Date: 2010-12-07
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the manager of this bill for his continuing leadership on issues of ensuring the safety of our children. To the manager for our friends on the other side of the aisle. I likewise thank him for his long record in law enforcement and for supporting this legislation. which I rise to support. S. 3998. the Criminal History Background Checks Pilot Extension Act. Mr. Speaker. our children permeate our lives and our society. Not only are children engaged in what we call organized activities such as the Boys and Girls Clubs which permeate all of our communities and districts. or little league baseball. football. soccer and basketball. in schools and afterschool clubs. but they also do ad hoc things such as doing their own volunteer work and working with organizations that ask for young people to volunteer. I rise enthusiastically to support the opportunity for nonprofits and others to be able to access these criminal background checks and applaud the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Ive worked with over the years. We are always saddened when we hear of a missing child. an abused child. or a child that has been murdered. Over the last couple of months and in the last year. we have seen children that have been dismembered. we have seen children that have been lost. we have seen children that have been brutally abused. certainly some at the hands of their relatives or parents. But if we can protect these children when they leave our home to ensure that they do have the safety of the adult leadership that is working with them. we will have made a giant step forward. Our children are our most precious resource. If we look at the crime statistics. we will see that they represent a sizable proportion of those children that have either been sexually abused or in fact suffered a violent act. So I think that this expansion is extremely important. I would also commend to my colleagues my interest in seeing my legislation on the DNA data bank on sexual predators to be accessible all over the country to law enforcement and particularly isolated to those who are sexual predators as relates to children. I have spoken to many law enforcement officers who believe that this would be another expedited source of assistance to them. Obviously this would be a grim set of circumstances because it means that they would have in their possession a case that either a child was sexually molested and lived or a child was sexually molested and did not live. But anything that we can do to ensure that law enforcement within the guidelines of our own Constitution and beliefs have all the resources that they need to protect our children I believe is extremely important. I look forward to working with my colleagues to move this legislation. to hold hearings on this legislation. and to ensure that we give every tool to law enforcement to protect our children. [- 1700 But in the instance of this legislation. this is. in fact. a very important statement about our commitment to protecting our children. I congratulate Senator SCHUMER. And to all of the organizations that every day encounter adults that work with children. this gives you an added extra tool that I know that you will use to be able to ensure that our children have a full and complete quality of life. enjoy the activities that you provide for them. and. yes. have the opportunity to volunteer themselves and work with adults who they know are concerned about their best interests and not those who may have a record that would undermine the purpose and goals of the organization in which they work. So. in conclusion. let me thank those who have supported this legislation and ask my colleagues to enthusiastically support S. 3998. the Criminal History Background Checks Pilot Extension Act.