[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 76 (Tuesday, June 5, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H2853-H2856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMMENDING CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS AND AMERICAN FOOTBALL COACHES
ASSOCIATION FOR THEIR DEDICATION AND EFFORTS FOR PROTECTING CHILDREN
Mr. OSBORNE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 100) commending Clear Channel
Communications and the American Football Coaches Association for their
dedication and efforts for protecting children by providing a vital
means for locating the Nation's missing, kidnapped, and runaway
children, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Con. Res. 100
Whereas children are the Nation's greatest asset for the
future and are essential for the Nation's strong and vital
growth;
Whereas more than 800,000 children disappear each year in
the United States, and the problem of missing, kidnapped, and
runaway children potentially affects every community in the
Nation;
Whereas the United States is committed to the protection of
its children;
Whereas the American Football Coaches Association is a
leader in the protection of children and has provided 60
million Inkless Child Identification Kits for use by parents;
Whereas these kits allow parents to keep vital information,
current photographs, and fingerprints readily available to
provide to law enforcement agencies throughout the Nation in
the event of an emergency; and
Whereas the American Football Coaches Association displays
outstanding dedication to the children in communities
throughout the Nation: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress commends the American Football
Coaches Association for its dedication and efforts to protect
children and locate the Nation's missing, kidnapped, and
runaway children.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne).
General Leave
Mr. OSBORNE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
on House Concurrent Resolution 100.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Nebraska?
There was no objection.
Mr. OSBORNE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Concurrent
Resolution 100 which recognizes the American Football Coaches
Association for its dedication and efforts to protect children by
providing inkless child identification kits for use by parents. In the
past 4 years, over 4.2 million identification kits have been passed out
at college football stadiums. As a member of the American Football
Coaches Association and a former football coach, I have participated in
this program myself and know that the kits can be useful tools for
parents. My former university, the University of Nebraska, has
participated in this program since the program's inception in 1997. In
the spring of 1999, 60,000 ID kits were distributed to Nebraska's
school children in grades kindergarten through the fourth grade.
Statistics about missing children in the United States are
staggering. According to the FBI and the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children, 750,000 children were reported missing last
year. Approximately 450,000 of these children ran away, an additional
350,000 were abducted by a family member, and over 4,500 were abducted
by a stranger. This works out to be about 2,100 children missing each
day. In 1999, the last year with statistics available, almost 3,000
cases of online child exploitation were prosecuted.
No place in America is immune from child abductions or exploitation.
Earlier this year in a high profile case, a teenager in my district was
kidnapped by an escaped fugitive in the parking lot of a shopping mall
in Kearney, Nebraska. Fortunately, this kidnapping ended peacefully
with the kidnapper's surrender, but many children are not as lucky.
If the worst happens and a child is abducted or decides to run away,
parents need to have tools to help police locate and identify their
children. Because less than 2 percent of parents have a copy of their
child's fingerprints to use in the case of an emergency, the American
Football Coaches Association created the National Child Identification
Program with the goal of fingerprinting 20 million children. The
program provides a free inkless fingerprint kit for each child. The
inkless ID kit allows parents to take and store their child's
fingerprints in their own home. The card remains in the parents'
possession. But if it is ever needed, this card will give authorities
vital information to assist them in their efforts to locate a missing
child.
To fund the program, the coaches association has teamed up with local
and national businesses and media. In my previous occupation, I signed
several hundred football helmets to auction off to raise money for this
worthy cause.
I believe we must approach the protection of our Nation's youth from
a variety of angles. These kits are a start, and they may open the
doors of communication for parents to talk to their children about the
rules of safety advocated by the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children and discuss ways to address family problems. I also
am a longtime supporter of youth mentoring projects. I believe mentors
can provide youth a positive role model and a line of communication
with a caring adult. Quality mentoring programs can prevent youth from
ever running away from home in the first place.
I am pleased to support this resolution that commends the work of the
American Football Coaches Association for its efforts to locate
missing, kidnapped, and runaway children through the distribution of
the inkless fingerprinting kits. I urge my colleagues to support this
resolution.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KILDEE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution and join the
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) and its author, the gentleman
from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan), in commending the American Football
Coaches Association for its important work to help make our children
safer.
The American Football Coaches Association has provided 60 million
inkless child identification kits for use by parents. These kits allow
parents to keep vital information, current photographs, and
fingerprints readily available to provide to law enforcement agencies
throughout the Nation in the event of an emergency. The program is
expected to reach several million children this year, making it the
largest identification drive ever conducted.
[[Page H2854]]
At a time 800,000 children become missing each year in the United
States, more needs to be done to address this horrible issue. Our law
enforcement agencies and personnel continue to need the help of parents
when children are missing. Efforts like those of the American Football
Coaches Association and other public-private partnerships are essential
if we are to ensure that no child becomes missing and suffers from the
separation of their parents.
Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to support this resolution.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OSBORNE. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan), the sponsor of this resolution.
(Mr. DUNCAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr.
Osborne) for yielding me this time.
Madam Speaker, every Saturday in the fall, football coaches across
America are cheered on by thousands of fans for their work on the
field.
Today we have a resolution on the House floor which honors them for
their work off the field. The resolution that I have introduced,
H.Con.Res. 100, recognizes the American Football Coaches Association
and its efforts to protect our country's children.
The American Football Coaches Association has teamed up with Clear
Channel Communications, one of our Nation's leading companies, to
distribute child identification kits to thousands of parents every
year.
These kits, which are handed out at no cost to families, allow
parents to fingerprint their children and keep the prints at home.
Should their child ever become missing, parents can turn over these
fingerprint records to local law enforcement authorities who use the
information to help locate the missing children.
The National Child Identification Program distributes these free kits
to parents and guardians at college football games across the Nation.
This program began in 1997. In that year alone, 2.1 million of the
child ID kits were given to parents. Since then, over 8 million kits
have been distributed at football games. The stadium effort was so
successful that the coaches have worked with Clear Channel
Communications to reach even more families and more people in their
communities.
Football coaches across America have promoted this program on the
more than 1200 radio stations owned or operated by Clear Channel
Communications. Clear Channel has been instrumental in providing the
program publicity as well as recruiting other sponsors to help finance
the purchase of these kits.
Unfortunately, 800,000 children are reported missing each year in the
United States. This is a tragedy that should never happen. The American
Football Coaches Association and Clear Channel Communications have
taken the initiative to try to help parents and authorities return
missing children to their homes.
In my district, the coach of the University of Tennessee football
team, my good friend Phillip Fulmer, has taken an active role in
promoting this program. Hundreds of thousands of these kits have been
handed out at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. Other
individuals who have helped with this effort include coaches and
athletes like Grant Teaff, R.C. Slocum, Nolan Ryan, Joe Montana, Cal
Ripken, David Robinson, and many, many others.
I should mention that my colleague, the gentleman from Nebraska, who
is a former college football coach, has very actively participated as
well, as he has just mentioned. He has helped raise funds as well as
handed out personally some of the first kits in Nebraska. In addition
to his work on this resolution, I want to thank him for his efforts on
this very worthwhile program.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank Lowry Mays and Mark
Mays for their leadership in bringing Clear Channel Communications on
board with this effort.
In Tennessee, Governor Don Sundquist proclaimed March as Child
Identification Awareness Month to raise awareness of the need for
fingerprinting children. And as the governor of Texas, President Bush
helped raise funds for the National Child Identification Program.
Madam Speaker, I am from Tennessee which is known as the Volunteer
State. I am happy to see that volunteers from all across the country
have come together to support this important program that helps bring
children home to their parents.
Finally, I want to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) and
the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) for allowing this,
what I believe to be a very noncontroversial resolution, to come to the
House floor today. I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Kildee) for his support.
I hope that all of my colleagues will join me by supporting H. Con.
Res. 100 and recognize those who have helped make our country a safer
place for children.
Mr. KILDEE. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Edwards).
Mr. EDWARDS. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for sponsoring this resolution and the gentleman
from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Kildee) for their leadership in its passage.
Public service comes in many forms. When individuals and groups
provide extraordinary services to our Nation, they deserve the
appreciation of our Congress and our country. Such is the case today
with Clear Channel Communications and the American Football Coaches
Association. With the generosity of these two organizations, 60 million
child identification kits will be given to parents all across our
country.
{time} 1430
These kits will help parents keep vital information and current
photographs and fingerprints of their own children to be used in cases
of missing, kidnapped or runaway children. In such emergencies, this
information can be instrumental in helping law enforcement agencies
bring children and their parents back together.
Madam Speaker, I speak today as a parent of two sons, ages 3 and 5. I
cannot imagine anything worse for my wife and me than to find one day
our children are missing.
Every parent, every parent, knows the fear of turning around in a
playground or at a public meeting or event and momentarily not finding
his or her child. Unfortunately, that fear is not just momentary for
many parents. In fact, nearly 800,000 children disappear every year in
the United States. That would be the equivalent of approximately 8
times the entire population of my hometown of Waco, Texas, where the
American Football Coaches Association has its office.
These 800,000 are not just statistics. They are real children of real
parents, a nightmare many of us can only imagine.
Madam Speaker, I have known Lowery Mays, CEO of Clear Channel
Communications, and Grant Teaff, executive director of the American
Football Coaches Association, for well over a decade. They are
individuals of great integrity and compassion. Knowing them personally,
frankly, it does not surprise me that their organizations are providing
American families with this terribly important service. However, that
lack of surprise does not reduce whatsoever my deep gratitude to them
for their generosity in reuniting thousands of American families with
their children.
Madam Speaker, Winston Churchill once said, ``We make a living by
what we get, but we make a life by what we give.''
Based on that high standard, Lowery and Mark Mays, Coach Grant Teaff
and all those they represent in their respective organizations have
lived an extraordinary successful life. They have earned and deserve
the gratitude of not only this Congress, but American families across
this great land of ours. I urge every Member to vote for this
resolution.
Mr. OSBORNE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Delaware (Mr. Castle), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Education
Reform.
Mr. CASTLE. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from
Nebraska (Mr. Osborne), the wonderful coach himself, for yielding me
[[Page H2855]]
this time. I also want to particularly thank the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for putting this work together.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in very strong support of H. Con.
Res. 100, a resolution commending the American Football Coaches
Association and others for their efforts in helping to recover our
Nation's missing, kidnapped, and runaway children.
According to recent data, an estimated 3,200 to 4,600 short-term,
nonfamily abductions are reported in law enforcement each year. Of
these, an estimated 200 to 300 are stereotypical kidnappings where a
child is gone overnight, killed, or transported a distance of 50 miles
or more.
For these reasons, the first 48 hours following the disappearance of
a child are the most critical in terms of finding and returning that
child safely, and the child's descriptive information, including
height, weight, and eye and hair color, and an updated photograph are
the most important tools a parent has to bring their missing child
home.
Far too often, though, the search for missing children is slowed by
an incomplete physical description and outdated photographs.
For this reason, the American Football Coaches Association, in
conjunction with Clear Channel Communications, has proudly sponsored
the National Child Identification Program, a community service project
which distributes free child ID kits at community events.
These child ID kits help ensure that families have updated pictures,
fingerprints and a complete physical description of their child in the
event of an emergency.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
current photographs and physical descriptions help return 1 out of 7
featured children, often as a result of tips received from members of
the public who have recognized the missing child and then notified the
authorities.
Under the leadership of the American Football Coaches Association, I
am especially pleased to report that Delaware State University and many
other colleges and universities have handed out millions of child ID
kits at college football games and other athletic events across the
country.
In closing, I want to commend the gentleman for his resolution and,
again, commend the American Football Coaches Association and the many
others who have made it their mission to help ensure the mission of
safety of our children. It is my experience that being prepared for the
worst possible scenario and possessing the necessary tools to help
prevent a greater tragedy makes a world of difference to parents and
children in a time of crisis.
For all these reasons, I urge an aye vote on this resolution.
Mr. KILDEE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Lampson).
Mr. LAMPSON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Kildee) for yielding me this time, and I also thank the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) and other leaders on this important piece of
legislation.
As chairman and founder of the Congressional Caucus on Missing and
Exploited Children, I have much too often had the occasion to look into
the eyes of a parent who has lost a child. I spend a great deal of my
time, along with so many of my other colleagues, trying to ask parents
to be prepared, and hopefully not ever have to need to have been
prepared, and therefore I rise today to commend the American Football
Coaches Association and Clear Channel Communications for their
dedication and efforts that they are making in protecting children by
providing a vital means for locating the Nation's missing, kidnapped,
and runaway children, and to urge a yes vote on this important
resolution.
The National Child Identification Program was created in 1997, with
the goal of fingerprinting 20 million children. This program provides a
free fingerprint kit to parents who then take and store their child's
fingerprints in their own homes. If this information is ever needed,
fingerprints would be given to the police to help them in locating a
missing child, being prepared and hoping they do not ever have to be.
The American Football Coaches Association, in partnership with Clear
Channel Communications, a large chain of radio stations, has pledged to
raise funds to help provide such a fingerprint kit for every child in
America.
Well, having just recognized National Missing Children's Day on May
25, the thought of keeping our children safe remains fresh in our
minds. We must all work together to raise awareness about the power of
fingerprinting in the search for missing children.
Clear Channel Communications and the American Football Coaches
Association have taken raising the importance of fingerprinting to a
whole new level, and they are to be commended for their leadership in
the broadcast and sports industries. Once again, I urge a yes vote on
this important resolution.
Mr. KILDEE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. OSBORNE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I would particularly like to thank the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for his efforts on this resolution, and the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee) for his efforts as well.
Mr. HASTERT. Madam Speaker, today, I would like to join with my
colleagues in commending the American Football Coaches Association for
providing parents with identification kits to locate children who are
missing.
In 1997, the American Football Coaches Association--concerned about
the 800,000 children who disappear every year--launched the National
Child Identification Program. Their group distributes millions of
identification kits that can be used as a means to locate lost
children. Parents use the kits to make ID cards for their children,
containing important identifying information, such as a picture,
fingerprints and the location of a child's medical and dental records.
The American Coaches Association deserves to be recognized for taking
the lead on this important issue. This respected group saw that they
could help American families, and they have worked long and hard to
achieve that goal. Through the National Identification Program, they
are providing a valuable resource for parents who are looking for
missing, kidnapped or runaway children. These kits provide parents with
the peace of mind of knowing that they have their child's vital
statistics at their fingertips in the event of an emergency.
I want to thank the American Coaches Association for handing out kit
after kit at churches, schools and community events. Their work could
be essential in returning missing children back to their families. They
have made a generous contribution to our nation, particularly, to our
nation's children.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong
support of this resolution commending Clear Channel Communications and
the American Football Coaches Association for their efforts in
providing a means for locating the nation's missing, kidnapped, and
runaway children. As a member of the Missing and Exploited Children's
Caucus, I have witnessed the dedication of both Clear Channel
Communications and the American Football Coaches Association and am
pleased to say their efforts have been outstanding.
In 2000, an estimated 750,000 children were reported missing. This
figure marks a decrease of twelve percent since 1997, when the number
of missing children was at an all time high. In my home state of
Connecticut, 293 children were reported missing as of May 7, 2001.
Connecticut is fortunate in that there are few non-family child
abductions. Clear Channel Communications and the American Football
Coaches Association have greatly contributed to increase awareness and
parental education in our effort to safely return missing children.
In September of 2000, the American Football Coaches Association
collaborated with Clear Channel Communications to raise millions of
dollars to provide free fingerprint kits for parents. Using the ID kit,
parents can take and store their children's fingerprints in their own
home. Their efforts were part of the National Child Identification
Program created in 1997. In the program's first year, two million kits
were distributed to parents at college football games, and 8 million
kits were distributed overall.
Programs such as these are invaluable to our nation as we try to
locate our nation's missing, kidnapped, and runaway children. I urge
all of my fellow Members to vote with me in support of H. Con. Res. 100
and commend Clear Channel Communications and the American Football
Coaches Association for their service to our country and reaffirm
Congress' commitment to missing and exploited children.
Mr. OSBORNE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
[[Page H2856]]
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Biggert). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res.
100, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. OSBORNE. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
____________________