Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 108 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 108 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 149 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2003 No. 48 House of Representatives The House met at 12:30 p.m. and was consider four bills designed to make investigated for child abuse be fully in- called to order by the Speaker pro tem- our children safer. We are reminded formed of the specific allegations made pore (Mr. BOOZMAN). this week that a society that does not against them. f keep its children safe is failing its most basic duty. Finally, the House will consider the DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO Child Abduction Prevention Act with A reading of the titles of the bills be- TEMPORE the purpose of preventing child abduc- fore the House reveals the cir- The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- cumstances experienced by too many tions and putting in place the nec- fore the House the following commu- American children today: The preva- essary enforcement tools to assure that nication from the Speaker: lence of child abuse and neglect, the child abductors will not escape justice. WASHINGTON DC, significance of runaway prevention, March 25, 2003. This bill offers a comprehensive and the importance of preventing child package of child abduction prevention I hereby appoint the Honorable JOHN abductions and sexual exploitation. BOOZMAN to act as Speaker pro tempore on tools that make severe child abuse and this day. These bills stand as a stark reminder torture a capital crime, that provides J. DENNIS HASTERT, that our children need special protec- stronger penalties against kidnapping Speaker of the House of Representatives. tion because they are children and and sexual trafficking, that keeps child f therefore simply vulnerable to abuse kidnappers behind bars until trial and MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE and exploitation. that puts a ‘‘two strikes you’re out’’ We will have two bills on the suspen- law in place. A message from the Senate by Mr. sion calendar that are designed to in- Monahan, one of its clerks, announced crease public awareness of the prob- After all, how many children’s lives that the Senate has passed a concur- lems of child abuse and runaway pre- do you have to ruin before you should rent resolution of the following title in vention. be locked up for life? which the concurrence of the House is requested: Mr. Speaker, the problems of child Additionally, it keeps all the safe- S. Con. Res. 28. Concurrent resolution au- abuse are staggering. It is estimated guards in place for wiretapping, but thorizing the printing of the Biographical that every year in our country more creates four new circumstances to Directory of the United States Congress, than 1,200 children die as a direct re- allow better monitoring of criminals’ 1774–2005. sult of being abused and neglected. abuse of children’s chat rooms. We used f Some studies suggest that as many as to be able to keep an eye on our chil- 2.8 million children run away from MORNING HOUR DEBATES dren at the playground in order to keep home to escape abuse, age out of foster them safe. Chat rooms pose a dan- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- care or are thrown out of their homes gerous new challenge that we must ant to the order of the House of Janu- and live on the streets. confront. ary 7, 2003, the Chair will now recog- Both the Keeping Children and Fami- nize Members from lists submitted by lies Safe Act of 2003 and the Child Ab- In addition, the bill would extend the the majority and minority leaders for duction Prevention Act will be the sub- Justice Department’s Amber Alert sys- morning hour debates. The Chair will ject of debate and floor consideration tem to a nationwide program and au- alternate recognition between the par- this week. thorizes funds to enhance communica- ties, with each party limited to not to tion systems along highways to sup- The Keeping Children and Families exceed 30 minutes, and each Member, port the Amber Alert communications Safe Act reauthorizes and modifies the except the majority leader, the minor- plans. ity leader, or the minority whip, lim- Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment ited to not to exceed 5 minutes. Act and related measures to prevent Mr. Speaker, I believe that the child- The Chair recognizes the gentleman family violence, to assist abandoned related legislation that the House is from Texas (Mr. DELAY). babies and to promote adoption. set to move this week shows the Amer- f The bill emphasizes the prevention of ican people that our children are vul- child maltreatment and family vio- nerable to abuse and exploitation and MAKING OUR CHILDREN SAFER lence before it occurs, puts in place that the House is committed to ensur- Mr. DELAY. Mr. Speaker, this week procedures to care for infants born ing that more of our children are pro- is Children’s Week, and the House will drug-exposed, and ensures that parents tected and made safe. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H2279 . VerDate Jan 31 2003 05:18 Mar 26, 2003 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A25MR7.000 H25PT1 H2280 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE March 25, 2003 DOING MORE TO COMBAT likely to use marijuana and 50 times Certain members of the U.N. need to UNDERAGE DRINKING more likely to try cocaine than kids enroll, it seems to me, in refresher The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- who do not drink. That, Mr. Speaker, is leadership courses. Saddam Hussein ant to the order of the House of Janu- why it matters. has danced circles around the U.N., and ary 7, 2003, the gentlewoman from Cali- In order to counter the alarming as- he surely must be laughing up his sault on our youth, Congress has com- fornia (Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD) is recog- sleeve. nized during morning hour debates for missioned the Institute of Medicine of Saddam, not unlike the school yard 5 minutes. the National Academy of Sciences to bully, has imposed havoc upon his peo- Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, develop a strategy to reduce underage ple and upon his neighbors; and, not would not every Member of this House drinking with a national media cam- unlike the school yard bully, he will love to have a campaign in which they paign at its centerpiece. The report is continue to destroy until someone has could run 93 TV ads for every TV ad expected in May. the fortitude to challenge him, to call In the meantime, Mr. Speaker, the run by their opponent? There is no his bluff. beer wholesalers and others rep- doubt which candidate would win. Permit me to examine Saddam’s So it goes with the contest between resenting the alcohol industry will be record during his bloody regime: Thou- alcohol commercials and responsible visiting congressional offices in the sands have disappeared in the Iraqi drinking ads purchased by the alcohol coming weeks to lobby for a reduction prison network; there are numerous ac- industry. in alcohol taxes. When they do, I urge counts of torture and burning of human As reported by the Center on Alcohol my colleagues to make it clear to the flesh of accused victims, children dying Marketing and Youth, in 2001 Amer- liquor industry that our children are of starvation, starvation accelerated ica’s youth were 93 times more likely an important and critical asset to our by Saddam, women notoriously raped to see an ad promoting alcohol than an Nation and that we cannot afford to in the presence of third parties; and, industry ad discouraging underage lose them. once this evil dictator is removed, I am I urge my colleagues to put the liq- drinking. Although the liquor industry confident many additional unbeliev- uor industry on notice that it must do tells us their ads are not targeted at able horrible accounts will surface. more than pay for their token under- children, our children see plenty of Enter President Bush, enter Prime age drinking ads and seriously invest them, and they have enormous impact Minister Tony Blair, enter Spain and to inform parents and children about on our young population. On average, Australia and others. These leaders the dangers of underage drinking. in 2001, an American youngster saw 245 have decided the time has come to take ads promoting alcohol products to only f on the school yard bully. four ads discouraging underage drink- ASSUMING THE MANTLE OF Many insist that this is a unilateral ing. RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP operation. Not true. There are many The amount of money the liquor in- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- supporters, but they are reluctant to dustry spends on advertising alcohol is ant to the order of the House of Janu- openly oppose Saddam. They fear him. also astounding; and compared to what ary 7, 2003, the gentleman from North They in fact, Mr. Speaker, are afraid. Many of his neighbors loathe Saddam, the industry spends on warnings about Carolina (Mr. COBLE) is recognized dur- underage drinking it is, at best, dis- ing morning hour debates for 5 min- but they stand in fear. But the Bush- appointing. utes. Blair wagon will move forward with For example, in the year 2001, the al- Mr. COBLE. Mr.