STOP INSTITUTIONAL CHILD ABUSE ACT

On 2024-12-11, Senator Susan M. Collins (R-ME) delivered a floor speech titled "STOP INSTITUTIONAL CHILD ABUSE ACT" in the Senate. The speech addressed the environment and also covered foreign policy, China. It referenced legislation including S6952, S6963, S1351, among other bills.

STOP INSTITUTIONAL CHILD ABUSE ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 184 (Wednesday, December 11, 2024) [Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 184 (Wednesday, December 11, 2024)] [Senate] [Pages S6952-S6963] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] STOP INSTITUTIONAL CHILD ABUSE ACT Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I rise to say a few words about S. 1351 and ask for its passage, as amended. But before I formally ask, I just want to know what this is all about; and that is, across our country, there are institutions that say they will help with your troubled teen. In fact, this has been become known as the troubled teen industry. Now, some of these institutions are long established, huge amounts of oversight, the best practices and the best results, and we certainly need these types of places to assist families when they are challenged in the family setting by the difficulties experienced by their children. But we also have a whole series of companies that have sprung up, whether for-profit or nonprofit, without the expertise, and saw an opportunity to make a lot of money and jump into a space without the proper foundation for actually being beneficial to teens. We had an experience with one of our Oregon children who died at just such a facility. One of the individuals--really the individual who proceeded to draw attention to this largely unregulated troubled teen industry is Paris Hilton. Paris wrote a memoir, and she shared in it, as summarized by, well, the summary of her book, that her childhood was shattered by 2 years of strip searches, isolation, beatings, restraints, and brainwashing in this troubled teen institution. Her story is not alone. There are multiple stories of broken bones, of sexual assaults, of solitary confinement, even stories, as with our child in Oregon, of them dying in these institutions. We found that there really is a lack of detailed information about what is going on across America, so 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans have come together to sponsor this bill to say: We need to understand and therefore have recommendations on how to avoid the horrendous outcomes at some of the institutions. So this bill calls for just such a study. This bill proceeds to say: We want our kids safe. We want our kids respected. We want our children to have the very best care. I am struck by the tragedy that occurs when parents searching for help for their children strive to send them to a safe place and end up sending them to a very dangerous place. This is unacceptable. This bill says: Let's get a complete map of these institutions. Let's understand where they are and what they look like and what they cost and how long kids are staying there and how children are treated, how they are treated in ways that are inappropriate, and how, in some institutions, the gold-star institutions, how their best practices should be shared across the Nation, and how we should inform decision makers and policymakers across the country with the findings. So that is the simple story of this bill, and I am pleased that I am able to come to the floor now with a lot of support: Senator John Cornyn, a lead on the Republican side, and a lot of help from Tommy Tuberville. Senator Cassidy, who is ranking member of HELP, was involved in helping this bill go forward. I am thankful for the information we received from the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches, an institution that is highly respected and that has been in operation since 1957, providing support and help to literally thousands of young boys. Actually, that is the type of information we want collected--institutions that are working well, that have those best practices. So, Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. 1351 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A bill (S. 1351) to study and prevent child abuse in youth residential programs, and for other purposes. There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the Senate proceeded to consider the bill. Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Merkley-Cornyn substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment (No. 3316), in the nature of a substitute, was agreed to. (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of Amendments.'') The bill (S. 1351), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read the third time, and passed. Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I failed to mention my appreciation for the conversations I have had with Senator Rick Scott, who helped facilitate dialogue with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches and their contributions to how we should go forward. With that, I am really excited that we are getting this bill done. Thank you. Hopefully, the House will be able to expedite it, and we will start to understand an industry that we need to understand and America needs to understand so children are helped, not hurt. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Electric Vehicle Subsidies Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, the new Senate Republican majority begins on January 3, 2025. So our day one starts in 3 weeks. Republicans are going to enter the next Congress with a long ``fix it'' list on behalf of the American people. And at the top of the list is an agenda to lower costs and to restore American energy dominance. Prices today, we know, are 20 percent higher than they were 4 years ago, and, just this morning, we learned, once again, that prices have gone up in November. And we know the culprits, the problem behind the high prices: wasteful Washington spending. And we have seen a lot of it the last 4 years. The other reason, of course, is the Democrats throttling American energy production. Republicans are going to fix the fiscal insanity of the last 4 years. We will put Americans--not Washington bureaucrats--back into the driver's seat. We are going to start by repealing the Biden car bribe. This is something that President Trump strongly supports, and he is supporting what we are promoting. He has asked for it. He has campaigned on it. Eliminating this car bribe by the Biden administration--it is one of the most wasteful policies we have seen from this administration over the last 4 years. It is the Democrats' $7,500 subsidy for people buying electric vehicles. It was included in their reckless tax-and-spend legislation. It received zero--zero--Republican votes, not a one. It is an attempt by the Democrats to bribe the American people to go along with their unpopular climate fantasy. It is a welfare check for wealthy elites and for green corporations. It is a giveaway to communist China, which controls key parts of the EV supply chain. We were initially told by the Joint Committee on Taxation that these subsidies would cost about $14 billion. Well, the pricetag has continued to tick up since then. Today, there have been some revised estimates, and they have ballooned to projected costs of way over $300 billion. That is right, over $300 billion. And that is for vehicles that most Americans don't want, can't afford, and don't work for them or their families. The auto dealers in Wyoming tell me it takes much, much longer to try to sell these things compared to the traditional gas-powered vehicles. They say they can't even sell them at a loss, and they are stockpiling them on the lots. Less than 10 percent of the new car sales in America last year were EVs. The sale figures have been abysmal. EVs lost market share. It is hard to believe. They actually lost market share in 2024. So you have these carmakers from around the country who are hemorrhaging cash. They are losing tons of money. And we have autoworkers who have lost their jobs. [[Page S6953]] The CEO of Ford says his company is projected to lose $5 billion this year on their EV market. Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, is also in the ditch. In August, it announced plans to lay off thousands of autoworkers at its plants in Michigan. Yet, last week, it won a $7.54 billion loan--a loan, an additional loan--from the Biden administration, over $7.5 billion for something that is failing. Joe Biden is leaving the White House the same way he led it: by doubling down on failure. America now has fewer manufacturing jobs today than it did last year. And do you want to know the dirtiest secret of Democrats in terms of the Biden car bribe? It sends taxpayer money to communist China. But the original law was clear. It said, if your EV was made with Chinese batteries or used their critical minerals, it would then be ineligible--not eligible--for taxpayer-funded subsidies. Chinese batteries, Chinese components can't get any of the subsidy benefits. Senator Manchin actually wrote that provision into that bill. Republicans still voted against the entire bill. We thought it was a waste of taxpayer dollars. Joe Biden signed it, and then EV sales stalled out. So what did the Democrats do? They double-dealed. They could have made it easier to mine more critical minerals in America, to use our own supply chain. But, no, President Biden decided to overrule the China ban. The Department of the Treasury came out with lax rules on sourcing materials, meaning that communist China will benefit from American tax dollars. It also means that American workers will pay a higher price for a policy and for 

Referenced legislation: S1351, S1351