[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 161 (Thursday, December 15, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S13654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              AIMEE'S LAW

 Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, H.R. 3402, the Department of 
Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, includes ``technical 
changes'' to legislation known as ``Aimee's Law.'' I am dismayed that 
the Department of Justice has waited until now to take the adequate 
steps to implement this legislation. I sponsored this legislation in 
the Senate, which was signed into law by President Clinton in October 
2000. The law was to be implemented in 2002. I believe that 3 years is 
more than adequate time to implement this critical protection for my 
constituents.
  Aimee's Law is named after Aimee Willard, a college senior from 
suburban Philadelphia who was brutally raped and murdered by a 
convicted murderer who was released early in Nevada and crossed State 
lines to kill again in Pennsylvania. Aimee's mother, Gail, became a 
tireless advocate to prevent such unnecessary tragedies from happening 
to other families, culminating in the passage of Aimee's Law in the 
U.S. Senate by an 81-to-17 margin and its final inclusion in H.R. 3244, 
the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act conference 
report, which also included the Violence Against Women Act 
Reauthorization, Pub. L. 106-386. Aimee's Law is narrowly tailored to 
address the heinous crimes of murder, rape, and child molestation.
  The law is designed to protect the residents of one State from the 
negligence of another State. The law assists States which recognize 
that the primary responsibility of State and local governments is to 
maintain public safety. Sexual predators have the highest rate of 
recidivism of any category of violent crime. The law simply provides 
that States where a subsequent similar violent crime occurs because of 
an early release will be reimbursed for the prosecution and 
incarceration costs through a reduction of future Federal funds from 
the allocation of the State where the original violent crime and 
conviction occurred.
  I wish to state for the record that I will not object to the 
``technical changes'' of Aimee's Law in H.R. 3402 as the Department of 
Justice assures me that the law will be implemented within six months. 
While I think that it is unacceptable that it has taken this long to 
take the appropriate steps to implement this law, I am hopeful that 
Aimee's Law will finally and effectively be implemented in the very 
near future so other families do not suffer the same fate as the 
Williards.

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