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“MISSING CHILDREN'S DAY” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H5593 on May 25, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MISSING CHILDREN'S DAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Ramstad] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. RAMSTAD. Mr. Speaker, today marks the twelfth annual commemoration of Missing Children's Day. Today we remember the thousands of children reported missing, pray for their safe return, and hope that 1995 will be a safer year for America's children.
I believe this year will be safer for children in this country because of a bill that became law at the end of last year--the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Registration Act. This new law requires those who prey on children, child abductors, molesters, who are convicted, to register their whereabouts with law enforcement for 10 years after their release from prison or parole.
The bill was named, Mr. Speaker, after a very special young boy from Minnesota, Jacob Wetterling, who was abducted from a small community in Minnesota in 1989. Jacob Wetterling was the motivating factor behind my introduction of the Wetterling bill in 1991. Thanks to the bipartisan support here in the House and the Senate and the President's signature, this became law.
Jacob Wetterling is also the reason his family, Patty and Jerry Wetterling, started the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, which is an organization dedicated to preventing abductions and finding missing children. Jacob and the thousands of children who are missing provide us with thousands of reasons to keep fighting for America's kids.
Mr. Speaker, it is alarming when you think of the statistics. The average child abductor commits 177 of these heinous acts before being apprehended the first time. The children of America and the parents of America need and deserve this type of protection afforded under the Jacob Wetterling law, and I applaud the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department for getting this system, this national registration system of convicted child abductors up and running.
The second element of that law, Mr. Speaker, is the community notification provision, a very, very important provision so that when these dangerous predators are released back into the community, child care centers, residents, police departments, and schools will know of their whereabouts. Because of the high level of recidivism on the part of these criminals it is essential that we have this type of community notification. After all, people in a neighborhood deserve to know when a convicted pedophile is released back into their community.
I hope, Mr. Speaker, that my colleagues will join me in wearing a white ribbon today as I am and send this message to American missing children. Particularly I send this message to Jacob Wetterling. You are always in our thoughts and prayers, we love you and we will never, ever stop looking for you.
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