Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1147, the Jenna Quinn Law. The Jenna Quinn Law considers only one small part of the much broader Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, or CAPTA. Through the reauthorization of CAPTA, Congress could take meaningful steps in preventing and addressing child abuse and neglect through providing States with the necessary resources to strengthen community- based child abuse prevention services. Despite CAPTA reauthorization passing in the House on a bipartisan basis in two previous Congresses, the bill did not become law, so we find ourselves here today considering the very narrowly drafted Jenna Quinn Law, which specifies that the HHS Secretary can award projects aimed at preventing child sexual abuse. It must be said that the Jenna Quinn Law regrettably does not authorize any new funding for such projects. Reauthorizing CAPTA would have been a much better route and is a top priority, but another priority would be to address the communication holes in State child welfare systems. Specifically, the inability to communicate the threat of child endangerment across State lines can have devastating consequences. In particular, one of my constituents, Heaven Watkins, fell victim to the lack of communication between State welfare agencies. In her case, the system allowed her to remain with an abusive parent who moved her from Minnesota to Virginia.…”