Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Let me. first of all. thank the gentleman from Indiana. again. for the clarity of this instruction to our school districts across America. and if I might. again. acknowledge Mr. SCOTT and the chairman of the full committee. If I might continue to say that cyber bullying. it is estimated that 2.2 million children experienced cyber bullying in 2011. This is a teaching tool. This is a Marvel comic book that says Internet superheroes meet the Internet villains. many different tools that school districts can use to be able to educate our children. Sixtyfour percent of students enrolled in weight loss programs reported experiencing weightbased victimization. As I indicated. peer advocacy. 70.6 percent of young people say they have seen bullying in their school. We know that this is a problem. but we know that intervention helps. My amendment. again. emphasizes the intervention and the accountability. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment. I thank them for their support in advance. and I leave you simply by acknowledging that this face should be a smile. When every child goes to school. they should have a smile on their face. Mr. Chair. I have an amendment at the desk. It is listed in the report as Jackson Lee Amendment No. 25. As the founder and cochair of the Congressional Childrens Caucus. I have long advocated for the health. dignity and wellbeing of our nations children. One of the fundamental things that children need to succeed in life is a good education. I thank the Rules Committee for making in order Jackson Lee Amendment No. 25. Mr. Chair. Jackson Lee Amendment No. 25 supports accountabilitybased programs and activities that are designed to enhance school safety. which may include researchbased bullying prevention. cyberbullying prevention. disruption of recruitment activity by groups or individuals involved in violent extremism. and gang prevention programs. Statistics on bullying: Mr. Chair. the daily reality for too many of our children is that they are threatened. bullied. and assaulted but reluctant to tell adults about their pain or shame: 1. 1 in 7 students in grades K12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying. 2. 282.000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month. 3. 90% of 4th to 8th grade students report being victims of bullying of some type. 4. 71% of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school. 5. 15% of all students who dont show up for school report it to being out of fear of being bullied while at school. Consequences of bullying: 1. 15% of all school absenteeism is directly related to fears of being bullied at school. 2. According to bullying statistics. 10 percent of school dropouts do so because of repeated bullying. 3. Bullying is a leading cause of adolescent suicide. The Jackson Lee Amendment also addresses growing concerns regarding violent extremism and the misuse of social media by militant extremist groups to recruit students and young people. Mr. Chair. as we all know. our world changed on September 11. 2001. Groups like ISIS/ISIL are attempting to reach children and young people through social media. This activity is being addressed by law enforcement. intelligence. and Homeland Security. It is important that we provide schools and school districts an opportunity to include in their education programs around school violence material for parents and their children on the issue of radical extremism. As the ranking member of the Judiciary Committees Subcommittee on Crime. Terrorism. Homeland Security. and Investigations. as well as a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee I believe that we must address emerging threats where they are as early as possible. I ask my colleagues to support Jackson Lee Amendment No. 25 to help protect our school age children from bullying and radical extremism.