[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 101 (Friday, July 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H6421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, as a father, one of my biggest fears over 
the years has been discovering perhaps that one of my daughters would 
be missing.
  Sadly, last November, one of my constituents was living mine and 
every parent's nightmare when she frantically called the Texas City 
Texas Police Department after her ten year old daughter did not arrive 
home from school.
  Recently, my district has been stricken with a stream of missing 
children. This issue has become my highest priority as well as that of 
the police departments in my area to try to put an end to this. The 
chief of police for Texas City, Texas, Jerry Purdon, last year visited 
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and underwent 
training on developing a program for responding to a missing child 
alert.
  One of the key elements in the department's new program was the 
actual response time, which they felt had been a key factor in previous 
failures. In this Texas City case, the department was able to flood the 
area with both police and informed neighbors to search for any sign of 
the missing child.
  Hours went by until a man appeared in the middle of the neighborhood 
with the missing girl, stating that he had found her under some stairs. 
She was immediately rushed to the hospital while the man was questioned 
by the police.
  Suspicious from the start, they were able to obtain a full 
confession. This man, who knew the girl, picked her up from school and 
returned to his home with her and after sexually abusing her he 
admitted that he intended to kill her and dispose of the body. In his 
words, he was prevented from carrying out his plan because, quote, 
every time I looked out my front window I saw a police car and every 
time I looked out the back, I saw a neighbor who knew what was 
happening, unquote.
  Thanks to the quick response and organization of Chief Purdon and his 
officers, that little girl was returned to her family. I stand here 
proud of their efforts and would like to applaud each and every one who 
helped save the little girl. It is with forceful reactions to crimes 
like this that we hope to end the disappearances of our children and 
prevent all parents from experiencing this nightmare.

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