[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 21, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6868-S6869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DODD (for himself, Ms. Collins, and Mr. Hatch):
  S. 1102. A bill to assist law enforcement in their efforts to recover 
missing children and to clarify the standards for State sex offender 
registration programs; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my colleague from 
Maine, Senator Collins, and my colleague from Utah, Senator Hatch, to 
introduce the Prevention and Recovery of Missing Children Act of 2003, 
to improve the recovery of missing children and the tracking of 
convicted sex offenders and child predators.
  No child or parent should ever have to go through the recent nine-
month ordeal of Elizabeth Smart and her family. Yet, from the sparse 
information we have, we know that over one million families have 
endured a similar, and sometimes far worse, trauma.
  In only the second study of its kind, the National Incidence Studies 
of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Throwaway Children, NISMART-2, 
estimated that 1.3 million children met the criteria for being 
classified as missing, including runaway, from their caretakers in 
1999. It is estimated that almost 800,000 of these cases involved 
notification to police or missing children agencies to help locate the 
child. When a parent's worst fear for a missing child materializes, in 
91 percent of the cases the child became the victim of a homicide 
within 24 hours of abduction. In 74 percent of these cases, the 
homicide occurred within 3 hours of abduction.
  With statistics such as these, it is truly a miracle and cause for 
celebration that Elizabeth Smart returned to her family alive and well 
nine months after her abduction.
  We must build and expand on practices we know lead to the safe return 
of missing and abducted children. In Elizabeth's case, the family's 
circulation of the suspect's photograph led to the capture of 
Elizabeth's captor near her home community in Utah. This success story 
highlights the importance of the recently enacted National AMBER Alert 
Networks, which strengthens communication and notification to 
facilitate the recovery of other abducted children.
  As important as AMBER Alert systems are, these are but one tool in 
our arsenal against child abduction. The bill we are introducing today 
will strengthen other tools used by law enforcement to help take every 
step possible to find missing children as soon as possible. For 
instance, we know now that Elizabeth's captor was already in custody in 
California during Elizabeth's ordeal. Those officials, at that time, 
did not have in their possession information to connect him to the 
Smart case. And so, he was released.
  It is clear from this example that accurate, up-to-date information 
on missing children cases nationwide must be made available to law 
enforcement, as well. This act fosters the sharing of information about 
missing child cases among law enforcement by requiring the entry of 
child information into the National Crime Information Center, NCIC, 
within 2 hours of receipt. NCIC is a critical resource for linking 
16,000 Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies.
  The availability of up-to-date identifying information of known child 
and sexual predators is a vital investigative tool. The women who 
signaled police in the Elizabeth Smart case identified the captor after 
seeing his photograph on television. One of these responsible women 
noted that it was the photograph, and not the composite sketch, that 
helped her recognize Elizabeth's captor as he walked down the street.
  Whether the suspect in the Smart case had a history of sexual 
offenses is unclear. But, what is clear is that we can do more to help 
law enforcement track and investigate individuals with a history of 
sexual offenses.
  Over the last decade, Congress enacted several laws designed to 
improve the tracking of convicted sex offenders and the recovery of 
missing children, including The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against 
Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act of 1994, 
Megan's Law of 1996, and The Pam Lychner Sex Offender Tracking and 
Identification Act of 1996. Collectively, these acts established 
minimum standards for State sex offender registration programs and 
created systems to track convicted sex offenders.
  While these current federal laws address the main features of an 
effective registry system, the discretion over registry details and 
procedures is left up to the states. This has led to a lack of 
consistency and wide disparities between states. For example, state 
requirements for sex offender notification of registration changes 
range from 1 day to 40 days, and state requirements for a sex offender 
to register an address after moving to a new state range from 48 hours 
to 70 days.
  In addition, many States place the burden to notify changes in 
registry information solely on the sex offender. We need to tighten 
registry systems so that law enforcement in all states is better 
equipped to track sex offenders. This bill strengthens the registry 
foundation for all states. It builds upon successful practices already 
in place in some States, to better protect our communities nationwide.
  Sex offenders pose an enormous challenge for policy makers and create 
unparalleled fear among citizens. Most of their victims are children 
and youth. Two-thirds of imprisoned sex offenders report that their 
victims were under age 18, and nearly half report that their victims 
were ages 12 and younger.
  The tracking of released sex offenders is critical to protecting our 
children. Most sex offenders are not in prison--about 60 percent of 
convicted sex offenders are under conditional supervision in the 
community--and those who are in prison often serve limited sentences. 
This is of great concern because sex offenders, particularly if 
untreated, are at risk of re-offending.
  For over two years, newspapers across the country, including the 
Hartford Courant, have highlighted the inadequacy of reporting 
information in missing child cases and tracking of convicted sex 
offenders and known child predators. One tragic example reported a 
convicted sex offender who moved from Massachusetts to Montana, where 
police were never contacted about his history. He brutally murdered 
several Montana children before he was apprehended, and was later 
linked to 54 cases of child abduction and molestation in several 
states.
  In many cases, convicted sex offenders and child predators slip 
through law enforcement loopholes and continue to prey on children. 
While all 50 states have laws to create sex offender registry 
databases, states are unable to

[[Page S6869]]

adequately track these felons. For instance, in California, 33,000, or 
44 percent of registered offenders are missing; it is estimated that 
states on average are unable to account for 24 percent of sex 
offenders.
  Recently, the Supreme Court ruled against challenges from Alaska and 
Connecticut, and upheld current law pertaining to sexual offender 
registries. With the support of both Congress and the highest court of 
our land, it is inconceivable to me that we now allow bookkeeping 
challenges to deter law enforcements' ability to identify and locate 
child predators.
  This bill makes several important changes to improve the tracking of 
sex offenders and the recovery of missing children. The bill: modifies 
the definition of ``minimally sufficient program'' to include: the 
registration of all convicted sex offenders prior to release; the 
collection of information to assist in tracking individuals, including 
a DNA sample, current photograph, driver's license and vehicle 
information; and verification of address and employment information for 
all offenders every 90 days. Modifies penalties for non-compliance with 
registry requirements. It provides that State programs must designate 
non-compliance as a felony and permits the issuance of a warrant. This 
provision is intended to encourage compliance by offenders as well as 
provide a tool for law enforcement and prosecutors. Improves the 
chances for recovering missing children and aids law enforcement in 
solving cases by preventing the removal of missing children from the 
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. Improves the chances 
for recovery of missing children by requiring entry of child 
information into the NCIC database within 2 hours.
  We must make the tracking of convicted sex offenders and the post-
release supervision of child sexual predators a higher priority. Since 
most sex offenders are in the community, we must ensure there is 
continuing contact and supervision of released sex offenders. Data 
management challenges are simply inexcusable reasons for not protecting 
our innocent children from crimes committed against them.
  We have an obligation to protect our children from the abductors, sex 
offenders and sexual predators who prey on our children. I urge my 
colleagues to join myself, Senator Collins and Senator Hatch in 
supporting and furthering this legislation.

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