[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 87 (Thursday, June 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6729-S6730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION ACT
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I will take a few moments to address
legislation to create a national sex offender registry and to protect
our children from sexual predators.
On May 4, the Senate unanimously passed S. 1086, the Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act. This bill, which was introduced by
our colleague, Senator Hatch, would create a national sex offender
registry and would do what you would suspect, and that is protect our
kids from these child predators.
A similar bill has also passed the House of Representatives. Over the
last several weeks, the House and Senate have been working diligently
to bridge the differences between those two bills. I am pleased with
the progress that has been made so far, but I am concerned that the
time is running short in the legislative session.
Because time is of the essence, I sent a letter to Chairman Specter
and Chairman Sensenbrenner in the House asking them to have such
legislation ready for signature by the President no later than July 27,
2006. That is about a month from now. That particular date is in honor
of the 25th anniversary of the tragic abduction and murder of Adam
Walsh, the 6-year-old son of John and Reve Walsh, who are the founders
of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the letter be printed
in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[[Page S6730]]
U.S. Senate,
Office of the Majority Leader,
Washington, DC, June 27, 2006.
Hon. Arlen Specter,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Hon. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Specter and Chairman Sensenbrenner: Thank you
for your diligent efforts to bring the Senate and the House
of Representatives together on legislation to create a
national sex offender registry and protect children from
sexual predators. While I am pleased with the progress made
so far, I remain concerned that time may be running short in
this legislative session. So today, I urge you to join me in
setting a clear goal to have sexual predators legislation
ready for signature by the President no later than July 27,
2006--in honor of the 25th anniversary of the tragic
abduction and murder of Adam Walsh, the 6-year-old son of
John and Reve Walsh, who are the founders of the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
John and Reve have transformed the tragedy of Adam's death
into a lifelong commitment to protecting children from
abduction, abuse, and exploitation. They have been at the
forefront of most major child protection legislation passed
by Congress over the last quarter century--from the Missing
Children's Act in 1982, which improved law enforcement
information sharing in missing child cases, to the Protect
Act in 2003, which established a nationwide Amber Alert
network to coordinate rapid emergency responses to missing
child alerts. Their tireless dedication has been an
inspiration to parents of child victims and millions of
American families.
I know we share a commitment to strengthen laws that
protect our children from sexual predators lurking in our
neighborhoods or enticing our children online. Currently,
there are more than 550,000 registered sex offenders in the
United States and at least 100,000 are missing from the
system. The loopholes in the current system allow some sexual
predators to evade law enforcement and put our children at
risk. In addition, we must do more to address an emerging
global crisis in child pornography, an estimated $20 billion
commercial industry fueled by the Internet. The Internet has
become an anonymous gateway for sexual predators to initiate
contact with children, win their confidence, and attempt to
victimize them. By passing legislation that establishes a
national sex offender registry, toughens criminal penalties
for sexual predators, and cracks down on child pornography,
we can take another step forward in making America safer.
The Senate and the House have both passed bills addressing
these issues. It is time to bridge any remaining differences
and finish the job. We should not allow extraneous issues to
delay the bill.
I look forward to working with you in the weeks ahead.
Sincerely,
William H. Frist, M.D.
Majority Leader.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my colleague,
Senator Reid, who is endorsing this July 27 date as a goal as well. The
reason why it is important for us to speak to this now is that there
are a number of issues out there that are unrelated to the sex offender
registry bill, which are important issues in and of themselves, but in
some ways they impede or lessen the likelihood that we are going to get
this particular bill through.
The registry is important. By creating a national registry, we are
going to make it easier for law enforcement to act if they get a tip
and to be able to identify and stop these offenders before they can
commit repeat crimes and victimize more children.
Many States, including my State of Tennessee, have registries, but
that information is not shared with other States. Therefore, you have
these sex offenders simply going from State to State. If a sex offender
is registered in Florida and then moves to Tennessee, there is no way
to track him today. Under the new law, Florida would have to notify
Tennessee law enforcement that the sex offender is moving. It is a big
problem.
There are currently 550,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S. and
at least 100,000 of them are missing from the system. Every day that we
don't have this national sex offender registry, these missing sex
predators are out there somewhere. We don't know where they are or
whether or who they are victimizing.
So there is a lot we can do. Now is the time for to us do it. The
national sex offender registry will save the lives of thousands of
children. By passing this legislation, we can take another major step
forward to making the country safer. I thank Senator Hatch, and
especially Senator Reid, for their leadership.
I urge our colleagues in the Senate and in the House to act quickly
and get this bill done by July 27. It is for law enforcement officers,
it is for parents, and it is especially for our Nation's children.
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