On the recordJune 20, 2017
I thank the gentleman, and I salute all of those who are here today offering the bills--this one, and the four other related bills--that are being considered; particularly, Mr. Davis, who now holds the position as ranking Democrat on the Human Resources Subcommittee, a job that I have held for the last several years; and Ms. Bass, who has so ably led our Foster Care Caucus. I think it is unfortunate that they are here; unfortunate because all of this business should have been resolved last year. All five of these modest bills would already be helping children today but for the way the so-called Family First Prevention Services Act was bungled last year. Each of these five bills were a part of it. But, unfortunately, families, and particularly families caring for foster children, have not, and are still not, among the first priorities of this Congress. Of course, here in the House, there were many speeches. We had extensive hearings year after year concerning foster children and the horrors of child abuse. But speeches alone can't do the job. There are also many people of goodwill who genuinely care about this foster care problem in both parties. Mrs. Walorski is certainly one of those individuals. But all of us encountered a big problem last year in the Ways and Means Committee when the Family First Prevention Services Act came up.…





