[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E222-E223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              BILLY'S LAW

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 23, 2010

  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I rise to voice my support of H.R. 3965, 
the Help Find the Missing Act, a.k.a. ``Billy's Law.''
  Named after Billy Smolinski, a 31-year-old Connecticut man who went 
missing in 2004, this Act revamps our national systems for finding and 
identifying missing persons for the 21st century, and provides families 
with the updated tools and technology they need to find loved ones who 
have disappeared.
  Right now, we have two databases for missing persons and unidentified 
remains in America--the National Missing and Unidentified Persons 
System (NamUS) and the FBI's National Crime Information Center, NCIC. 
And yet, neither share data with the other, and thus too much 
information slips through the bureaucratic cracks.
  ``Billy's Law'' rectifies this glaring error by combining these two 
systems into one comprehensive database and funding it appropriately, 
one that families can use and even update with additional information 
on loved ones who have disappeared. This bill is an outgrowth of 
recommendations made in the wake of Connecticut's 2007 Law Enforcement 
and Missing Persons Act, and it is an easy fix that will redound to the 
benefit of families all across America in search of a missing loved 
one.
  No one should have to deal with all the bureaucratic frustrations and 
red tape experienced by Billy's family as they searched for him. Put 
simply, ``Billy's Law'' removes a needless barrier between two 
stovepiped databases and brings our missing persons systems up-to-date 
with 21st century technology. I urge my colleagues to support this 
bill, and to give thousands of American families the tools and the 
peace of mind they deserve.

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