Children's Safety Act of 2005

CHILDREN'S SAFETY ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - September 14, 2005)

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Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Chairman, as my colleague points out, under current law what does this mean? Let me offer an example.

If there is a child abuser in California who has been proven through the courts to have a history of child abuse, that history is on record in the State of California. But should that abuser decide to move to my State of Arizona, there is no documented history of his record of abuse in California that exists in Arizona. Currently, there is no national child abuse registry to show that this is a child abuser, no easy way, therefore, for localities to know this is a child abuser who is unfit to have children in their care.

This is the problem that our local governments currently encounter. Nothing is in place nationally that provides one State a direct way to report to other States that someone has an established history of child abuse, making the job for our local and State child advocacy services much more difficult.

Children are being placed in danger when child abuse offenders move to a State where their history is unknown. This national registry would be a commonsense and a necessary step in the fight against child abuse. Local authorities need a more certain way to uncover an individual's history of child abuse in another State, and this amendment will allow the Attorney General and the Secretary of HHS to work together to create this database that can be updated by data from the several States and utilized by States to keep children safe.

Child abusers can run, but they cannot hide. We will not let them hide. This amendment makes it possible to deal with this effectively. I congratulate my co-sponsor, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly); and I ask the House to move forward on this favorably.

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