[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 13, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S980-S981]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BOND:
  S. 2632. A bill to ensure that the Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification Act is applied retroactively; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, today, I introduce legislation to close a 
series of statutory loopholes setting free convicted sex offenders who 
failed to register and notify their communities of

[[Page S981]]

their status as required by Federal law. I was outraged recently to 
learn this was going on and I am sure you will agree that we must end 
this injustice. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this 
legislation.
  Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, SORNA, 
passed as part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 
2006, sex of-fenders are required to register with local authorities 
and notify those authorities when they move or change jobs. However, 
judges in Michigan and Pennsylvania have freed sex offenders arrested 
for failing to register because of doubts over whether the statute 
applies to sex offenses committed prior to SORNA's implementation. A 
Missouri judge freed a noncomplying sex offender questioning whether 
provisions extending Federal jurisdiction operated retroactively.
  In the Missouri case, a Federal judge released convicted sex-offender 
Terry L. Rich after his arrest for failure to register as a sex 
offender upon moving to Kansas City 20 months ago. Mr. Rich arrived 
after a prison stint in Iowa for failing to register there based on his 
previous convictions for felony sexual abuse of a child, kidnaping, 
indecency, child molestation and felony sexual battery of a young girl. 
SORNA extends Federal jurisdiction to State sex offenders by applying 
to those who ``travel'' in interstate commerce, and Mr. Rich seemed to 
qualify by moving from Iowa to Missouri in March 2006. However, the 
judge ruled that since Mr. Rich ``traveled'' prior to SORNA's enactment 
in July 2006, he was not covered by the law's present tense ``travel'' 
requirement.
  The Pennsylvania court freed persons hiding convictions of sexual 
assault, rape, statutory rape, indecent assault and corruption of the 
morals of a 6-year-old girl. The Michigan court freed a sex offender 
who failed to register after convictions of first-degree rape and 
sodomy.
  The bill I propose closes the loopholes cited by the Missouri, 
Michigan, and Pennsylvania courts to ensure that SORNA's registration 
requirement applies to sex offenders irrespective of the date of their 
offense or date of interstate travel. These are simple fixes to the 
code, but vital to ensure that no more convicted sex offenders can hide 
in our neighborhoods.
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