Expressing the Sense of Congress That Child Safety is the First Priority of Custody and Visitation Adjudications

Floor Speech

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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished gentleman, who spent his career not only as a sheriff, but a duly- elected constitutional Member in Florida, but also to the distinguished gentlewoman from Houston, Texas, who has served as an attorney serving the people of Houston, Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to make sure that as we respectfully address this issue, H. Con. Res. 72, which urges States to look at improved family court proceedings of child custody cases, ensuring that child safety is a top priority, it makes clear that Congress will use its oversight authority to engage in this issue also.

We do not come at this issue lightly, Mr. Speaker. As a matter of fact, the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project has provided a great deal of information, not only to Members of Congress, but by visiting the Members, making sure that they understand that their work with the Center for Judicial Excellence and the Protective Parents Association of California have made sure that they saw these issues clearly and talked to Members of Congress about our ideas, not only as we fund Federal programs, but as we understand in our discussions with States that we prioritize and help them look at what is, seemingly, a national crisis.

This national crisis is about how our children are dealt with in the court system and looked at. Specifically, this is a concurrent resolution that urges States to develop family court procedures to resolve claims of abuse and family violence before making any other determination in the case, allowing courts to focus on these allegations affecting child safety independently.

What did I just say? Well, what I just said is many times in court proceedings where there is a family violence circumstance, where there is stress in a family, there are examples that either side might talk about what is in the best interest of the child.

And courts across this country, whether at their local court, whether a state court, we are asking them to understand that this national crisis deals with children that are being placed in a circumstance that might not be in their best interest, and it calls on States to prohibit the use of discredited or unscientific theories in their family courts. In other words, there are many times provisions in a court or a bias of a court to take one side or the other.

Finally, it highlights the problems that some litigants--these are people back in their own home States--face regarding mandatory fees, and Congress is asking the States to look at these.

Many times, as the distinguished gentlewoman from Houston talked about, there are fee structures which keep families from fully participating to protect their children because of the cost. This is an important issue.

Tragically, millions of children are impacted in the United States of America. They call it domestic violence or child abuse, but the bottom line is that the resulting harm is lasting to our children. Physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, this trauma stays with our children for some period of time and many times it lasts for a lifetime.

It also imposes billions of dollars on society where these children need to be handled, dealt with, and worked through a system for them to understand what happened in their childhood would create some difficulties later in their life.

Simply put, we believe that family courts need better expertise. Better expertise not only in terms of the legal counsel that is involved, but perhaps outside professionals who would address these issues.

In my home State of Texas, we have had to reevaluate the circumstances, not just of divorce, but of domestic violence where a child is involved, trying to focus more directly on the needs of the child and then having that family, two sides for sure, who would come together to see what is in the best interest of that child.

Family courts need to address abuse, and once again, many times it is not uncommon for them to have to address these through the frailties of a system, frailties of people who give testimony, and perhaps theories that are not always in the best interest of the child that might be proposed in court.

So one story in particular has it of a young girl named Kyra who tragically lost her life at the age of 2 in 2016 while her family was going through the court system. The focus became the battle, not the child, and the child fell in between the processes and, unfortunately, the tragedy occurred because of this huge disagreement between the family to where her father brutally murdered her before setting the house on fire and killing himself.

The tragedy involved, rather than highlighting the differences between these two, of the safety of the child. And the safety of the child and of the mother is vitally important.

At least 653 child murders by a parent involved in a divorce, separation, custody, or visitation, child support have been documented in the United States over the last 10 years. That is a tragedy. That is a nightmare that is happening directly before us.

This is why we believe that listening to outside groups, such as the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project and the Judicial Excellence Coalition have come to Congress to say, we would like for you to see what is happening back in your States, back in your communities, back where you are from, Members of Congress, and see if you can shine a spotlight on showing how important children and women are, not just in our society, but in the court system.

So what I would say is I would like to thank my colleagues, the gentleman who started this, the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Congressman Pat Meehan, for his dedication to this issue, as well as my dear friend from New York, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, for her leadership as she has joined me on so many issues where we deal with women's health and women's safety, children's health, children's safety, including disabled children and people who cannot protect themselves.

Mr. Speaker, whether you live in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, or wherever you might be in this country, it is important for us to understand that the focus on children's safety in court matters is essential to the Nation's health and support for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished gentleman and the chairman of the committee, Chairman Goodlatte, for allowing this to come forth at this time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Florida for yielding me this time.

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