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I rise today in strong support of the Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act, because it is a commonsense way to protect our schoolchildren from pedophiles.

In addition, to punishing sexual offenders and protecting our children, we must also provide services, resources and counseling to the people who are victims of these horrible crimes.

My personal position is that society must keep children safe.

One of the most important accomplishments of the Caucus is raising awareness with law enforcement and communities nationwide on the issues of child safety and Internet safety.

Yet, when child sex offenders are brought to justice and serve time for their offenses, they are often released into unsuspecting communities and left free to resume their sexual attacks.

The thing that reinforces my belief about that is having worked the last four years with the Safe Kids Campaign on a national basis. I am so amazed at what these little kids do in keeping their parents alerted to what they are there for.

We will make the law clearer on parents' liability for failing to prevent their child being subjected to FGM, and we are working to improve the police response.

When we protect children from every possible source of danger, we also prevent them from having the kinds of experiences that develop their sense of self-reliance, their ability to assess and mitigate risk, and their sense of accomplishment.

The sexual abuse and exploitation of children is one of the most vicious crimes conceivable, a violation of mankind's most basic duty to protect the innocent.

I think one of the keys to any crime-prevention program that's got to be developed is to focus on punishment - to let people know that there is a sanction and a punishment for hurting others.