his outstanding leadership of the Republicans on the Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee, and for his leadership on this bill. I have served on the committee under its different names for a long time. It was a great honor to serve as the Committee's chairwoman during the last Congress, and as Republican leader during this Congress because, from this perspective, I have seen just how much we are able to get done together that doesn't always capture the attention of the rest of this body or the public. It should be a great encouragement to all of us that when it comes to serving the most vulnerable Americans, children and youth, Republicans and Democrats on the Education and Labor Committee have been able to come together on numerous occasions and produce bipartisan legislation that is forward-looking and aims at prevention first. We did this last Congress with the Juvenile Justice Reform Act and with the reauthorization of the Missing Children's Assistance Act. In a perfect world, we would not need laws addressing child abuse. We certainly would not need stronger laws addressing child abuse. But this world is far from perfect.…”