Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt),
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
On “Challenges And Solutions For Protecting Our Children
From Violence In The 21st Century”
April 16, 2008
Today the Judiciary Committee considers the issue of how to protect
our most precious resource – our children and grandchildren – in
these complicated and sometimes dangerous times. It is National
Crime Victims’ Rights Week, and we need to do all that we can to
protect our children from becoming victims of crime. I thank
Senator Biden for holding this hearing and for his leadership on the
issues of internet safety and crime prevention.
This Committee has been actively working to find ways for the
Federal government to contribute to keeping our children safer. In
December we reported for consideration by the full Senate three
important pieces of internet safety and child protection
legislation. The Committee passed legislation that reauthorizes the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), an
admirable organization that spearheads national efforts to locate
and recover missing children and raises public awareness about ways
to prevent child abduction, molestation, and sexual exploitation.
Further, NCMEC works to make our children safer by acting as a
national voice and advocate for those too young to vote or speak up
for their own rights.
The Committee also reported out the Internet Safety and Education
Act, which sets up a grant program to give educators and parents the
tools necessary to teach proper online interactions and promote safe
Internet usage to their students and children in an age-appropriate
manner. Lastly, the Committee unanimously reported Senator
Schumer’s KIDS Act, which would strengthen the nation’s sex offender
registry. While all of these bills have broad bipartisan support, a
few Senators have placed holds on them, so far preventing them from
passing the full Senate. I urge that the holds be lifted and that
the full Senate pass these important bills.
Today’s hearing focuses on S. 1738, the Combating Child Exploitation
Act, a bill sponsored by Senator Biden. The bill continues the
important work the Committee has been doing to keep our children
safe. It seeks to streamline the protection and investigation of
child exploitation cases by establishing a Special Counsel for Child
Exploitation Prevention within the Department of Justice, and to
combine state, local, and Federal insight into how best to address
the growing problem of child exploitation on the Internet through
creation of an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. I hope
that this legislation will provide another chance for the Judiciary
Committee to show that, by working together and incorporating new
technology, we can make important strides to protect America’s
children from exploitation.
The Judiciary Committee has also been hard at work considering
legislation that addresses other important aspects of the problem of
how best to protect our children. This hearing on protecting our
children from violence takes place on the first anniversary of the
horrific incident at Virginia Tech that resulted in the tragic
deaths of 32 students and faculty members, and serious injuries to
many other innocent victims. Our hearts go out to the victims’
families as they mourn their loved ones who tragically lost their
lives before their time. Our sympathies also go out to the
survivors of this terrible incident, as well as the entire Virginia
Tech community, whose resilient spirit and courage in the face of
tragedy over the past year have been truly remarkable.
Eight months ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee took a step to make
our schools and college campuses safer when it reported the School
Safety and Law Enforcement Improvement Act of 2007, S. 2084.
Regrettably, the Senate has failed to take up and pass that bill to
improve school safety. Today reminds us why this comprehensive
legislation should be considered and passed without further delay.
Finally, the Judiciary Committee is hard at work putting together
legislation to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Act. One of the best ways to keep all of our children
safe is to find and advance the best approaches for keeping young
people from turning to violence in the first place. Our recent
hearing in Rutland, Vermont, on the rise of drug-related violent
crime in rural areas also shed light on the effectiveness of
programs which keep young people away from drugs and violence and on
the need to a comprehensive approach to combating violent crime.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has been taking just such a
comprehensive approach to the issue of keeping our children safe by
exploring and addressing the problem from all sides. I thank
Senator Biden and today’s witnesses for their contributions to this
important effort.
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