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February 1, 2002 Putting People Before Politics I am proud that the members of the Missouri House of Representatives have showed up ready to go to work. We have listened to our constituents, and showed up in Jefferson City ready to address the issues most important to the people of Missouri. Less than a week after the gavel fell on the opening day of the legislative session, members of the Missouri House passed a bill clarifying the state’s restrictions on automobile window tinting -- a bill important to many senior citizens with vision concerns. Existing law has also made it difficult for Missourians to get a valid motor vehicle inspection. The House passed the bill by a near unanimous margin. This past week, the House passed two more measures of the utmost urgency: House Bill 1338, a bill designed to keep potentially dangerous teachers out of the classroom, and House Bill 1037, which eliminates the statute of limitations on forcible rape and sodomy. Again, both passed the House by near unanimous margins. Considering the bipartisan agreement on these issues, and considering the importance of these issues to the people of our state, I am perplexed at the lack of action in the Senate. I sincerely hope it is not an instance of putting politics above the best interests of the people of Missouri. First, there’s the issue of Missouri’s statutes on forcible rape -- a bill that I see as a top priority for the legislative session. Recent court interpretations of Missouri law have determined that forcible rape and sodomy are unclassified felonies, meaning that charges must be brought against an attacker within three years or the attacker goes free. HB 1037 removes all limitations. This issue is made even more important by recent advances in DNA testing, as this evidence can enable law enforcement authorities to identify a rapist years, even decades after their crime. There are 40 known cases of rape in Kansas City, and another 10 in St. Louis that were reported between January and March of 1999. Meanwhile, these bills are gathering dust over in the Senate while the clock ticks. If the Senate doesn’t take action soon, there will soon be at least another 50 women in the state of Missouri whose attackers will never be brought to justice. Many more victims around the state are facing a similar fate by the Senate inaction. Similarly, the passage of the teacher certification bill is urgent in keeping potentially dangerous teachers out of the classroom. Incidents similar to the one this past week in the St. Louis metro area -- where a principal was attempting to obtain certification, even after impregnating a 14-year-old student -- would be easy to dispose of. As a concerned father myself, I believe most parents would agree that we cannot risk allowing potential sexual predators in our classrooms. HB 1338 makes deception in obtaining a license and disciplinary action on an existing teacher’s license grounds for revocation or denial of a Missouri teaching certificate. I urge the Missouri Senate to get these bills through the process, assign them to committee, debate them on the floor, and have them on the governor’s desk within the next week. Many of the members of the Senate are personal friends of mine; they are honorable men and women. Still, I am aware of the overwhelming temptation to play politics with pending legislation -- to hold bills hostage for political leverage, or to play a shell game with pending legislation based on whose name is on it. There will always be issues that parties respectfully disagree on, and others that every legislator believes is the right thing to do. These are issues that fall in that latter category. I’m here to say that these bills are too important to be used as political pawns. Every day we wait, another Missouri motorist becomes frustrated with the inspection process. Every day we wait, another potentially dangerous teacher enters one of our classrooms. And every day we wait, another Missouri women loses her chance to see justice served. Our women, our children -- the people of Missouri -- deserve better. Now more than ever, it is time to put the best interests of the people before politics. | |||||
Paid for by Kreider for Senator.
Bobby Neal Jr., Treasurer. Not at taxpayer's expense.
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