[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 3 (Thursday, January 9, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S155-S156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Hatch, Mr. 
        Leahy, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Miller, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. 
        Crapo, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Bingaman, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Fitzgerald, 
        Mr. Feingold, Mr. Biden, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Nelson of Florida, 
        Mr. Bennett, Mr. Dodd, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Sessions, Ms. Collins, 
        Mr. Allard, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Harkin, and Mr. 
        Durbin):
  S. 121. A bill to enhance the operation of the AMBER Alsert 
communications network in order to facilitate the recovery of abducted 
children, to provide for enhanced notification on highways of alerts 
and information on such children, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I am introducing today with my friend 
from California, Senator Feinstein, and 26 other senators, the National 
AMBER Network Act. This legislation will establish a National Amber 
Network and improve the current system of AMBER Alert plans that exist 
in various states. Our legislation recognizes the tremendous work that 
those involved in AMBER alerts are doing and seeks to build on their 
efforts.
  In 1996, 9-year-old Amber Hagerman of Arlington, Texas was abducted 
and brutally murdered. Her death had such an impact on the community 
that local law enforcement and area broadcasters developed what is now 
known as AMBER Alert, America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. 
An AMBER Alert is activated by law enforcement to find a child, when a 
child has been abducted. An Alert triggers highway notification and 
broadcast messages throughout the area where the abduction occurred.
  As we have seen, AMBER plans in different communities have worked to 
bring children home safely. To date, AMBER Alert has helped recover 42 
children nationwide. Many communities and States have outstanding AMBER 
plans. However, the vast majority of States do not yet have 
comprehensive, statewide coverage and lack the ability to effectively 
communicate. This is a critical issue particularly when an abducted 
child is taken across State lines.
  The bill I am introducing today establishes an AMBER Alert 
Coordinator within the Department of Justice to assist states with 
their AMBER plans. Last year, President Bush ordered the Attorney 
General to establish an AMBER Alert Coordinator, and this bill will 
codify that position for future Administrations. While we have 
witnessed successful stories of AMBER alerts helping to recover a child 
within a region, huge gaps exist among the AMBER plans around the 
country. The AMBER Alert Coordinator will facilitate appropriate 
regional coordination of AMBER alerts, particularly with interstate 
travel situations, and will assist states, broadcasters, and law 
enforcement in establishing additional AMBER plans.
  The AMBER Alert Coordinator will set minimum, voluntary standards to 
help states work together, and will help to reconcile the different 
standards and criteria for issuing an AMBER Alert. In doing so, the 
Coordinator will work with the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children, local and State law enforcement and broadcasters to 
define minimum standards. Overall, the AMBER Alert Coordinator's 
efforts will set safeguards to make sure the AMBER alert system is used 
to meet it intended purpose.
  In addition, the bill provides for matching grants to states with 
AMBER programs. The grant program will help localities and States build 
or further enhance their efforts to disseminate AMBER alerts. To this 
end, Federal matching grants will fund road signs and electronic 
message boards along highways, broadcasts of information on abducted 
children, education and training, and related equipment.
  Our bill has the strong support of the National Center of Missing and 
Exploited Children and the National Association of Broadcasters, who 
play essential roles in the AMBER Alert system. I urge the Senate to 
act expeditiously on this legislation to protect America's children.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to join Senator 
Hutchison in re-introducing the National AMBER Alert Network Act. This 
legislation builds on the proven successes of the AMBER Alert program.
  AMBER Alerts are official bulletins transmitted over the airwaves to 
enlist the public's help in tracking down child abductors fleeing a 
crime scene.
  AMBER Alerts are such powerful tools because they can be issued 
within minutes of an abduction and reach a wide public audience.
  Statistics show that children in the most dangerous abduction cases 
have precious little time until their safety is compromised.
  According to a study by the U.S. Department of Justice, 74 percent of 
children who were abducted, and later found murdered, are killed in the 
first hours after being taken.
  Simply put, we need more AMBER Alerts because they may be the best 
tool law enforcement has to save kidnapped children facing imminent 
danger.
  Last Fall, Senator Hutchison and I first introduced the ``National 
AMBER Alert Network Act.'' The bill attracted tremendous support in the 
Senate. Just seven days after it was introduced, the bill passed the 
Senate.
  While the legislation did not pass the House, President Bush issued 
an executive order putting some of the pieces of the National AMBER 
Alert Network Act into effect.
  Specifically, on October 3, 2002, President Bush announced that the 
Administration would create a national AMBER Alert coordinator in the 
Department of Justice, would draft national standards for AMBER Alerts; 
and allocate $10 million in funding for the creation of new AMBER Alert 
programs.
  While President Bush's actions were an important first step, we now 
need to ensure the long-term viability of the national AMBER Alert 
program by enacting authorizing legislation.
  The bill we introduce today has three key components.
  First, the legislation would authorize $20 million to the Department 
of Transportation and $5 million to the Department of Justice in FY 
2004 to provide grants for the development of AMBER Alert systems, 
electronic message boards, and training and education programs in 
states that do not have AMBER Alerts.
  To date, AMBER Alert systems exist in 33 States and a total of 83 
local, regional and State jurisdictions. This bill would help the 
expansion of AMBER Alerts to new jurisdictions.
  Second, the bill would build upon the President's Executive Order by 
authorizing a national coordinator for AMBER Alerts in the Department 
of

[[Page S156]]

Justice to expand the network of AMBER Alert systems and to coordinate 
the issuance of region-wide AMBER Alerts.
  Third, the bill provides a framework for the Department of Justice to 
establish minimum standards for the regional coordination of AMBER 
alerts.
  The Department of Justice, working with the National Center for 
Missing and Exploited Children and other private organizations with 
expertise in this area, would build upon the best standards currently 
in place.
  Today, an AMBER Alert is typically issued only when: a law 
enforcement agency confirms that a predatory child abduction has 
occurred, the child is in imminent danger, and there is information 
available that, if disseminated to the public, could assist in the safe 
recovery of the child.
  The effectiveness of AMBER Alerts depends on the continued judicious 
use of the system so that the public does not grow to ignore the 
warnings.
  Furthermore, it is the specific intent of this bill not to interfere 
with the operation of the 83 AMBER plans that are working today.
  Participation in regional AMBER plans is voluntary, and any plan that 
wishes to go it alone may still do so.
  I urge members to support this bill because AMBER Alerts have a 
proven track record.
  Nationally, since 1996, the AMBER Alert has been credited with the 
safe return of 42 children to their families, including one case in 
which an abductor reportedly released the child after hearing the alert 
himself.
  I would like to briefly describe two of these cases: the rescues of 
10 year-old Nichole Timmons from Riverside and four-year old Jessica 
Cortez from Los Angeles.
  Last fall, Nichole Timmons and her mother Sharon attended a hearing 
of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and 
Government information on the AMBER Alert program.
  In moving testimony, Sharon described how Nichole was abducted from 
their Riverside home on August 20, 2002 and how an AMBER Alert brought 
her daughter back to her within hours of the abduction.
  In Nichole's case, an Alert was issued not just in California, but in 
Nevada as well.
  After learning about the Alert, a tribal police officer in Nevada 
spotted the truck of Nichole's abductor and stopped him within 24 hours 
of the abduction.
  He was found with duct tape and a metal pipe.
  The AMBER Alert was the only reason that Nichole was able to return 
home to her mother, safe.
  I can't think of any testimony in support of a bill more powerful 
than the sight of a mother sitting next to her daughter who she thought 
might be gone forever.
  The second case I want to mention is that of Jessica Cortez. Jessica 
disappeared from Echo Park in Los Angeles on August 11, 2002.
  But when Jessica's abductor took her to a clinic for medical care, 
receptionist Denise Leon recognized Jessica from AMBER Alert and 
notified law enforcement.
  Without the publicity generated by the Alert, Jessica could have been 
lost to her parents forever.
  Through this legislation, we will extend to every corner of the 
Nation a network of AMBER Alerts that will protect our children.
  This program will increase the odds that an abducted child will 
return to his or her family safety.
  But importantly, it will deter potential abductors from taking a 
child in the first place.
  As Mark Klaas said at a hearing on the bill last Fall, this 
legislation will ``save kids lives.''
  Once again, let me thank Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison for her 
tremendous leadership on this issue.
  It is my hope that this bill will continue to see the strong, 
bipartisan support that led to its swift passage in the Senate last 
year. Thank you.
                                 ______