[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E571]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN HONOR OF SHANNON MELENDI

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 25, 1999

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I wish to share with my colleagues the 
tragic circumstances of a constituent, Shannon Melendi, a 19 year-old 
sophomore at Emory University in Atlanta.
  Almost 5 years ago to the day, on March 26, 1994, Shannon disappeared 
on a Saturday afternoon from the Softball Country Club where she worked 
as a scorekeeper, during games.
  Shannon took a work break from which she never returned and no one 
has seen her since that day.
  The prime suspect, a part-time umpire at the park, was previously 
convicted of kidnapping and taking indecent liberties with a child and 
served only 2 years of a 4-year prison sentence.
  This was his third sexual offense.
  Perhaps if this man had served his full prison sentence, Shannon 
would not have disappeared.
  Or, perhaps if he had received a harsher sentence, due to the fact 
that it was his third sexual offense and committed against a child, 
Shannon would still be here today.
  Mr. Speaker, when sexual crimes are committed, we need to ensure that 
these criminals spend many years incarcerated so that women and 
children are safe from sexual predators who prey upon them.
  I urge my colleagues to work together to enact legislation that will 
keep people who have committed sexual crimes off our streets so that 
what happened to Shannon will never have to happen again.
  Shannon's father, Luis, summed it up the best when he said, ``What 
happened to us cannot be changed, but because of what happened to us, 
changes can be made.''

                          ____________________