Earlier this week, legislation that Assemblyman Paul Cook was carrying that would have prohibited registered sex offenders from driving those ice cream trucks that we all see in our neighborhoods was summarily killed in the Senate "Public Safety" Committee.  The Committee’s Chairman, San Francisco’s Mark Leno, was quite unabashed in his opposition to the bill — reminding us all about the flap between he and former Assemblyman Todd Spitzer and the accusation that Leno is "pro-criminal" in his conduct on the committee.  The defeat of this common-sense legislation certainly emphasizes how the biggest bleeding heart liberals (you know, the ones who see criminals as actually being "victims of a society that has let them down") are placed on the Public Safety Committee by leadership, ensuring a soft on crime sentiment in the key policy committee that looks at these important pieces of legislation. 

Here are Assemblyman Cook’s thoughts on the demise of his legislation…

A bill that I authored to protect children from registered sex offenders met an abrupt end in the Senate Committee on Public Safety on Tuesday.  As a Republican, I have seen many of my bills falter like Assembly Bill 307 did.  I should have been able to shrug this one off and prepare myself to fight another day, however, the failure of this particular bill left me disconcerted.  Who is willing to stand and fight for children these days?

I hear legislators speak on the topic of public safety quite often in Sacramento.  Their rhetoric usually includes promises of putting more cops on the streets or protecting money for the construction of new fire stations.  Don’t get me wrong, these actions are making a difference in communities throughout the state, but there is a large cost involved.  This is why I authored AB 307—it was a way to protect our children without asking for a single dime from the taxpayers of California.  My bill would have made it a crime for registered sex offenders to drive ice cream trucks on the streets where your children play.  However, there is a small minority of legislators who think I’m wasting my time.

I was told by the so-called experts in Sacramento that we, as parents, don’t need to worry about strangers sexually assaulting our children.  Apparently, 9 times out of 10, when a sexual assault occurs, a family member or acquaintance is to blame.  So what about that remaining 10 percent?  Do we write them off as lost causes?  Are they just collateral damage?  Some in the Capitol would like to think so, but I want my constituents to know that I don’t subscribe to this type thinking.  Where there is an opportunity to effect change to protect just one child, I intend to do so.

Perhaps the greatest indicator of a society’s commitment to democracy isn’t the assurance that the majority’s voice is heard, but rather that we protect the minority.  It is by this standard that I conduct myself as an elected representative in the State Legislature, and it is also the reason I will continue my fight to have AB 307 signed into law next year.     
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Assemblyman Paul Cook represents the Inland Empire, including portions of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.