This morning I received a personal phone call from PA Representative Tom Murt in response to an email I sent him requesting information on whether or not TLC employees were checked for child abuse clearances and criminal backgrounds prior to being allowed to work with the Gosselin children, as required by the Commonwealth of PA of anyone working with children. He told me he's asked for this information every day for the past week and that if he doesn't get it today he's going to personally call Sandi Vito, Pennsylvania's Secretary of the Department of Labor and Industry for the answer.
See the last couple of entries if you are not familiar with last week's work of Rep. Murt in which he held hearings to tighten up child labor laws regarding children used in entertainment in the Commonwealth of PA, in particular "reality television." He told me he's been amazed at the responses via email including one from France which stated "We would never exploit our children the way you do in your country."
Representative Murt talked briefly with me about 1997's PA's film tax credit which was created to encourage filmmakers and television production to bring their work to PA. Along with the influx of film crews and production companies comes added responsibilty of Pa to ensure that the State's children who are involved in such productions are safe and protected. Murt told me he is currently drafting legislation based on last week's hearings, which he hopes to unveil on May 20, 2010.
Interestingly, he's also planning on updating legislation on an unrelated issue regarding child abuse, and I happen to have testified at the first hearings regarding that exact issue when it was originally proposed as legislation approximately twenty years ago. I'm going to make myself available to him in case he would like me to testify at the upcoming hearings proposing updates to that legislation. Twenty years ago I testified as a former victim of child abuse. Now I could be testifying as a therapist who works with adults who were abused the way I was as a child. Isn't it great the way life comes around sometimes?
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14 comments:
Thanks for the update.
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"We would never exploit our children the way you do in your country."
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Jellus hatuer? (ha ha, tried to make it look French-ish)
I hope he follows through. I wrote him and so did a friend in Australia. It shouldn't take somebody from another country to open the eyes in DC but sometimes that is the only thing that will make people WAKE UP.
Yes, TLC "got away with it" for all these years. That doesn't mean that they can continue. If thinking kids should have proper protections makes me a "Hater," --
I wear the badge with honor.
Thanks for the update, WG! I sent Mr. Murt an email on Sat. and he wrote me back within a few hours. He seems like a very kind and caring man! I am so glad to hear he is taking on child abuse in several forms (not just reality television).
He definitely has my support (even though I'm in a different state).
good for Rep. Murt and good for you!
Thanks so much for this update, Werny Gal. I continue to be very impressed with Rep. Murt. He seems to personally respond to several people who have contacted him. As busy as he is, I find that an unusual quality for people in his field. I am very proud of you -- you must have been quite young when you 1st testified 20 yrs. ago. It is great the way life circles back around. Personally, I believe that it was meant to be.
Hi WG,
It's always good to hear that this issue continues to be taken seriously and Rep. Murt seems to be on top of this. Others who have been contacted by him say that he has been getting some resistance from the DOL. Did he happen to say anything about that to you? Do you have any suggestions on how we keep the pressure on the DOL so this doesn't get swept under the carpet again?
Good luck with the child abuse hearings and with getting updated legislation put in place. It is very interesting when life comes full circle and I'm sure it's satisfying for you to be able to be a part of this. Please do keep us posted. Thanks, WG.
Thanks for the information. It's a shame that we must resort to blogs for the truth instead of the discredited media. Ethics? Morals? Truth? Gone.
Thanks for writing everyone. Yes itsabout, he has been given resistance, at least if you consider him asking them every day for a week and them not responding. That sounds like resistence to me. If he, a PA Representative, can't get responses, that doesn't bode well for us little regular citizens, does it?
You do a great job on your blog asking the questions that need to be asked and exposing what the media does not expose.
I email Mr. Murt as well.
Good luck with the child abuse hearings.
Thanks for the update, and good luck with the child abuse hearings as well as the CHild Labor Law legislation. The Senator is a good man.
If he has the draft legislation ready by May 20th, do you have any input as to how long the preliminary hearings will take before the Legislature (we hope) passes it? Here it can take months as we hold usually hold hearings in several different parts of the state.
If the DOL is taking so long to respond with the background check info, it leads one to suspect that the answer will be no. Sometimes resistance is a bad idea.
WG,
Please don't let this blog's tone take a turn for the worst. Why can't there be one blog that people can't discuss Kate w/o the immature hate. I can't even read the Lawyer's site anymore.
Stay civil, please!
Werny Fan
Thank you for sharing this great news WG. It is great to hear that through your personal experience you are able to make a difference in childrens lives. Keep us posted about the progress in this important issue.
Yes, I am enjoying blogging much more since there is something important to blog about. I also feel prouder of my blog when I hit "send." That's why I decided to come out as a therapist in my profile on the right side of the page. I am not going to play both sides of the field anymore. I am going to stick to advocacy and psychological views and try to do it kindly (given the circumstances I have to work with.) It doesn't mean we can't have a sense of humor here, but I've never been about the hate and this is where I belong. Thank you for your support.
I don't know how long it will take Gwatcher, because it's been a long time since I was actively involved in anything like this, but I am sure it will take several months and you know what they say, "progress, not perfection," right? It's just such a relief to see some positivity come out of all the pain in this situation.
I also wrote to Rep. Murt and I'm in California. If nothing else he needs to realize that people everywhere are concerned about the Gosselin kids. I also wanted him to know I feel it is unfair that they must share 15%, and that the six pack was kept out of regular kindergarten so keep them available for filming. I know this will be a slow process, and we all will have to be patient.
There has been a lot of talk (rightfully so) about the tup potty training episodes. Another one that completely creeped me out was "Twins Play Mommy for a Day", when Mady was filmed 'alone' rolling around on the basement floor in manner that was perfectly age appropriate yet also complete fodder for pervs. I remember wondering at the time whether the cameraman had ever undergone a background check (as neither parent was in the room at the time). Sick stuff to have to worry about...
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