[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10513]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              PROTECT ACT

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, this child-abduction legislation is 
important and needed. According to the Justice Department, 2,200 
children are reported missing each day. There are approximately 114,600 
attempted abductions by strangers every year, and between 3,000 and 
5,000 of these attempts are successful.
  Each child abduction is a tragedy. Last year, I met with two of my 
constituents, John and Magi Bish. On June 27, 2000, their daughter 
Molly Ann Bish, a 16-year-old lifeguard, disappeared from her life-
guarding post at Comins Pond in Walden, MA. Molly's family and friends 
continue to search for her. The Bish family is also working to raise 
awareness about this important issue. They started the first Missing 
Children's Day in Massachusetts. They also established the Molly Bish 
Foundation to provide services to children and families across our 
State and the New England area. John and Magi Bish have shown 
extraordinary courage and perseverance in the face of an overwhelming 
loss.
  The legislation addresses the problem of child abductions in several 
ways, and I supported it. It establishes a national AMBER Alert system 
to help locate abducted children, and it gives prosecutors major new 
tools to address these terrifying crimes.

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