Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should increase public awareness of child abuse and neglect and should continue to work with the States to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect through such programs as the Child Welfare Services and Promoting Safe and Stable Families programs.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the subject of the bill under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of House Resolution 299. This resolution reflects bipartisan support for increasing public awareness of child abuse and neglect, which is a necessary first step to better protect children.

Yesterday, the House passed a resolution honoring foster parents, who play a major role in ensuring hundreds of thousands of children are protected from abuse and neglect each year. Today's resolution before us highlights the too large number of children who are abused and neglected each year and the many negative consequences of that abuse for children, families, and our Nation. The numbers are bracing. Almost 900,000 children in the United States were victims of abuse and neglect in 2005, the most recent figures.

Several government programs overseen by the subcommittee on which Chairman McDermott and I serve assist foster and adoptive families with children's needs or help reunify children with their own parents when that is safe and appropriate. But the very first step to ensure children are out of harm's way involves alert relatives, neighbors, friends, teachers, community organizations, and so many others in every neighborhood across this country. These are people who care, people who want to help, and people who take the time to step in to help make sure our children are safe and sound.

Consider some of those working hard right now to help children in the congressional district I represent in Illinois. Earlier this year I sat down with my local community support agencies to listen to their successes and their many challenges in helping to prevent child abuse and neglect. These agencies offer a wide variety of services to families, from Head Start, food programs, and affordable housing to social services and foster care when needed to ensure children are safe.

In the district I represent, Will County Catholic Charities protects over 300 children in foster care. The Guardian Angel Home and Groundwork in Joliet, Illinois, help abused women and children affected by domestic violence by providing services such as temporary housing, counseling, and legal assistance. Many others provide similar services in other parts of the district I represent, as well as in every congressional district in America.

We should never take these people and their agencies that deliver such good services for granted. Just last week, Catholic Charities in Chicago announced they are shutting down their foster care program after 90 years of service. Their absence will leave a void others will have to fill to ensure that more than 900 Illinois children they now care for are protected from harm. This will be a major challenge. Catholic Charities and the Guardian Angel Home are just two of the many organizations across the Nation that help children and families lead safe and productive lives. Many caseworkers and others who serve families directly have committed their lives to this critical service. They deserve our continued support.

Congress recently made improvements to key programs designed to protect children, including by providing additional resources for direct services and also caseworkers. Last year in the Child and Family Services Improvement Act, Congress increased accountability by requiring States to conduct more frequent caseworker visits to children in foster care. We also targeted over $145 million over the next 5 years for preventing and treating parental substance abuse, which is a key cause of child abuse and neglect. This legislation was fully paid for and was totally bipartisan. And for that I want to congratulate former Subcommittee Chairman Wally Herger of California, who worked with our current chairman, Jim McDermott of Washington State, to accomplish this goal.

I expect to introduce legislation shortly that would provide caseworkers with more resources to better serve children. Currently, when private organizations provide training to their caseworkers, they are eligible for fewer Federal funds to support those costs than are paid for to support the training of government-employed caseworkers. Same training, same job, but different payments, simply because one worker is employed by a private agency and another by a government agency. That is arbitrary and unfair, and we should fix it. I hope the same spirit of bipartisanship evident here today and that which created our work last year will help us get this legislation passed this year, in 2007.

There certainly is much more work to do. Many experts have long been concerned that current programs focus too many resources on helping families after children have been abused and neglected. That is simply too late, especially when the right resources might help prevent abuse or neglect from occurring.

As this resolution expresses, Congress should continue to work with the States to reduce child abuse and neglect. Thoughtful efforts are under way in States like Florida and elsewhere to test ways to better prevent abuse and neglect from happening instead of addressing it after the fact. We are eager to see these results and stand ready to incorporate any positive measures in reforms yet to come. In the meantime, this resolution focuses public attention on child abuse and on the resources available today to prevent child abuse.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and to work together in a bipartisan way with the Ways and Means Committee to develop further measures to protect children from abuse and neglect.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 299) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should increase public awareness of child abuse and neglect and should continue to work with the States to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect through such programs as the Child Welfare Services and Promoting Safe and Stable Families programs.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Not every child in America is raised in a safe and loving home. More often than we realize, children become the victims of abuse and neglect from the very people they should be able to trust the most, their parents.

Today the Income Security and Family Support Committee that I chair is united behind this resolution to designate April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Democratic Representatives John Lewis, Pete Stark, Michael McNulty, Kendrick Meek and Republican Representative Jerry Weller, the subcommittee's ranking member, Wally Herger and Jon Porter are cosponsors of the resolution.

Our goal in designating April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month is to increase public awareness of the serious threats that child maltreatment imposes on children, and to encourage Americans to break the cycle of violence.

2005 is the most recent year for which data is available from the Department of Health and Human Services. Nine hundred thousand children were victims of substantiated cases of abuse and neglect. Nearly 1,500 children, mostly under the age of 4, died as a result. Another half a million children could not live safely with their parents and were removed from the home.

Child abuse and neglect has a devastating impact on the life of a child that goes beyond the immediate physical and emotional pain that is inflicted on them. Children who suffer from maltreatment are at greater risk of developmental delays and behavioral problems that could last a lifetime. Child maltreatment can delay or disrupt the normal cognitive development process which, in turn, impacts academic achievement.

Children who are the victims of abuse and neglect tend to have lower math scores and English grades, and they repeat grades more frequently than other children. We know that poor academic skills can lead to a child's dropping out of school, continuing a cycle of negative consequences that can last a lifetime.

A history of child abuse and neglect can also disrupt the development of skills that children use to interact with others, such as problem- solving and communication. These skills are critical in stopping the development of other serious behavior problems even among seriously troubled youth. Moreover, victims of child abuse and neglect tend to have greater levels of depression compared to other children. These children are also more likely to suffer from mental illness, experience problems with drugs, and are more likely to become teen-age parents.

Not every child who has suffered from abuse and neglect will experience poor outcomes. Many maltreated children will persevere against the odds and find the ability to cope and even to thrive. They could develop and maintain the personal characteristics that will make them more resilient than others. Of course, this resilience can depend on a child's finding a safe and loving home to live in and access to support systems, educational resources, and health care.

These amazing kids deserve to be recognized and celebrated for their remarkable ability to persevere over the most difficult of circumstances and for setting an example for other children.

In recognition of the fact that too many of our Nation's children will become the victims of violence at the hands of their parents and many others are at risk of such abuse, Congress has expressed the commitment over the last several decades to stop child abuse and neglect. In 1935 Congress established the Child Welfare Services program to provide Federal funding for a variety of services for States to use to protect children who are at risk of abuse and neglect and who assist those who have been victimized.

In 1993, Congress took another step to protect children when it created the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program. This program is the largest source of Federal funding designed to

stop child abuse and neglect before it starts and to support vulnerable families who are at risk of falling into crisis.

Last fall we reauthorized promoting Safe and Stable Families on a bipartisan basis, and we made a number of key improvements. For instance, new funding will allow us to respond to the growing methamphetamine problem that threatens the safety of many of our children in communities across America. We provided States with additional resources to attract, train, and retain caseworkers. We required States to have caseworkers visit children in foster care once a month to make sure they are getting the proper care. And we increased funding that is available to the Native American community as well.

These are only modest steps that will strengthen our ability to prevent the incidence of child abuse and support vulnerable families. Certainly more can be done, but these programs express the commitment of Congress to protect abused and neglected children.

In recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month, I urge my colleagues to join me in increasing public awareness of the threat to innocent children and to promote public policies designed to prevent child abuse and safeguard our most vulnerable children.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

General Leave

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of increasing public awareness of child abuse and neglect. Nearly 900,000 children were found to be victims of abuse and neglect in 2005. This is unacceptable. Congress must take bold action to protect our Nation's children.

Abused and neglected children face a trauma that does not end when the abuse stops. They must also contend with numerous future problems stemming from their abuse and neglect, including mental illness, poor academic achievement, and criminal behavior. In addition, abuse and neglect often starts or continues a cycle of abuse where a third of victimized children go on to become abusers themselves.

Congress has taken steps to prevent and ameliorate child abuse and neglect through programs such as the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program, Child Welfare Services, and the Community Based Child Abuse Prevention program. These are all good programs, but Congress and the President have consistently under funded them. For example, in fiscal year 2006, the Community Based Child Abuse Prevention program was under funded by $38 million. Congress must fully fund these programs at their authorized levels. The fraudulent war in Iraq and tax cuts for the rich has placed us in a difficult fiscal situation. Even so, we must fund the services that protect our most vulnerable children.

By increasing public awareness of child abuse and neglect, we also have an opportunity to implement new policies that address the health and safety of our children. There are 8 million uninsured children in this country. Continuing to deny health care to all children is simply another form of child neglect. We should work to provide health coverage to every child.

I hope that the resolution before us will help to galvanize this body to push for policies that protect and nurture children. The thousands of abused children and the millions of uninsured children deserve our attention and commitment.

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained on matters affecting my family from voting on Tuesday, March 27, 2007. Had I been present I would have voted ``yea'' on the following rollcall votes:

Rollcall No. 190--Providing for the consideration of H.R. 1401, Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007.

Rollcall No. 191--H. Res. 269--Rule providing for consideration H.R. 835--Hawaiian Homeownership Opportunity Act of 2007.

Rollcall No. 192--H.Res. 270--Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 1401, Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007.

Rollcall No. 193--H. Res. 299--Supporting the goals and ideals of Professional Social Work Month and the World Social Work Day.

Rollcall No. 194--On agreeing to the Thompson (MS) amendment to H.R. 1401.

Rollcall No. 195--On agreeing to the Cohen amendment to H.R. 1401.

Rollcall No. 198--On agreeing to the Thompson (MS) amendment to H.R. 1401.

Rollcall No. 199--On agreeing to the Cohen amendment to H.R. 1401.

Rollcall No. 201--On passage--H.R. 1401.

Had I been present I would have voted ``nay'' on the following rollcall votes:

Rollcall No. 196--On agreeing to the Sessions amendment to H.R. 1401.

Rollcall No. 197--On agreeing to the Flake amendment to H.R. 1401.

Rollcall No. 200--On motion to recommit with instructions--H.R. 1401.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 250, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''