[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 171 (Wednesday, November 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H11677-H11682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               JIMMY RYCE AND MISSING CHILDREN IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Allard). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of May 12, 1995, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Deutsch] is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with you, this 
Congress, and those watching at home, about an endangered innocent, a 
constituent of mine, Jimmy Ryce. Jimmy is a 10-year-old boy from Miami, 
FL, who was abducted 51 days ago, on September 11, 1995. He was last 
seen getting off the school bus less than four blocks from his home in 
the Redlands, an agricultural, quite spacious community just southwest 
of Miami.
  Jimmy is an A student enrolled in an honors-gifted program at his 
school. Everyone who knows him is attracted to his goodness, sweetness, 
and intelligence. He is a very trusting child. Jimmy loves to read. He 
has a habit of reading a couple of books at the same time, leaving the 
books scattered throughout the house with bookmarks in each of them.
  Jimmy loves baseball and football. Some of the family's happiest 
memories are going together to Dolphins and Marlins games at Joe Robbie 
Stadium. If I may ask the cameras to just focus in on Jimmy, and I will 
talk about the picture in a couple of seconds, but if they can leave 
the focus on him. Since learning of Jimmy's kidnapping, the reaction in 
south Florida is one of outrage, anger, and shock. The response from 
authorities has been swift and professional. The media in south Florida 
have been exceptional. But where is Jimmy?
  The television coverage has been extensive, over and above the 
magnitude of other such kidnapping incidents. Newsrooms and reporters 
have taken the Ryce case to heart and have made it their station's 
commitment to cover the case down to the latest findings. As we all 
know, when faced with adversity good things do tend to happen. People 
have volunteered tirelessly their time, services, and assistance, 
unconditionally. Wal-Mart is displaying Jimmy's posters in their 2,000 
stores nationwide, as is Albertson's grocery outlet, and the list is 
endless.
  Most of these efforts were something solicited from volunteers, 
unbeknownst to the Ryces. Not only have State officials, including 
Governor Chiles, been involved, but Federal officials, too, including 
the FBI and Attorney General Janet Reno. What we are hoping is that the 
more people who see Jimmy's face, the more likely it is someone who has 
seen him will recognize his face from these posters. This is not a city 
problem or a State problem, not the abduction of a child in a custodial 
battle or a runaway, but who, taken from his family by a stranger, is a 
national problem. As I said, let me ask the camera again to focus on 
the picture.

  What I have learned in the last several weeks with the FBI missing 
persons, Missing Children Division, is that of the cases that have been 
solved, they are really solved by people in the community seeing these 
pictures, seeing the pictures on ``America's Most Wanted,'' seeing the 
pictures on milk cartons or on postcards.
  The case that very recently got national publicity, I just found out 
today the way it was solved. Two young boys who were kidnapped in 
Minnesota and found in Louisiana, in New Orleans, it was just a chance 
sighting by someone in a restaurant, calling the FBI through the 800 
number that I will give 

[[Page H 11678]]

in a second, and actually, several times, just a chance sighting.
  The woman who saw the young boys was not sure, she thought she saw 
him, she did not remember where she had seen a picture, she was not 
sure, and even to this day she is not sure, but the FBI followed up on 
it and went to the location where the sighting occurred, interviewed 
the woman, and those two boys are back with their family today.
  That clearly is what we are hoping will happen, and will happen very 
soon. As I said, this is a recent photo of Jimmy Ryce, and for people 
who are watching, hopefully they are watching, and hopefully, again, 
someone will have an opportunity to call maybe even this evening with 
the chance that maybe they have seen him in some location.
  It seems so impossible that even with all the communication of media 
involved that a child could vanish without a trace. As a parent myself, 
I cannot imagine what kind of fear and pain Don and Claudine Ryce are 
going through today; in fact, right now. It is a parent's worst 
nightmare. The Ryces have had their own nightmares. No matter what is 
taking place, from the moment they finally fall asleep at night until 
the moment they wake up, the first thought that enters their minds is 
that their little boy, Jimmy, is not sleeping in his own bed.
  Today is a good day for the Ryces. They are feeling optimistic. The 
Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI, and Metro Dade police 
met today and released information that a witness has possibly seen 
Jimmy. If you have any information leading to the disappearance of 
Jimmy Ryce, please call the number on the poster, 1-800-361-9526.
  According to the Department of Justice fact sheet on missing 
children, every year there are between 1,600 and 2,300 stranger 
abductions of children under the age of 12 in the United States of 
America. These children are the endangered innocents. Only 300 of these 
kidnappings last more than 24 hours, and the FBI has told me that you 
can extend the radius of the circle where they may be 300 miles from 
point of abduction for every day they are missing.
  These missing children could have been deported or crossed borders, 
and may not even be in the United States. Jimmy Ryce is an endangered 
innocent. Typically the only way law enforcement ever finds these 
children is through information and leads called in by the police. On 
Monday, October 30, 1995, ADVO distributed over 50 million cards 
throughout the country with Jimmy's picture on it.
  You have probably seen pictures before of missing children in the 
space contributed by ADVO on the left side front of postcards, which 
carry on the back advertisements for various services and products. 
Please look at these cards and etch Jimmy's fact in your memory. Be on 
the lookout for these warning signs: a new child in your neighborhood, 
a child acting strangely next door, has a child suddenly been enrolled 
in a class. As small as the chance is, it may be the only chance Jimmy 
has of getting home safely.
  Jimmy's parents, Don and Claudine Ryce, have reached a celebrity 
status they never sought. Compassionate people embraced them and let 
them know that Jimmy is in their prayers. The more people know about 
Jimmy's disappearance, the better chance the Ryce's have of getting him 
back. Mr. Speaker, I ask you, the members of Congress, and the American 
public to give this family a happy ending. Bring Jimmy Ryce home safely 
to his parents.
  A few weeks from now we will celebrate Thanksgiving, a time of love, 
sharing, and counting one's blessings. I want this Thanksgiving to be 
the best one the Ryce family has ever had, as the family is all 
together with Jimmy. I know several of my colleagues have been with me 
this evening, and I yield to the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Dornan.]

                              {time}  2100

  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. Deutsch] for having this very touching 
special order, and thank him for stopping me in Cloakroom and asking me 
if I would join you. I have spoken so many times this afternoon, I do 
not want people to think that I do not have grandchildren at home that 
I would like to spend some time with, but this is important.
  I would just like to give the gentleman a few thoughts from last 
night which was a very Halloween eve of today, All Saints Day, with 
children.
  We went out last night, after we adjourned, after it was dark for 
about an hour and half, and I raced to a neighborhood out in 
Springfield, VA to be with five of our nine grandchildren. The youngest 
one, Robert K. Dornan, III, was dressed as Pooh, and it made me grit my 
teeth, he was so cute. Excuse me, it is our newest, Leam Dornan Penn, 
who was Winnie The Pooh. Last year it was Robert, III, and he was 
dressed as a phantom with a dark face.
  I went around and looked at all of the princesses and all of these 
little children, and for some reason I thought how carefully the 
parents were shepherding them and the grandparents, that there was a 
little extra fear for the last 10 or so Halloweens not be let them get 
too far out of sight.
  I remember I gave T-shirts with my grandchildren's first names on 
them to one of my daughters, and she said well, Dad, these will make 
nice pajams. I said no, no, they are T-shirts for outside, and she 
said, Dad, you do not put a child's name on a T-shirt. If you are in a 
mall and some evil person comes up and says Kevin, come here, quickly, 
your mother has just been hit by a car outside, they run following the 
person instantly.
  I never thought that we had to live in fear of any name a child 
identifying them to make kidnapping that much easier.
  What I thought about as the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Deutsch] was 
speaking, is my older son who is in his middle 30's. The other day I 
got one of these cards in the mail that has missing children's names on 
them, and I turned it over and I said to my son, this breaks my heart. 
I do not like to look at these faces, as you have made this large color 
blowup of this beautiful young boy, Jimmy.
  And he said dad, you should not say that. I study these pictures. 
That is why they are here. That is why they are on milk cartons. You 
should study them for more than a few seconds, and it may be God's will 
that you cross the path of one of these children, and something you saw 
in that photograph earlier in the day will be sparked in your mind.
  Well, when you raise a child to give you words of wisdom, albeit the 
wisdom of being 30-some years old, it makes you proud of your child, 
and I felt ashamed that I had averted my gaze from a lot of these 
missing posters because it hurts me so much as a grandparent to see 
this beautiful face of a child this age or younger, a beautiful little 
daughter this age or younger or a grandchild, and think of the heart-
gripping pain that this brings to parents and grandparents, how they 
will never, ever be able to enjoy the birthday of that child ever 
again, a Thanksgiving, a Valentine's Day, a Christmas, an Easter, when 
they see all of the other children in the neighborhood or have a 
particularly enjoyable moment with a sibling, an older brother, a 
younger sister, and the pain that this must bring back.
  As I was sitting here I was thinking, what kind of an original idea 
could I contribute to your special order tonight, and I did think one.

  We see now with murdered children the agony of parents looking at a 
videotape and they show the videotape on the evening news, and again, 
your heart breaks for the parent that all they have left are these 
videotape images of this beautiful child. And then I thought in the 
case of missing persons and maybe one of your color pictures here, 
well, the bottom one looks like a portrait, but the one looks like he 
is in a baseball game, may have than excerpted from a video, a still 
color photograph worked up from a video.
  And I thought every parent who has a small child today should take a 
videotape, and at some point when they are filming their child or a 
grandparent their grandchild, they should go in for a close-up and 
slowly pan around the child from every angle, film this child as an 
identification video tape and put it on a shelf somewhere. If you are a 
struggling parent, as I was in my early years, just worrying about 
grocery money, and you do not have a video camera, borrow one from a 
parent or grandparent and take a videotape of your child and put it on 
a closet shelf. 

[[Page H 11679]]

It will have great value years later for showing the child.
  I tell parents to do what I never did. Take a videotape of their 
child on every single birthday with the same videotape and put it way 
up on a shelf, I learned this from Andy Jacobs, our colleague from 
Indiana, and then bring it down and you can run that very same 
videotape without editing and watch a child quickly grow up in 20 
years. It will go by so quickly it will tear your heart out. But I 
think parents who have a videotape camera should film their child and 
when that child was missing, particularly when I just listened to 
carefully about what you said, Peter, about each day, and repeat it, 
each day the child is missing is another how many miles added to the 
circle?
  Mr. DEUTSCH. Three hundred miles.
  Mr. DORNAN. Three hundred miles per day. So if you could get a 
videotape and give it to the television station instantly, and I am not 
talking about all of those terrible cases where parents get into 
custody fights, which mercifully is not a huge number, but the hundreds 
of gut-wrenching cases of pure kidnapping by evil strangers. Think of 
how a videotape of a child that is fairly current would assist law 
enforcement and great shows like John Walsh's show. He is from your 
State, is he not?
  Mr. DEUTSCH. Actually, he is from my own community.
  Mr. DORNAN. Every time I see John I shudder that all he had, as 
gruesome as it sounds, is the child's head, to remember him by. My wife 
was looking at him just this week and said, is he not a remarkable man? 
Look at the burden God gave him and now how it has turned out for him.
  I said, Sally, he is an absolute hero of our time, that he took the 
pain of little Adam's disappearance and then murder and has turned it 
into a crime series of shows where it is not just missing children he 
helps with. He has broken some cases in this country that have lingered 
on for two decades, and brought people to justice.
  So I really appreciate the gentleman taking this beautiful special 
order for our missing children in this beautiful country of ours on All 
Saints Day.
  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California.
  Mr. Speaker, If I could again follow up, because it really was in 
some ways a good sign today when I spoke with several people from the 
FBI, from the missing and exploited children's branch, that the case 
which got a lot of publicity was two young boys, I think a 3-year-old 
and 11-year-old brother who got kidnapped in Minnesota, a guy in a 
stolen car. It really was luck, God's providence, whatever, that this 
woman who did not even remember where she saw their picture, based on 
the day she saw it, she might have seen it on America's Most Wanted. 
They specifically said that, because she kind of remembered seeing it 
on Saturday or Monday or whatever, but it does happen, and he is 
somewhere, and the question is hopefully someone is seeing him and is 
going to be able to call that 800 number.

  Mr. DORNAN. Just one thought. As television channels expand and we 
are now going to these 18-inch dishes, as there are more and more and 
more channels, I think we ought to write Ted Turner and ask him on one 
of his outlets if he could have a designated point in each day where 
people as thoughtful as my son, Bob, Jr., who will take the time to 
study these faces, that they could run the current-most 10 agonizing 
disappearance cases. And people who are thoughtful will spend a few 
times to, as my son put it, study, those faces, and where there will be 
some videotapes you can study it in three dimension around the child 
and say, all right, I will study that, and we are going to end up with 
more happy endings and more children saved from a horrible fate.
  Mr. DEUTSCH. They really are happy endings. In a little bit I will 
show the statistics of that. What they really have said to me, I have 
spent some time trying to understand, unfortunately, this tragedy, the 
more you learn about it, the more sickening it is, that the more 
publicity and the more people that know, the better it is.
  I am really happy that my colleague from Florida joins us here today. 
I know it has been a long day for my colleague as well, but 
Congresswoman Thurman.
  Mrs. THURMAN. I thank the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Deutsch].
  Mr. Speaker, I just would like to add a little bit about Jimmy Ryce 
at this point, and as a parent, to tell his parents that I do not think 
anybody will ever understand what it is like to go through what they 
must be going through. And for the American public to offer any kind of 
help is just imperative that we do that for our future and for what is 
our most and best resource that we have to offer to this country.
  Mr. Speaker, I think that it is a good idea, and I agree with Mr. 
Dornan and some of the things that he brought up, maybe we should talk 
about some of the things that we can remind people. You know, it has 
been a while, I think, that we have been reminded. Sometimes, you know, 
things get lost and forgotten and we forget that there are things that 
we can be doing to try to have these kinds of things not happen in our 
society.
  I particularly think that there is another issue that is coming to 
this country, that I am somewhat very concerned about, in the fact that 
we now have what we call the information superhighway, a situation that 
for many, many folks with computers in their homes and information 
crossing, there are some things that I think parents and children need 
to understand that they need to be very, very careful with.
  It is a new society out there, it is a new world, it is a new 
technology, and while there are exciting possibilities, and we want our 
children to be technologically advanced and ready to move into the 21st 
century. I think we also have to be aware of the access it gives to 
strangers to our children.
  And I think we have to teach our children not to share personal 
information, like home phone numbers and addresses, with unknown and 
potentially threatening strangers. They do it all the time without 
really thinking much about it. I think kids need to be reminded that 
those computers do provide a lot of information and access from people 
all across this world that we need to be careful of.
  I also would like to reiterate, and I think that the photo that you 
have up there of Jimmy reminds us all of some of the kinds of things 
and guidelines that help and assist police in their efforts to locate 
missing children. The national center actually has advised parents to 
take color photos. Without that photo there tonight, we might not have 
a picture that could be displayed, that could be used to go across this 
country, that is up-to-date picture. I think they recommend that this 
should be done about every six months to make sure that we have up-to-
date.
  I think Mr. Dornan's idea of a video is an excellent idea. It is a 
quick replay, gives us characteristics that we cannot necessarily 
capture here in a picture. But if that is not available, at least we do 
have an opportunity to have an up-to-date photo of the child. They ask 
for us to keep recent dental records at our fingertips so that we can 
make sure that we have that available, as well.
  There have been some national programs across this country in malls. 
Law enforcement agencies go into malls all the time, setting up 
fingerprinting so that we have fingerprints actually at the sheriff's 
office for identification purposes. These records will provide to 
police and investigators, will help expedite the process of locating 
missing children in the future.
  I think we must be vigilant in our efforts to locate them, and we 
have to get involved and stay involved.
  I actually have a number here that I would like to give tonight for 
people who have seen missing children and what they can do, because 
there is a national hotline. The hotline is for the Center for Missing 
Children. It is 800-843-5678, and I think that if anybody did not catch 
that number and calls any one of us, we certainly, or any of your 
officers, police officers, sheriffs, anybody locally can also provide 
you with these numbers.
  We have to be that voice for missing children. When information is 
available to the public and the public is alert and concerned, we have 
a much, much better chance of helping our missing children find their 
way home.
  The national tragedy of children being abducted from homes, schools 
and playgrounds demands a national 

[[Page H 11680]]

response. We will continue our efforts through the National Center for 
Missing Children and the FBI to encourage preventive measures, and to 
demand that all available resources are used to locate and recover 
missing children.
  Mr. Deutsch, I do want to say to you tonight, and to all of our 
colleagues, that while we may not have been touched with it personally 
in our lives, unfortunately probably every one of us have at some time 
had a constituent who has had to face this kind of a situation.

                              {time}  2115

  I know in my own district, I remember a woman several years ago that 
had a grandchild that was abducted in Orlando in a parking lot. The 
child's face was, we actually did it at toll booths in Florida. We were 
able to do milk cartons and the kinds of things that we have tried to 
do to get these faces out there. The child has never been returned to 
my knowledge. It was heartbreaking. I cannot even begin to tell you the 
pain that she was going through in this.
  I think there are some other things that we ought to be conscious of 
within America. We know the kind of things that are happening with 
abductions. We need to try to teach people as well, please do not do 
this to our children. Do not take our natural resource. Just think 
about all of this as you go through a working day and help any of us in 
trying to prevent this kind of a happening. I just think it is awful 
and I would hope that our conscience in America makes us understand how 
just heart wrenching this is and to the child.
  I want Jimmy to know, if he is out there listening to us, we are 
looking for him, too, and do not give up hope and know that people do 
care about him and love him and we are going to try to get him back to 
his parents just as quickly as we can.
  So, Mr. Deutsch, I really do appreciate what you have done tonight.
  Mr. DEUTSCH. I thank you. You actually brought up an unfortunate sort 
of new avenue. When I spoke with, again, unfortunate people who are in 
the business of helping to find these children, the FBI officials 
involved, they actually have cases today of children in a sort of talk 
site on the Internet, where a child that could be not necessarily 5 but 
an 8-year-old, a 9-year-old, and a 10-year-old was on a talk site who 
thinks they are talking to another child somewhere but is talking to a 
very sick person who is asking them over the Internet about themselves. 
And they have actually, in saying why do you not meet me somewhere, 
something like that, there have actually been abductions that have 
occurred through cyberspace. It is sort of the ultimate sort of strange 
sickness, the technology being used that way.
  One of the things they pointed out, at some point this evening we 
will go through a list, the list is not long enough, but what they 
specifically said is parents ought to know what their kids are doing on 
their computers. It sounds like a crazy request. It is a 1990s request 
in America, but if your kid is out there on the Internet and talking to 
people on a site, you better know who they are talking to because it 
really has happened.

  I mean, what kind of mind does that, but unfortunately, there are 
some minds that do that. I think we need to do everything we can to 
stop it from happening, but I think that is a really unfortunate new 
point for parents to be worried about.
  Mrs. THURMAN. I would say that we also have to move into that 21st 
century as parents to understand the new dangers that face our 
children. I think there were some great programs that started when we 
first all got involved in these issues and we all remember them. I have 
taught my children, I mean, how many times did I say to them, do not 
take candy from a stranger or do not talk to strangers or do not get 
into cars with strangers or if you are in a mall and somebody says 
something to you or takes your hand, what do you do. They knew the 
response to that. They understand that. They do not necessarily see the 
danger when they do not see somebody standing in front of them, 
somebody who can, is visual to them, who actually can do harm to them 
as they are there. But they, all they have to do is say, I go to this 
elementary school, I have blond hair, blue eyes, and I am going to be 
wearing such-and-such. I have got a new dress today or I got, whatever, 
somehow identifying that child and separating them out. They do not 
understand it because it is not something they can grab onto. It is not 
something they can really feel.
  So I think as parents and as grandparents, as we do move in, we 
always need to continue to update our own files as to the kinds of 
things that can happen and be aware of those so that we can teach our 
children better ways of not getting themselves into these kinds of 
situations because not all old remedies are going to work for what new 
dangers are out there for these children.
  Mr. DEUTSCH. I used a sort of example of a happy ending for these two 
boys in Minnesota, but obviously they have arrested the gentleman. 
Hopefully, I assume he will be convicted, he will spend a long time, 
the rest of his life in jail. But he told the young boys that he was a 
policeman. And I guess it is hard to put myself in the mind of a 10-
year-old, but it was not unusual to get in a car with a policeman and 
drive for several days. How does he know what policemen do?

  Mrs. THURMAN. And particularly because a child has been taught that 
that is supposed to be his friend. That is the person that they can go 
to most often if they are in trouble. But there are some very sick 
people out there that play on these very kinds of things. we need to be 
careful. I know the gentleman from Connecticut is here.
  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Shays wanted to join us.
  Mr. SHAYS. I appreciate the gentleman yielding to me.
  I was here at another special order, and I knew that you were going 
to talk about Jimmy Ryce. I think of that precious young man and his 
precious parents who are wrestling with where he is now. And I just 
felt inclined, wanted to hear what you had to say and to pay respect 
for Jimmy Ryce and the thousands of other young children that have been 
taken away from their parents. And then when I mentioned that to you, 
you asked me to read a statement from another of your colleagues from 
Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who I would like at this time to read her 
statement. She cannot be here tonight, but I think it is important that 
her feelings about this case and others like it be put in the Record.
  So I would just read her statement at this time.
  It begins:

       Mr. Speaker, one of the silent and most devastating crimes 
     to which some in our society remain oblivious to is the large 
     number of children and young adult persons who are kidnapped 
     and reported as missing within our local communities every 
     year.
       Most recently in my local community is the case of ten year 
     old little Jimmy Ryce, who, upon walking from his school bus 
     stop to his home in the Redlands neighborhood of South 
     Florida, was kidnapped and has yet to be found.
       Another case which to some may tragically and foolishly 
     believe is yesterday's news, is the case of Shannon Melendi, 
     a young resident of my Congressional district, who while 
     attending Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, was kidnapped 
     over a year and eight months ago and has yet to be found. All 
     of us want answers to Shannon's mysterious and sad 
     disappearance.
       And as all of us in the local South Florida community 
     presently suffer the pain and anguish of little Jimmy Ryce's 
     parents, whose son was kidnapped 51 long days ago, and we 
     join them in their search for Jimmy, I am more sure than ever 
     that someone must be held accountable for the loss and 
     uncertainty that they feel today.
       As the extensive manhunt continues within South Florida for 
     Jimmy, I feel that all of us, as parents and as legislators, 
     must become aware of this inhuman and horrible act that today 
     afflicts my local community, but tomorrow, could very well 
     affect yours.
       As I stated, another victim of this heinous crime is Miami 
     resident Shannon Melendi, who, in spite of a national 
     manhunt, has yet to have been found, a year and eight months 
     later after she was seen at her place of work, the Softball 
     Club, in Atlanta.
       Shannon was not only an outstanding student and a 
     presidential scholarship recipient while attending Miami 
     Southwest High School, my alma mater, but also a dedicated 
     member of her school community, who did her best to represent 
     the junior and senior classes of which she was president.
       Even though a suspect is now in prison, he has yet to 
     confess to a crime, and Shannon remains missing.
       Her family, from her grandparents to her younger sister, 
     remain distraught and afflicted with a heavy emotional burden 
     as they wait for Shannon to come home to them once again.

[[Page H 11681]]

       Is the FBI doing enough? Is the local police? I strongly 
     believe that more must be done. As the mother of two young 
     girls and a Florida certified teacher, I am very worried 
     about any cases of abducted children.
       Worse still is the fact that as the number of kidnappings 
     increase, there are even more missing children who were 
     yesterday's news and who perhaps will never be accounted for.
       I ask you, Mr. Speaker, has our society become so evil that 
     our children cannot even venture from their homes in order to 
     attend school, without the fear of being kidnapped?
       Have our communities become so unsafe and insecure that 
     parents, such as those of Jimmy Ryce, cannot even allow their 
     children to walk home after school from their bus stop? Have 
     we come to the point when well meaning parents, such as the 
     Melendi's, cannot send their child to a prominent university 
     for fear that their children will be kidnapped?
       Are the abductions of little Jimmy Ryce and Shannon Melendi 
     rare occurrences? Or are they some of the ever increasing 
     number of children who are kidnapped throughout the nation.
       Something must be done so other children and their families 
     do not suffer in the same manner.
       I ask you, Mr. Speaker, what are we as legislators and the 
     representatives of our local communities to do in order to 
     deter this abhorrent crime?
       We cannot merely sit back and wait for Jimmy or Shannon, 
     and all other abducted children, to turn up.
       We must take action and form a strong stance against this 
     atrocious act so that your children, my children and our 
     children's children, do not suffer the gut wrenching loss and 
     uncertainty that the families of Jimmy Ryce and Shannon 
     Melendi feel, as they search for leads and wait for a 
     precious missing child.

  I would just like to thank the gentleman from Florida and to let him 
know that your purpose, I think, is well-intended and I think serves a 
tremendous effort in helping Jimmy Ryce and others be found. I want to 
thank you for your special order and to just let you know that someone 
from Connecticut has taken a good look at that young man and I just 
hope there are so many others that we can be alert and make sure that 
Jimmy Ryce is returned to his parents well and safe and that they can 
hug him and caress him and just welcome him back into their family. I 
hope that day comes.
  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I thank 
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen for preparing her statement and also I know 
that Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart spoke earlier under 5 minutes 
about Jimmy Ryce and his hope for his safe return to his parents.
  I want to shift gears a little bit and just talk about missing 
children in this country in general. As Jimmy Ryce's abduction has 
really heightened the community in south Florida, I educated myself a 
little bit about what I have said just has to be one of the most 
disturbing statistics in this country, if not the most disturbing 
statistic in this country.
  This chart shows from the National Center for Missing and Exploited 
Children numbers, numbers that are staggering. Nonfamily abductions, 
1,524. And then some very unfortunate sobering statistics, I guess 
optimistic but sobering as well, of those 385 were located alive and 
close to 200 were located deceased. So there is reason for hope. But a 
number that is staggering, 1 would be depressing, but I cannot express 
in any way what 1,500 families in this country have gone through in 
this period of time.
  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at least tries 
to advise parents and there has been, obviously, a national media 
campaign about things to do. And there is a national computer network 
that is linked via computer with 45 States, allowing the instant 
transmission of images and information on missing children.
  There is Project ALERT, America's Law Enforcement Retiree Team uses 
retired police to provide free on-site assistance to local police in 
difficult missing or exploited child cases, photos and posters with 
private sector partners, imaging/identification, case management, 
leads. The 800 number, which has been mentioned by other Members as 
well, is 1-800-843-5678. Specifically for Jimmy Ryce, the number is 1-
800-362-9526.
  Let me also follow up, as several Members have mentioned, sort of 
what can parents do and some of it unfortunately cannot do enough. Tens 
of millions of children in America left their buses today after school, 
tens of millions walked home, maybe a block, maybe several blocks. And 
I hope all of them made it back home. But unfortunately I know that on 
occasion some do not, like Jimmy Ryce did not.

                              {time}  2130

  So, I do not think it is realistic to hope that every child, or we 
are at that point in our society, needs to be walked home from the bus 
station at school, but we can try to do some things, just knowing and 
just sort of a list of things: knowing where your children are at all 
times, being familiar with their friends and daily activities, being 
sensitive to changes in the child's behavior, that you should sit down 
and talk to your children about what causes changes, be alert to a 
teenager, be alert to a teenager who is paying an unusual amount of 
attention to the children or giving them inappropriate or expensive 
gifts, teach your children to trust their own feelings and assure them 
they have a right to say no to what they sense in wrong, listen 
carefully to your children's fears, support them in all your 
discussions with them, teach your children that no one should approach 
them or touch them in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable, and if 
someone does, they should tell the parents immediately, be careful 
about baby-sitters and other individuals who have custody of your 
children.
  Now some people have also made suggestions and actually the National 
Center for Missing and Exploited Children talks about things, passwords 
that parents can use with their kids if someone does say that their 
parent is sick, or that they are a police officer, that there be a 
password that the child will know that that person would say. It is one 
of the techniques that has been suggested or that stop points. When a 
child is leaving a bus station, at a certain point they should be there 
by then, and if they are not, then someone needs to know about it, 
whether it is an older sibling, an older friend, or a trusted neighbor.
  Let me talk about some children, and that happened unfortunately on 
some other children mentioned from Florida that are missing. Obviously 
I have talked about Jimmy Ryce, but I want to show another, the picture 
there, but it is just a picture. If the camera could try to focus in on 
it, I will try to hold it as steady as I can, and, as you can read, the 
child has a birthmark on his shoulder blade, was last seen wearing a 
white shirt and blue jean shorts. His nickname is Jimmy. And, as the 
circumstance, child was last seen getting off his school bus at his bus 
stop, which is three blocks from his home.
  As I mentioned, all these are children from Florida. That was in 
Homestead, FL, my district. Walter Morales left his home in Miami, FL, 
with three males on October 27, 1993, and has not been heard from 
since. Child has a small scar near his right eye. He has two top teeth 
that are gold. He has a ``W'' on his left shoulder, and again, if the 
camera can focus in on that?
  This is a picture of Andrea Gail Parsons, who was last seen July 11, 
1993, in Port Salerno, FL. She was 10 when she disappeared. The child 
was last seen wearing blue jean shorts, a dark-colored shirt, clear 
plastic sandals. Child was last seen at 6 p.m. near Commerce and Seward 
Ave. in Port Salerno, FL.
  As has been mentioned, those are cases of abductions, of nonfamily 
abductions. There are family abductions unfortunately, and I just--
again these are in Florida. This is Malik Mike Tourbah, kidnapped by 
his father in Miami Lakes, FL, on June 22, 1990. Child has a scar on 
his right eye.
  And this is Kaylee Nicole Lopez, kidnapped by her noncustodian 
grandparents on August 12, 1989, in Miami, and child has a birthmark on 
the right side of her chest and her upper right thigh. Her eyes are 
hazel green. Child's photo is shown age-progressed to 8 years.
  And Andrea Durham from Fort Walton Beach, FL, she left her family's 
new home on February 1, 1990, and it is an age-progressed photo, 
actually to 18 years at this point.
  Mr. Speaker, we have discussed something tonight that I wish I did 
not have to discuss. I think everyone in this country wishes we did not 
have to discuss this, but it does take place, and as a community of 
Americans, society, we clearly can do better in this area. We need to 
be vigilant as individuals, as parents, but as a society as well.
  I mean there is no limit to the amount of resources we need to put in 


[[Page H 11682]]

to make sure that this does not happen to one child in this country. 
And law enforcement has resources, and they are doing everything they 
can, and are interviewing every person they possibly can, and following 
up thousands of leads as they come up in this case, and I know I 
appreciate it, and I know the Ryce family appreciates that as well, and 
hopefully for those people that are watching, because that is really 
what this special order is for, as I have learned more about this, the 
cases that are solved are solved because of people like the people 
watching an incident, a flash, a child in a restaurant, a face in a car 
passing, a child anywhere, and there are resources in this country, the 
800 numbers we are talking. They follow up, they do follow up. The 
resources are there. We have put resources into it, and I am asking 
people, and I am praying and hoping people--I know the Ryce family is 
watching, too--that we will get a lead and that we will find Jimmy 
very, very shortly, and he will be with you and with our community 
again.
  Let me just ask one last time if we can just ask the camera to focus 
in on Jimmy Ryce.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to discuss the 
heartbreaking and devastating issue of missing children. As a mother of 
two beautiful children, I can think of few things as frightening for a 
parent than learning that your child is missing. Thus, it saddens me 
deeply to know that every day in this country parents, and families, 
are forced to face this fear.
  In 1994, more than 800,000 children were reported missing to the 
police and the FBI's national crime information computer [NCIC]--more 
than 2,000 children every day. The largest number were runaways; 
followed by lost children; family abductions; and short-term sexually 
motivated non-family abductions There are approximately 300 serious 
child kidnapping cases each year--five or six children each week--cases 
in which the child is abducted by a stranger and murdered, ransomed, or 
taken with the intent to be kept.
  In 1994, 99 percent of the reported missing children cases were 
resolved by local and state police. We have made progress since the 
Missing Children Act was signed into law in 1982. New resources and 
technology have been crucial in assisting searches and investigations. 
A national network exists with the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children [NCMEC] at the hub, transmitting images and 
information instantly around the country. The FBI's new Child Abduction 
and Serial Killers Unit ensures rapid, priority response in the most 
serious cases. And in 1994, Congress created the Morgan P. Hardiman 
Task Force on Missing and Exploited Children, with agents from seven 
Federal law enforcement agencies, headed by the FBI, working with the 
NCMEC in difficult cases.
  The legacy of America's missing children can be seen in the new laws, 
heightened public awareness, improved response from law enforcement and 
unprecedented national attention to prevention and education which 
exist today. Progress has been made to better protect our Nation's 
children, but much remains to be done.
  Most missing children do return home safely, but this face is of 
little comfort to the families of those children who are never found or 
who are found dead. We, in Congress, must work to reduce the numbers of 
missing, abducted, runaway, and thrown away--children who are thrown 
out of their homes--children.
  There are a number of things which remain to be done to improve 
outcomes for missing and exploited children. The National Center for 
Missing and Exploited Children has suggested that:
  Uniform reporting procedures should be implemented to improve 
monitoring of reports of crimes against children.
  Each State should create a missing and exploited children 
clearinghouse.
  States would establish policies and procedures to be followed in 
conducting missing child investigations to address initial response, 
information gathering, required NCIC and other database entries, 
interviews with family members, search procedures, supervisory 
responsibilities, and post-recovery interviews
  The States should also establish procedures for law enforcement 
agencies for taking missing child reports that include immediate 
acceptance of a missing child report without a waiting period, and the 
immediate entry of all descriptive information into the NCIC and other 
relevant databases.
  States should require specialized training in missing and exploited 
child issues as part of their basic law enforcement training programs.
  States should establish policies and procedures to ensure the 
immediate coordination of information exchange on unidentified persons 
with missing child information on the NCIC.
  Each State should mandate that healthcare facilities establish 
policies and procedures to promote the protection of infants and the 
reduction of infant abduction.
  States should implement records-flagging procedures and require that 
new-school enrollment records be submitted to the State missing 
children clearinghouse to determine whether abducted or missing 
children are enrolled in schools.
  States should adopt comprehensive policies and procedures to address 
family abduction issues including modifying existing criminal custodial 
interference statutes to make them uniformly state the potential 
criminal liability of abductors who conceal or remove a child in 
violation of the custody rights of the other parent.
  It is also important that a parent's lack of resources do not hinder 
the reunification of the parent and the missing child. National, State, 
and local bar associations should encourage members to take family 
abduction and disputed custody cases pro bono or on a sliding fee 
scale.
  Policies and laws on family abduction, domestic violence, and child 
abuse should be coordinated so that the focus is always on the best 
interest of the child. Similarly, encouraging resolution of custody 
disputes outside of the adversarial process will reduce the likelihood 
that abduction will occur.
  States should adopt and implement a comprehensive criminal justice 
system response to the problem of sex offenders.
  Every State should make the possession of child pornography a felony 
criminal offense.
  State policies and procedures in dealing with juvenile prostitution 
should treat the issue as a form of child sexual victimization and 
focus criminal justice, legal, and social service resources on treating 
the child victim.
  States should enact a child victim's bill of rights to incorporate 
basic protections into State law.
  Each State should provide for, or support, research-based, 
comprehensive, age-appropriate personal safety curricula in its 
elementary and secondary schools.
  Parents can also help prevent child abduction and exploitation. I 
urge parents to be sensitive to changes in your children's behavior, be 
alert to a teenager or adult who is paying an unusual amount of 
attention to your children or giving them inappropriate or expensive 
gifts, teach your children to trust their own feelings, and assure them 
that they have the right to say no to what they sense is wrong and tell 
your children that no one should approach them or touch them in a way 
that makes them feel uncomfortable.
  The problem of child abduction and exploitation transcends politics, 
race and socioeconomic status. To Californians, it takes the face of 
Polly Klaas, in Florida, it is that of Adam Walsh, and in the country's 
heartland it comes as Jacob Wetterling. In the Northeast, it is seen in 
the pictures of Sara Anne Wood and Etan Patz. In the South, it is in 
the photographs of Yusef Bell and the 28 other children from Atlanta 
who were reported missing and found murdered from 1979 to 1980. To our 
Nation's seniors, the image of Charles and Anne Lindbergh pleading for 
their kidnapped baby is forever imprinted in our memories.
  We must work together to protect our Nation's children so that they 
can grow up to become happy, healthy and productive adults. We owe it 
to the families of missing and exploited children and we owe it to the 
children of this Nation. Thank you.

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