[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 98 (Thursday, July 18, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H4875-H4876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               PROTECTING MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN

  (Mr. FOLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the world discovered that another 
child, 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, who was violently abducted from 
outside her home while playing with a

[[Page H4876]]

friend, was sexually assaulted, strangled and left naked on the side of 
the California road.
  The police in California said that this sick and deranged person may 
do this terrible act again to another child based on the way he left 
this poor child's body on the side of the road. They say this may be 
his calling card. Parents throughout the Nation are both shocked and 
frightened that this could happen to their child.
  Over 2,000 children are reported missing to law enforcement every 
single day. While Congress focuses on restructuring its homeland 
security, we must be made aware of the incredible efforts that the FBI 
and other law enforcement agencies provide in retrieving these children 
and finding their abductors. We must make sure that these agencies have 
the manpower and resources necessary to continue these efforts.
  To that end, as cochairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited 
Caucus, I will work with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson), the 
Committee on the Judiciary and the administration to ensure the work on 
legislation to increase both criminal and civil penalties for abductors 
and provide the necessary funding for our law enforcement agencies.

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