[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 10779-10780]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                    NATIONAL MISSING CHILDREN'S DAY

  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I rise today to promote awareness of 
missing children and honor those who selflessly work to search and 
rescue the thousands of children who disappear each year. As my 
colleagues may know, today is recognized as ``National Missing 
Children's Day.''
  According to a recent U.S. Department of Justice study, annually 
there are over 114,000 attempted abductions of children by nonfamily 
members, 4,500 child abductions reported to police, and 438,200 
children who are lost, injured, or otherwise missing. These numbers are 
truly cause for concern by all Americans.
  As a parent, I believe local communities, schools, faith-based 
organizations and law enforcement should be encouraged to work together 
to protect the most vulnerable members of our society--children. From a 
federal perspective, I am proud to be a cosponsor of legislation to 
reauthorize the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and 
the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program through the next five years. The 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children operates under a 
Congressional mandate and works in conjunction with the U.S. Department 
of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice on Delinquency Prevention. I 
know my colleagues would agree that the Center has an outstanding 
record of safely recovering missing children across the country, and 
most recently achieved a 91 percent recovery rate.
  Mr. President, as we remember the many missing children across the 
nation today, I want to especially recognize the relentless work and 
effort to protect our nation's children by Minnesota's Jacob Wetterling 
Foundation. The Foundation was established by Jerry and Patty 
Wetterling after their son, Jacob, was abducted by a masked man at 
gunpoint near the Wetterling home in St. Joseph, Minnesota. Today, the 
Jacob Wetterling Foundation is a national, non-profit foundation 
committed to preventing the exploitation of children through educating, 
raising awareness and responding to families who are victims of 
abduction.
  Mr. President, our children represent our future and we must continue 
our work to keep them safe. Again, I commend the numerous volunteers, 
organizations, and government agencies who all work on a daily basis to 
find missing children and prevent others from disappearing.

[[Page 10780]]



                          ____________________