Date: 2010-12-21
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise today in strong support of the H.R. 6547. "Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act." The Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require each state receiving funds under that Act to have in effect policies and procedures that: (1) require criminal background checks for school employees. including searches of state criminal registries or repositories. statebased child abuse and neglect registries and databases. the National Crime Information Center of the Department of Justice. the National Sex Offender Registry. and the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). and (2) prohibit the employment of school employees who refuse to consent to a criminal background check. make false statements in connection with one. or have been convicted of one of a list of felonies. H.R. 6547 requires local educational agencies (LEAs) or state educational agencies (SEAs) to report to local law enforcement any applicants for school employment who are discovered to be sexual predators. This legislation requires periodic repetitions of such criminal background checks. It further requires such states to provide for a timely process under which school employees may: (1) appeal the results of a criminal background check to challenge the accuracy or completeness of the information produced. and (2) seek appropriate relief for any final employment decision based on materially inaccurate or incomplete information produced. H.R. 6547 requires this appeals process. however. to deny the individual employment as a school employee during the process. What makes our Nation great is the belief that every child has the right to a quality elementary and secondary education. Children truly represent the future of our country. They are our living national treasures. Yet they are one of our populations that are least capable of protecting themselves. So. it is our duty to do all we can to provide them with a safe learning environment. free from the menacing threat of sexual and violent predators. This legislation takes a positive step toward making safer school environments a reality by requiring background checks for school employees and prohibiting employment of persons who refuse to submit to a criminal background check. I have always been a strong advocate of protecting our children from sexual predators. I introduced similar legislation in H.R. 288. the "Save Our Children: Stop the Predators Against Children DNA Act of 2009." I believe H.R. 6547. which we are privileged to consider now will provide an important measure of protection for our children from the horrors of sexual and violent predators that we hear about all too frequently in the news. Parents should be able to send their children to school in the morning and know that they will be safe. Children should be able to enjoy their time of innocence and the wonderment of learning without worrying that undue harm to come to them or their classmates. So. I ask my colleagues to stand with me today and vote in favor of the H.R. 6547. "Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act."