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“NATIONAL MISSING CHILDREN'S DAY” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3496-H3498 on May 18, 2010.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
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NATIONAL MISSING CHILDREN'S DAY
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1325) recognizing National Missing Children's Day, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1325
Whereas, May 25, 2010, will be the 28th National Missing Children's Day;
Whereas National Missing Children's Day honors the obligation of the United States to locate and recover missing children by prompting parents, guardians, and other trusted adult role models to make child safety an utmost priority;
Whereas in the United States nearly 800,000 children are reported missing a year, more than 58,000 children are abducted by nonfamily members, and more than 2,000 children are reported missing every day;
Whereas efforts of Congress to provide resources, training, and technical assistance have increased the capabilities of State and local law enforcement to find children and to return them home safely;
Whereas the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz served as the impetus for the creation of National Missing Children's Day, first proclaimed in 1983; and
Whereas Etan's photograph was distributed throughout the United States and appeared in media globally, and the powerful image came to represent the anguish of thousands of searching families: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes National Missing Children's Day and encourages all people in the United States to join together to plan events in communities across the United States to raise public awareness of law enforcement and the issue of missing children and the need to address the national problem of missing children;
(2) recognizes that one of the most important tools for law enforcement to use in the case of a missing child is an up-to-date, good quality photograph of the child and urges all parents and guardians to follow the important precaution of maintaining such a photograph;
(3) recognizes the vital role of law enforcement and the criminal justice system in preventing kidnappings and abduction of children while also leading efforts to locate missing children; and
(4) acknowledges that National Missing Children's Day should remind people in the United States not to forget the children who are still missing and not to waver in the efforts of law enforcement to reunite such children with their families.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rooney) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution recognizes Tuesday, May 25, as National Missing Children's Day. We hope this resolution will continue to raise public awareness about the problem of missing and abducted children. I therefore thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rooney) and his colleague from Florida (Mr. Hastings) for introducing this resolution.
May 25, 1979, was the day that 6-year-old Etan Patz disappeared from New York City while he was on his way to school. The media attention and massive search efforts that followed his disappearance focused the Nation's attention on the problem of child abduction.
Two years later, in July 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh disappeared from a Florida shopping mall. His parents, John and Reve Walsh, turned to law enforcement to find their son. They quickly realized that there was no coordinated effort between Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies in the search for their son. And to make the situation even more difficult, in 1981, there were no organizations to assist them in their search.
The momentum for a national movement to keep children safe from predators and coordinate efforts by law enforcement to search for missing children began with the disappearance of these two children. As a result of this movement, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was established in 1984. Over the past 25 years, the National Center has assisted law enforcement with more than 165,000 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 151,000 children.
Although the National Center has done a remarkable job in helping to find missing children and raising public awareness about the problem of child abduction and exploitation, the Department of Justice reports that far too many children still go missing every year. We hope that on May 25, the National Missing Children's Day, we hope that on that date everyone's thoughts will be with the families who have missing children and that we will rededicate our efforts to protecting our children from predators.
I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution and reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROONEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I support House Resolution 1325, which I sponsored to recognize National Missing Children's Day. This simple but important resolution recognizes May 25, 2010, as the 28th National Missing Children's Day. The Federal Government first recognized this day in 1983, when President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25 as National Missing Children's Day.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children tells us that the proclamation followed a series of high-profile missing children cases that drew newspaper headlines across the country. The first involved the disappearance of Etan Patz from a New York City street on his way to school on May 25, 1979. Etan's father, a professional photographer, disseminated black-and-white photographs of Etan in an effort to find him. The massive search and media attention that followed focused the Nation's attention on the problem of child abduction and the lack of coordinated plans to address it.
The second incident was the missing and murdered child tragedy in Atlanta, Georgia. During this episode, the bodies of 29 young boys and girls were discovered over a 3-year period in the late 1970s and early 1980s. A suspect was identified and convicted in 1981, and now he is serving a life sentence in prison.
Also in 1981, in my home State of Florida, 6-year-old Adam Walsh disappeared from a local shopping mall. His parents, John and Reve Walsh, turned to law enforcement agencies to help find their son. To their disappointment, there was little coordinated effort among law enforcement officials to search for Adam on a State or national level.
These tragedies led to the recognition of the dearth of coordination among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, and the lack of a national response system to help our families search for missing children. Since that time, our country has made great strides in this area.
National Missing Children's Day serves as an annual reminder to the Nation to renew efforts to reunite missing children and their families and make child protection a national priority. As the resolution notes, National Missing Children's Day is a reminder to all parents and guardians to take and keep high-quality photographs of their children for use in case of emergency. We should also use this day to remind all Americans of the importance of paying close attention to the posters and photographs of missing children.
The resolution also recognizes the vital role of law enforcement officials in preventing kidnappings and abductions of children, while also leading efforts to locate the missing. This resolution should remind people across the country not to forget the children that are still missing and not to waver in the efforts to reunite these children with their families.
I support this resolution and urge my colleagues to adopt it.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as a former prosecutor and a judge in Texas, and now the founder and cochair, along with my friend Jim Costa from California, of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus, I rise in strong support of this resolution which seeks to honor May 25 as National Missing Children's Day.
This day is the anniversary of the disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz. The momentum that began with the disappearance of Etan and many children that followed him ultimately led to the national movement that we now have today.
As my friend from Florida mentioned, the other notorious case was the disappearance of Adam Walsh when he was 6, when he was with his mother at a shopping mall and then kidnapped, and later he was found in the Gulf of Mexico. His father, John Walsh, because of the incident that happened against his son, started the program ``America's Most Wanted'' on television that sought to capture criminals throughout the United States, a program that has been very successful.
In 1983, President Reagan proclaimed May 25 as National Missing Children's Day. This day serves as a reminder to parents to have high-
quality photographs of their kids handy, and a reminder to us in Congress that the safety of those children should be a national priority of all Members of Congress.
Every year thousands of children are reported missing. While progress has been made in linking Federal and State law enforcement efforts, these numbers remind us that we must always be vigilant in our efforts to reunite missing children with their families and, of course, to step up our prosecution of those that harm them and to make child protection a national priority.
I am thankful for the work of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The Center provides a national hub and clearinghouse of information about missing children, and their efforts have been great, leading to the capture and prosecution of hundreds of predators and also the recovery of numerous children.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution in honor of National Missing Children's Day is also a timely one. In 2005, we had a string of notorious kidnappings of children throughout the country that were sexually assaulted and then murdered. One of those young victims was Jessica Lunsford, another child from Florida, who at the age of 9 was asleep in her own bed in her own room, and she was kidnapped in the middle of the night by an individual by the name of John Couey, a sexual predator from the State of Georgia. He committed several crimes against her and eventually buried that young lady alive.
Because of her and other children that year, the Adam Walsh Child Safety Act was passed by this Congress and signed into law, an effort to help track sexual predators when they cross State lines. Just yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a provision of the Adam Walsh Child Safety Act when the Supreme Court ruled that sex offenders can be held behind bars indefinitely if officials determine them to be sexually dangerous to the community.
Mr. Speaker, sexual predators are among the most dangerous people on Earth to our children. And by upholding this ruling, the Supreme Court has reinforced the role of the Federal Government in protecting children from those who wish to constantly do them harm.
I want to thank my friend from Florida (Mr. Rooney) for bringing this legislation to the floor, and I urge my colleagues to give it their full-hearted support.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.
Mr. ROONEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from my State of Florida (Mr. Mica).
Mr. MICA. Might I first inquire as to the remaining time?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida has 13\1/2\ minutes.
Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank Mr. Rooney for introducing this resolution. I urge my colleagues to support the resolution. I thank you for remembering today the missing children's law that was passed some 28 years ago.
It's hard to believe time passes by, and sometimes some of the details of how laws or important changes in our legal system and our approach to issues like missing children, how things happen. I thought it would be good to come out to the floor this afternoon, and I again thank you for paying attention to the missing children law. Again, hard to believe that it's almost three decades since it's passed. I heard some of the speakers speak about the law, and I think it's important as we remember today, as we recognize the missing children's law and this anniversary, how it all came about.
If you are here long enough in Congress, you find that certain people get dedicated to a proposition or to an effort or a cause and they spearhead that cause. In 1981, I had the great honor to be selected as chief of staff for United States Senator Paula Hawkins. She was probably the first woman elected to the United States Senate in her own right. She had no husband or family ties. She was just popularly elected to the U.S. Senate. She had a different set of agendas, and it was wonderful to work with her and learn from her. I knew her as a very determined woman who shook up the Public Service Commission. Everything she got ahold of she went after sort of like one of those pit bull dogs.
As chief of staff, I remember calls from a gentleman by the name of John Walsh, who had lost his son, and he and his wife Reve were very distraught trying to find that child. Senator Hawkins became aware of their plight, and she took ahold of that issue and their search for their lost missing son, Adam, and she never stopped. I heard other references to children that were lost or murdered before that, but I can tell you, there would not be today or not have been in 1982 a law passed relating to missing children if it weren't for Senator Hawkins.
I distinctly remember one policy meeting we had with the newly elected Senator, and she had some interesting advisers. One is well known, a national adviser, Charlie Black, a good friend of mine. Another one is a friend and political consultant many of you have heard of, Dick Morris. We were in a meeting room in her Senate office in the district in Winter Park, Florida, after Adam was missing, and John and Mrs. Walsh had asked the Senator to help find their son.
And they sat in this policy meeting, and at the time they talked about national issues, Social Security, national defense, and what the Senator's priorities should be. And I will never forget at that meeting, Senator Hawkins interjected after each national issue at that time was brought up, ``And we have to do something about missing children.'' Time and time again she brought it up, and she never stopped after that until she passed the law. She guided it through the Senate, through this body, and made it become law because of her determination to make certain, and I remember her saying this, and I want this in the Record, ``If we can find a missing refrigerator or we can find a missing automobile, why shouldn't we be able to have a law that helped us find missing children?''
And so it was her determination that made this law possible some 28 years ago. It was her determination that helped to create the Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
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She doesn't hear this praise because she passed away last December. And during her many testimonials and obituaries, it was written she was the author of the Missing Children's Law in 1982 that President Reagan signed into law. And that, my friends, my colleagues, is the rest of the story.
This law from three decades, nearly three decades later, is a result of a very determined woman who thought children should be a national priority and we should have a law that assisted when a child is lost and a national center to carry on that work. They've done a great job.
John Walsh and his wife have turned unbelievable human tragedy into something positive in their effort. The loss of Adam, a great, great loss. You can't imagine parents losing their child. And I was with the Walshes in New York City when they were notified of their child's remains being found. It's something you cannot even possibly imagine as a parent.
But, again, out of that tragedy came a law that's helped us find, reclaim, and account for thousands, literally thousands of missing children.
So, as you pass this resolution today, I commend you. I urge my colleagues to adopt it and just wanted to provide a little background for the history and Congressional Record of how this law came about.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I reserve my time.
Mr. ROONEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.
I support this important resolution to recognize National Missing Children's Day. I want to thank Mr. Scott, our chairman Mr. Conyers who's here today, Mr. Mica, Mr. Poe. And I urge the rest of my colleagues to support this resolution.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank all of our colleagues who've made comments today, particularly the gentleman from Florida for his leadership on this legislation and the leadership of the Judiciary Committee. I thank them for their concern and leadership on the issue of missing children.
I urge my colleagues to support the resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1325, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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