[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10787]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



         SUPPORT MISSING, EXPLOITED AND RUNAWAY CHILDREN'S ACT

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, in this National Missing Children's 
Week, I urge my colleagues to support S. 249, the Missing, Exploited 
and Runaway Children's Act.
  In my own district, Jimmy Ryce and Shannon Melendi were preyed upon 
by monsters.
  Jimmy was abducted, raped, killed, and dismembered as he walked home 
from his school bus stop. Jimmy's parents channeled their grief into 
the establishment of the Jimmy Ryce Center.
  Shannon disappeared from a softball field and was never seen again. 
Shannon's parents have taken their daughter's case to the public, 
pushing for stronger laws to keep sexual predators off the streets.
  Shannon's father, Luis, said, ``What happened to us cannot be 
changed, but because of what happened to us, changes can be made.''
  Passage of this bill will help protect our children from the 
predators who prey on our most innocent victims.

                          ____________________