Every child should have the opportunity to be whatever it is that he or she wants to be, and it is our responsibility as a community and as parents to provide them a nurturing environment so that every child can fulfill their great promise. The act of child abuse is incomprehensible to all of us. Child abuse steals the innocence from our coming generation. We must give the states the tools to assist them in protecting our children.
Child welfare is an example where state law is generally paramount.
The federal government supports state action by providing funds to states for child welfare activities. Grants to states have been used to expand and strengthen child welfare services. This bill is finely tuned to assist states in this regard. We must come together as a nation to restore what has been stolen from this generation. We must come together as a nation to prevent and stop the cycle of this terrible abuse.