[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 17, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3484-S3485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SEXUAL OFFENDER TRACKING AND IDENTIFICATION ACT OF 1996

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, in response to the number of repeat 
crimes that are committed by convicted sex offenders, Senator Gramm and 
I are offering legislation to require all such individuals to register 
with the FBI.
  Society needs to know where these predators are at all times. 
Individual States are creating registries of convicted sex offenders 
and devising other measures to address the problem--my home state of 
Texas has moved forward aggressively on this front.
  Unfortunately, for my State and others, there is a continuing worry 
despite such progress: individuals convicted of 1,000 cases of child 
molestation scheduled to be released in Texas this year alone.
  Currently, 47 States have registry laws which apply to sex offenders, 
but these track such felons only within the individual State. There is 
no national registry. There is no formal network for law enforcement 
agencies to communicate with each other about know sexual predators. As 
a result, a convicted rapist or child molester released in Texas can 
move to, say, Vermont--which has no registry law--and disappear from 
law enforcement records. This ability to move from one State to the 
next unmonitored has provided tens of thousands of sex offenders with 
the opportunity to commit yet more deviant acts.
  The legislation Senator Gramm and I are introducing would close this 
immense loophole by creating a national computer registry to track 
convicted sex offenders. Our bill would:
  Require all sex offenders to register with the FBI for 10 years 
following their release from prison, drawing on State registries.
  Authorize the FBI to register and track offenders living in States 
with no registry program.
  Require the FBI to ensure that local authorities are notified every 
time a sex offender moves into or out of their jurisdiction.
  Allow private and community organizations access to the sex offender 
files through their local law enforcement agencies;
  Preserve State authority in determining whether (or how) the public 
at large will be notified of the presence of sex offenders in a 
community.
  Provide penalties for those who fail to register.

[[Page S3485]]

  This will provide a tracking program nationwide. It is an appropriate 
function of the Federal Government to keep tabs on such offenders--and 
help to arm communities with information that might well prevent 
future, similar, horrifying crimes. We know that 40 percent of 
convicted sex offenders will repeat their crimes. We must begin acting 
on that information.
  Mr. President, Senator Gramm and I are not asking that any money be 
appropriated for this purpose--the FBI can create such a tracking 
system with existing resources. And this is how Federal agencies should 
be spending the taxpayers' money: on protecting them and their 
children, and making their communities safer, less threatening places 
to live.
  One of the ultimate responsibilities of Government is the protection 
of its citizens--especially its youngest and most vulnerable. This 
measure does not seek to impose additional punishment on sex 
offenders--but it is aimed at providing society at large with an 
element of self-defense that it does not enjoy now.

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