Political Quotes

“there are two aspects to this bill which I think have very strong merit, and I am very pleased that they have been included; and I enjoyed working with the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) in getting them into the now-final conference report. The first is the Victims of Child Abuse Act now amended into the bill and now part of this final conference agreement that would reauthorize this important legislation initially authorized in 1992. The thrust of this legislation is to authorize training and technical assistance to programs to improve the prosecution of child abuse cases. This funding flows to centers and programs that provide training for law enforcement agencies, for prosecutors and local jurisdictions to help them establish comprehensive, interdisciplinary approaches to the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases. As we move the AMBER Alert response forward, we have to also think about what happens following the joyous reunion of a recovered kidnap victim. There is a lot of healing that has to take place, special counseling for the victims, and then a very special treatment required by prosecutors and law enforcement officials as they bring the crime to punish the perpetrator, but do not want to further punish the victim who has already been through so much. This legislation was initially authored by the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Cramer), who continues to play a leadership role in this area; and I am glad it is included.”