[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E977-E978]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IN HONOR OF NATIONAL MISSING CHILDREN DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NICK LAMPSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 22, 1998

  Mr. LAMSPON. Mr. Speaker, May 25th is National Missing Children's 
Day. As Chairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's 
Caucus, I'd like to speak for a moment about HR 2850, ``The Jennifer's 
Law Act of 1997,'' which would help ensure that parents are able to 
bring closure to their search for missing children. I introduced this 
bill in November with my colleagues, Congressman Jay Johnson and 
Congressman Tom Lantos.
  Under current law, states are required to report information on 
missing children to the FBI

[[Page E978]]

so that data can be entered into the National Crime Information 
Center's (NCIC) Missing Person File. However, states are not required 
to report information to the NCIC's Unidentified Person File when they 
recover an unidentified body. Unfortunately, a logical and complete 
cross-referencing of the Missing Person File and the Unidentified 
Person File simply does not exist.***STRPGFIT***
  Every week, unidentified deceased children are found, yet their 
families may never know and may never stop their difficult search. The 
families are denied the sense of closure to their tragic loss, at least 
knowing that their child was no longer missing. In late December, the 
body of GiGi Arnett Harris was found in a morgue, where it had lain 
unidentified for two years. Stories like that of Ms. Harris would not 
occur if Jennifer's Law is enacted.
  Jennifer's Law would correct this problem by requiring that states 
report to the NCIC information on unidentified persons that they find 
in their jurisdiction. It would also require that the FBI modernize the 
Missing Persons File and the Unidentified Persons File to make the 
lists compatible for cross-referencing.
  Its time to bring comfort to families of missing children in their 
suffering. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this 
very important legislation.

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