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Edited on Fri Sep-29-06 11:33 PM by madmusic
Rep. Mark Foley : Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer my strong support for the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
I remember that tragic day in Hollywood, Florida, when a young Adam Walsh hit the headlines, having been abducted from a mall in our State. Over 2 years ago, his father, John Walsh, and Ernie Allen approached me to discuss what they saw as a growing and dangerous threat to our children, sex offenders. We talked about the fact there were over 500,000 sex offenders listed on various State registries, but because of poor Federal and State laws, we were missing over 150,000 of them. Soon after that meeting, I began work on the Sex Offender Registration Notification Act, which is contained in this bill today.
The Adam Walsh Act is the most comprehensive piece of child protection legislation this Congress has ever considered. The bill creates, among other things, new State and Federal regulations, community notification requirements, as well as new Federal criminal penalties for sex offenders. It also gives law enforcement new resources, including authorizing U.S. Marshals to go after missing sex offenders, 20 new task forces, 200 new Federal prosecutors, 45 new forensic scientists dedicated to investigating crimes against children.
It used to be that we tracked library books better than we do sex offenders, but this bill will even that score.
I am grateful to Chairman Sensenbrenner for his leadership and willingness to work with so many Members across the political aisle on this important issue. I want to thank the Speaker for keeping his word to get this bill to the President by July 27, the 25th anniversary of Adam's death.
Mr. Speaker, there are many people who made this day a reality, but the two people who should take the most credit are the parents of Adam Walsh, and that is John and his wife, Reve. It still amazes me to this day the way they were able to turn Adam's death into a lifelong crusade to protect our Nation's children. Their passion and commitment have led to the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and to the rescue of countless children.
John and Reve, our Nation thanks you for everything you have done.
I want to especially thank Bradley Schreiber, my legislative director; Michael Volkov; Phil Kiko; and Sean McLaughlin of the House Judiciary Committee for their outstanding efforts.
Mr. Speaker, as Co-chairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus and author of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act and the Internet Safety Act contained in this bill, I rise to offer my strong support for the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act and urge my colleagues to vote for it.
Over two years ago, John Walsh and Ernie Allen approached me at a missing children's conference I was hosting in Florida to discuss what they saw as a growing and dangerous threat to our children--sex offenders. We talked about the fact that there were over 500,000 sex offenders listed on the various state registries but, that because of the patchwork of federal laws on the books, we were missing over 150,000 of them. I also discovered--which was even more surprising to me--that there is a 200,000 person difference between all of the state registries and the federal National Sex Offender Registry. Soon after that meeting, I began work on the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act which is contained in the measure we have before us today.
The Adam Walsh Act is arguably the most comprehensive piece of child protection legislation that Congress has ever considered. The bill creates, among other things, new state and federal registration and community notification requirements, as well as new federal criminal penalties, for sex offenders. It also gives law enforcement new resources including: authorizing the U.S. Marshals to go after absconded sex offenders; 20 new Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces; 200 new federal prosecutors for prosecuting child sex offense; and, 45 new computer forensic scientists dedicated to investigating crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children and related offenses.
One of the basic tenets of the Due Process Clause is to give criminal suspects notice. So, for those pedophiles and predators across this country that have harmed a child or are considering harming a child let me tell you now that you are on notice. We will find you, prosecute you and monitor you--in some cases, for the rest of your life. Your days in the shadows are over and our children will no longer be your prey.
We used to track library books better than we do sex offenders, but this bill will even that score.
I am very grateful to Chairman SENSENBRENNER for not only his leadership and his willingness to work with me on this issue but for the fact that he did not bend to the Senate and was able to produce the strong bill we are going to pass today.
I want to thank Speaker HASTERT for keeping his word to get the Adam Walsh bill to the President by July 27th--the 25th Anniversary of Adam's death. I know that both John and Reve are truly appreciative for all that you have done.
I also want to thank Senators HATCH and BIDEN for their continued, unwavering commitment to protecting our nation's children. These two men have been associated with every major child protection bill in the past 20 years and I am very thankful that they took the lead on the Adam Walsh bill in the Senate.
Mr. Speaker, there are many people to thank who made this day a reality. But the two people who should take the most credit are John and Reve Walsh. It still amazes me to this day the way they were able to turn Adam's death into a lifelong crusade to protect our nation's children. Their passion and commitment have led to the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Adam Walsh Center in Florida and to the rescue of countless children. John and Reve: our nation thanks you for everything you have done.
I also want to thank Mark Lunsoford and the other victim's families. It was their tireless efforts that broke the logjam in the Senate and got us here today.
I would also like to thank Ernie Allen, Robbie Calloway and Michelle Laxalt for all they did during the past few years helping me try to shepard this bill through Congress and working to keep this issue at the forefront of everyone's minds.
Last, but not least, I want to thank the staff who committed long hours and a great deal of their personal time to this bill. Phil Kiko, Sean McLaughlin, and Michael Volkov with Chairman Sensenbrenner's staff; Margaret Peterlin with Speaker HASTERT's staff; Ken Valentine with Senator Hatch's staff; Dave Turk with Senator BIDEN's staff; Matt Miner, Todd Bruanstein and Brett Tolman with Chairman SPECTER's staff; Allen Hicks and Brandi White with Senator FRIST's staff; Joe Matal with Senator KYL's staff; Christine Leonard with Senator KENNEDY's staff; Julie Katzman and Noah Bookbinder with Senator LEAHY's staff; Nicole Gustafson with Senator GRASSLEY's staff; and Sharon Beth Kristal of Senator DEWINE's staff, and the pages with their tight little butts.
Mr. Speaker, I truly appreciate everyone's efforts in making this day a reality. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?tab=speeches&id=400136">Jul 25, 2006
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