[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10788]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    NATIONAL MISSING CHILDREN'S DAY

  (Mr. FARR of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, there is an old saying about 
there being a special God for children. Certainly we would like to 
think that someone is watching over our young people, protecting them 
from harm. But, tragically, we know this is not the case.
  Our community in the central coast of California lost a beautiful 13-
year-old girl last year. That forever changed the lives of the Williams 
family and the thousands of local volunteers who donated thousands of 
hours searching for us.
  As innocently as many of our children do every day, Christina took 
the family dog for a walk on June 2, 1998. Seven months later, her 
parents' worst nightmare came true when her body was discovered January 
12, 1999 three miles from the Williams home. The day Christina 
Williams' body was found was one of the darkest days I have seen on the 
central coast of California.
  Her family and friends said good-bye and vowed never to forget their 
daughter, sister, and friend. We had to learn to turn our anger and 
pain into a mission to make our community a safer place to raise our 
children. From our effort can hopefully come a larger recognition/
realization that if we lose one of our children to violence, our 
society is morally weaker, for we can only imagine the potential that a 
child had to offer that society.
  I wear this ribbon as we observe National Missing Children's Day.
  I am wearing this white ribbon as a symbol as we observe National 
Missing Children's Day. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family 
of Christina Williams and to each and every parent and family who has 
lost a child and pledge my efforts to be a protector of our nation's 
children.

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