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| Blacksburg |
April 20, 2007 |
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Dear Friends,
I was just getting aboard my delayed flight to Washington this Monday when a fellow passenger told me there had been a shooting at a college in Virginia. By the time we landed at Dulles airport a little more than three hours later, the scope of the ghastly tragedy was clearer.
Votes on Tuesday were delayed so that the Virginia delegation could travel to Virginia Tech for the convocation.
When tragedy strikes the district of a colleague, the expressions of support and prayers are quietly spoken and sincere. Rick Boucher represents Virginia Tech. Virgil Goode`s district is very close by. Randy Forbes and Thelma Drake had students there.
Tim Murphy, one of my colleagues from Pennsylvania spoke at our weekly member`s meeting on Wednesday. Tim is a child psychologist who had an active practice before coming to the Congress. He`s a thoughtful, caring man.
As a clinician, Tim has had problems with a vague federal privacy law that makes colleges hesitant to tell parents if their child needs help.
He`s dealt with too many cases where a school, afraid of liability, didn`t tell the parents of a college student`s depression or other mental illness until tragedy happened. While we don`t know whether this was a factor at Virginia Tech, Tim thinks we need to change the law so that schools can communicate with parents when a student needs help. I think he`s right.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, students and faculty of Virginia Tech this week.
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