Ohio Valley Politics

My inbox has been a little backed up over the last couple days. Looking through it I noticed that several press releases sent out during that time from Congressmen Space and Wilson’s office had a common theme, children.  Because of this I’m combining all of these into a single post.

First off is this statement from Charlie Wilson on his recent votes supporting several bills targeting online predators and child pornography.

“Our children are our most precious resource and we must do everything we can to protect them. This legislation takes important steps to ensure that predators can’t reach into our own homes to prey on our children.”

– Rep. Charlie Wilson

According to the release the bills were:

· H.R. 3845 - PROTECT Our Children Act of 2007

· H.R. 719 - Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2007

· H.R. 4120 - Effective Child Pornography Prosecution Act

· H.R. 4134 – Internet Crime Prevention Education Program Act, authored by Rep. Linda Sanchez

· H.R.4136 - Enhancing the Effective Prosecution of Child Pornography Act of 2007, authored by Rep. Chris Carney

· H.R. 3461 – SAFERNET (Safeguarding America’s Families by Enhancing and Reorganizing New and Efficient Technologies Act of 2007), authored by Rep. Melissa Bean

Wilson has also added a new page to his website to help parents deal with the recent batch of toy recalls during the holiday season and signed on to cosponsor the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act (H.R. 4040).

From Zack Space’s office comes an announcement that the House has passed Space’s proposal to help bolster the Head Start program in rural areas.

“The Head Start program has proven itself to be a valuable tool in starting children on their way to productive adulthood, but the program needs to do more to reach rural students. There is no reason that those children born in rural areas should have less access to such a great program simply by virtue of where they live.

“This proposal will ensure that children all over the region have a better chance at success in life through access to this program.  This is a long-term investment in the economic future of Southeastern Ohio.”

– Rep. Zack Space

According to the press release, Space’s proposals (which were included as an amendment to the Head Start reauthorization bill) will help with:

• Developing innovative and effective models of professional development for staff living in and serving populations in rural communities;
• Removing barriers to parent involvement in Head Start programs in rural communities;
• Removing barriers to providing home visiting services in rural communities; and
• Removing barriers to obtaining health screenings for Head Start participants in rural communities.