Political Quotes

“last year the House Committee on Government Reform held a hearing exploring an issue that should shock all of us. Witnesses at the hearing testified that some school officials have taken it upon themselves to decide that a child needs to be placed on psychotropic drugs. These school officials are not licensed medical practitioners, and yet some of these officials have told parents that their child must be on a drug such as Ritalin, or their child would not be allowed to attend school any longer. No child should face denial of educational services because they are not taking a psychotropic drug. Last night, I introduced the Child Medication Safety Act of 2003. This legislation will address a significant problem facing children and their parents throughout the Nation and provide parents with protections from being forced into making decisions about their child's health under duress. This bill has a simple message: States that take Federal education funds must prevent school district personnel, teachers, principals, and other nonlicensed medical professionals from forcing a child to be on psychotropic drugs in order to attend school or receive services. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation.”