[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 49 (Tuesday, April 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H2347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       SUPPORT RESOLUTION TO HELP STATES COMPLY WITH MEGAN'S LAW

  (Mr. GUTKNECHT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about a very 
important issue I think to every American, especially American families 
who have children.
  Two years ago, Congress passed Megan's law, which requires States to 
develop programs to notify communities when sexual predators have been 
released into their neighborhoods. To date, 45 States have done that.
  But I must report that not every State is doing the kind of job that 
I think needs to be done. In fact, recently, NBC News did a special, 
and they found in one precinct 222 released sex offenders were living 
in that one ZIP code. The bad news is that none of the neighbors, none 
of the families, none of the parents knew who they are or where they 
were living.
  Mr. Speaker, the time has come for Congress to provide some 
additional leadership to the States. As a result, I have introduced a 
resolution in the House, and soon it will be introduced in the Senate 
as well, a resolution which will help States to comply with the 
requirements under Megan's law, to make it easier for States to comply 
and notify communities, to notify neighborhoods, and to notify families 
when sex offenders are moving into their neighborhoods. I encourage my 
colleagues to join me in this effort by cosponsoring this important 
resolution.

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