Karen Bass Calls on House to Hold Hearings on Child Abuse Following Senate Hearings on Topic

WASHINGTON– Today, U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) released the following statement in response to a hearing today convened by Senator Barbara Mikulski, Chair of the Senate’s Health and Education panel’s Subcommittee Chair on Children and Families. The hearing requested by Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.), will focus on efforts to protect children from abuse and neglect in the wake of sexual abuse charges against former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. Last month, Rep. Bass introduced the Speak Out to Stop Child Abuse Act (SOS Child Abuse Act), a bipartisan bill that requires all adults over the age of 18 to report sexual abuse against a child to law enforcement officials or state child protective service agencies.

“Today’s hearing is exactly the type of dialogue that needs to take place if we are to ever put an end to the horrible abuses against children,” said Rep. Bass. “Unfortunately, the Penn State case is not an isolated incident and if we don’t act now, more children will continue to be put in harm’s way. Adults like the Penn State official, who failed to notify authorities after he witnessed the abuse of a child should not just be penalized in the court of public opinion, but also in the court of law. It is our duty as Members of Congress to ensure laws are in place that hold individuals responsible who do not act when they witness a child being sexually abused. I applaud Sens. Mikulski and Casey for assembling this hearing and I encourage my colleagues in the House of Representatives to follow suit to develop the most thorough solution to protecting our nation’s future – our children.”

Rep. Bass will attend the hearing and will be available for comment following the discussion.