Rep. Bobby Scott is Using Child Abuse Victims as Bargaining Chip

Recently on the floor, I called on House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott to stop using victims of child sexual abuse as a bargaining chip by holding my bipartisan child sexual abuse prevention bill, the Jenna Quinn Law, from advancing out of his committee and receiving a vote in the House of Representatives. The Jenna Quinn Law passed unanimously out of the Senate in September, and Rep. Scott is the only person blocking it from easily passing the House in an attempt to extract agreements on more controversial legislation. Excerpts of my remarks are below, and audio can be found here.

The days have turned into weeks, and weeks have turned into months, and the House still hasn't passed the Jenna Quinn Law.

It's not because House members oppose the bill. If it came up on the floor today, nearly every member of the House of Representatives would vote for it.

This bill hasn't been able to pass the House because one chairman, Democratic chairman, won't even give the House a chance to vote on it.

For months, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott has refused to move the Jenna Quinn Law despite repeated requests from countless child advocacy groups and a bipartisan group of Senators and Congressmen.

When it comes to detecting and preventing child sexual abuse, Chairman Scott thinks we can wait until next year. We can't wait until next year.

In short, he admitted that this legislation is so important and so valuable, he can't let it pass on its own. It's got to drag other more controversial, more partisan pieces of legislation along with it.

You would think that Congressman Scott would care. If he didn't care for the bill that would benefit the rest of the country, you would think he would care about how it would benefit his constituents in his home district in Virginia.

This bill is one step away from going to the President's desk, and Congressman Scott is the only one standing in the way. It's time to quit playing games and allow the Jenna Quinn Law to pass.