mr. chairman , this is a commonsense amendment designed to address a problem that most people are unaware of but i believe adversely affects thousands of children across this country . 
every week , child protective agencies throughout the u.s. receive more than 50 , 000 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect . 
a total of 2.6 million reports were filed in 2002 . 
in approximately two-thirds of these cases there is sufficient evidence to prompt an assessment . 
