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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Jake Wheatley |
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Wheatley calls for special House-Senate committee, with subpoena power,
to investigate Penn State allegations and fix gaps in laws
HARRISBURG, Nov. 15 – State Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny, today urged legislative leaders to create immediately a bipartisan House-Senate special legislative committee with full authority, including subpoena powers, to investigate the critical situation at Penn State University.
In a letter to the leaders, Wheatley said the committee should do a comprehensive review of Pennsylvania's child abuse reporting requirements and procedures in both government agencies and institutions of higher learning. The committee would be tasked with identifying the flaws in the system that triggered the failures and would prepare recommendations regarding methods to correct those flaws to prevent the problems from occurring in the future.
"Like many others, I have read the grand jury’s presentment of facts and have concluded that our current law and practices have glaring deficiencies which sadly allowed many of these terrible acts to escape notice and prosecution for far too long," Wheatley said in the letter.
In addition, Wheatley sent a letter to fellow members of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, asking for their support in the effort. That letter states in part, "From various news accounts, I have gathered that the target of the accused perpetrator was those within (Jerry Sandusky's) foundation, The Second Mile. A cursory web search of this organization will show you this is a foundation which targeted low income, underserved children from across the Commonwealth. These children are already vulnerable and in many instances, defenseless. Our Caucus was founded on providing a legislative platform to ensure the voices of these children are always heard, protected, and defended. I am requesting that we continue in this historical role and insert our leadership into this discussion."
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