[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 131 (Tuesday, October 8, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1793]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CHILD ABDUCTION PREVENTION ACT

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                               speech of

                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 7, 2002

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my opposition to 
H.R. 5422, the ``Child Abduction Prevention Act.''
  I opposed a similar version of this bill, the ``Two Strikes and 
You're Out Child Protection Act'' (H.R. 2146), which was considered by 
the House earlier this year. Because H.R. 5422 contains some of the 
same provisions that I found objectionable in H.R. 2146, 1 must also 
oppose H.R. 5422 today. Although these bills have laudable goals of 
protecting innocent children from child molesters, the mechanism by 
which those offenders would be punished is unacceptable to me.
  First, H.R. 5422 seeks to expand the type of homicide that can be 
punished by the death penalty. I believe that we must have stiff 
penalties for those who commit violent crimes, but I do not feel the 
death penalty should be one of the options. It has always been my 
strong belief that the government has no right to selectively take life 
away from one of its citizens. Because I adamantly oppose the use of 
the death penalty in all situations, I cannot support this bill.
  Further, I oppose H.R. 5422 because it would have an unintended and 
disproportionate impact on the Native American population. The 
legislation would mandate life imprisonment for a second sex crime 
involving a child. However, the bill is limited to cases falling under 
federal jurisdiction, such as Native American reservations, national 
parks and forests, and U.S. territorial waters. Statistics indicate 
that approximately 75 percent of the cases that would be covered by 
this bill involve Native Americans. Therefore, H.R. 5422 would apply 
primarily--and disproportionately--to Native Americans on reservations.
  Unlike the federal ``three strikes, you're out'' law, H.R. 5422 does 
not allow tribal governments to opt out of the provisions of the law 
and apply their laws for handling such matters. Yet, there is no 
evidence that tribal governments have failed to address the problem 
this bill seeks to remedy.
  While I believe we must harshly punish sexual predators, I do not 
believe this bill succeeds in applying such punishment in an equitable, 
proportionate manner.

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