[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16027-16031]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PROTECT OUR CHILDREN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Drake). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is 
recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, Cary Ann Medlin, 8, Tennessee; Nicole Parker, 
8, California; Chris Byers, 8, Arkansas; Sherrice Iverson, 7, Nevada; 
Amanda Brown, 7, Florida; Christina Long, 13, Connecticut; Michelle 
Vick, 14, Washington; Samantha Runnion, 5, California; Maryann Measles, 
13, Connecticut; Polly Klaas, 12, California; Amber Hagerman, 9, Texas; 
Adam Walsh, 6, Florida; Megan Kanka, 7, New Jersey; JonBenet Ramsey, 6, 
Colorado; Sarah Lundy, 13, Florida; Danielle Van Dam, 7, California.

                              {time}  1745

  Carlie Brucia, 11, Florida; Jessica Lunsford, 9, Florida; Dylan 
Groene, 9, Idaho.
  Madam Speaker, unfortunately, this list of abducted and ultimately 
murdered children goes on and on and on. And if the sadness of their 
stolen lives is not enough, many of these precious young people were 
also brutally raped and sexually assaulted before they were murdered. 
Madam Speaker, these are some of their stories.
  Dru Sjoden: Dru was a happy, happy child. Her cheerful personality 
was evident from the day she entered this

[[Page 16028]]

world. As a child, she was dedicated to being a good student. She was 
active in gymnastics, swimming, track and skiing. She was artistic from 
a very young age, and art was her number one love. Through her 
creativity, her passion for art, she was always creating handmade cards 
and crafts for her friends and sent them to members of her family. She 
enjoyed the outdoors and fishing. She constantly thought of other 
people. She was nominated and won Homecoming Queen during her senior 
year at high school. She attended college at the University of North 
Dakota and was just as popular among her college friends as she was 
among her high school friends.
  Madam Speaker, this is a photograph of Dru shortly before this 22-
year-old University of North Dakota student was murdered. She left her 
job at the Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota, at 4 p.m. on 
November 22, 2003, and she was never seen alive again. Her body was 
found in April of 2004, thrown in a ravine in Minnesota.
  She was talking with her boyfriend on her cell phone when he heard 
her say, ``Oh, my God.'' Then her phone went dead. Chris Lang, her 
boyfriend, received another call from Drew's phone a few hours later, 
but there was only static on the other end of the line.
  On December 1, 2003, although her body had yet to be found, Alfonzo 
Rodriguez, Jr., a registered sex offender from Minnesota who had 
recently completed a 23-year prison term, was charged with abducting 
Dru Sjoden. After Drew's body was discovered on April 17, 2004, near 
where Rodriguez lived, a Federal Grand Jury charged Rodriguez with 
kidnapping and murder.
  Because the victim was transported from North Dakota to Minnesota, it 
was a Federal crime under the old Lindburgh baby kidnapping case. The 
defendant will be tried in Fargo, North Dakota, next March. Madam 
Speaker, the indictment alleges that the murder was done ``in an 
especially cruel and harmful and depraved manner, including torture and 
constant abuse.'' The defendant, two previous convictions in Minnesota 
for sexual assault and rape, once at knife point, has also another 
conviction after he left the penitentiary for kidnapping.
  Dru was 22 when she was murdered. Dru is the same age as my youngest 
daughter, Kellee Lyn. You know, daughters are special to fathers, and 
to lose a child by any means, especially violence, is a tragedy to any 
family. The government in this case is seeking the death penalty 
against the offender, and rightfully so.
  Dru Sojun, 22.
  Carlie Brucia is remembered best by some of the things her 
grandmother said about her. ``She has been described as blond and 
bubbly. Carlie was affectionate, a great hugger, and when she was in 
New York, she loved to go to the movies with her dad, go shopping and 
go out for ice cream, things little kids like to do. Her favorite ice 
cream was mint chocolate chip. Her grandmother says, I always had that 
in the house for her when she visited me.
  ``When she came to our house, we would shoot baskets in the driveway. 
She would shoot those with Aunt Jeannie; play softball in the back yard 
with her other Aunt Katelyn, and the rest of the family. We would have 
barbecues, and she loved to roast marshmallows. It's a beautiful memory 
thinking about Carlie with her sticky fingers and marshmallows all 
around her mouth. What a cutey.
  ``She liked music. She especially liked Jennifer Lopez; knew all the 
words to every song, and would sing on the radio when Jennifer Lopez 
would come on.
  ``Carlie liked to help her dad out at home, especially when her dad 
had the family over for dinner. She pitched right in, helped him with 
all the chores, serving, and cleaning up after supper. I can picture 
her loading up the dishwasher,'' says her grandmother. She was a good 
student. Voted most popular, best math whiz at McIntosh Middle School.
  Carlie Brucia, 11: She was a real person, Madam Speaker, like all of 
the people I will be talking about tonight. This is who she was, before 
life was stolen from her by an offender, a sexual predator.
  Carlie Brucia, 11, disappeared on February 1, 2004. She was walking 
home from a friend's house in Sarasota, Florida. A surveillance camera 
behind a car wash taped Carlie's abduction by a man. This sixth grader 
may have walked through the car wash parking lot as a shortcut to go 
home.
  Friends described her as a beautiful girl who loved watching Jennifer 
Lopez. She liked to go the mall, greet friends with a warm hug, and she 
was headed home from a slumber party when she was abducted. Carlie's 
remains were discovered 5 days later, a few miles from the car wash 
where a surveillance camera captured the image of her abduction.
  The defendant, Joseph Smith: The Sarasota police questioned Joseph 
Smith who had been in their custody since the day after Carlie was 
abducted on an unrelated parole violation. A woman who said that she 
lived with Smith was one of the tipsters who contacted the police. Of 
course, the defendant refused to admit anything and refused to admit 
his involvement with Carlie Brucia's disappearance until February 5, 
when he finally told investigators where he had dumped her body.
  On February 6, it was announced that Carlie Brucia's body had been 
found. She had been murdered and left in a church parking lot just 
miles from her home. Joseph Smith, 37-year-old car mechanic, father of 
three, had been arrested 13 times in Florida since 1993, had been 
charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, and he is the main 
suspect, of course, in this brutal murder.
  On February 20, Smith was indicted on first degree murder and 
separate charges of kidnapping, capital sexual battery and other 
charges. He has been to the courthouse before, Madam Speaker. 
Aggravated battery, carrying a knife, possession of heroin with intent 
to sell, possession of blank prescriptions, possession of drugs without 
a prescription, intent to obtain controlled substances by fraud, 
possession of cocaine. All of those resulted in convictions of this 
sexual predator.
  November 7th of this year the defendant will see his day in court, 
where the State of Florida has charged him with capital murder.
  Carlie Brucia, 11.
  Madam Speaker, Jessica Lunsford was born in Gastonia, North Carolina. 
She came to Florida a year ago. She was her grandma's girl. Grandma 
called her ``my daughter'' from the time she was one. Jessica's mother 
and dad split up about that time. She and Grandma Ruth loved to go 
shopping together. They would go to JCPenney's. They would go to the 
mall, and Jessica Lunsford especially liked Wal-Mart.
  Jessica wanted to be an Olympic swimmer; a fashion designer. She 
would cut up old dress-up clothes and make clothes for her dolls. She 
and her grandma collected dolls together and would make clothes for 
them. She loved the Disney Channel, and she had a collection of Disney 
videos. She especially loved, The Princess Diaries.
  Church was a big part of Jessica's short life, and she was a big part 
of the Faith Baptist Church in Homosassa, Florida. She attended what is 
called the King's Kids Wednesday night program. There were 35 kids in 
this bible school class, and she was one of six who recently memorized 
the names of all the books of the New Testament. She even had a 
favorite verse memorized, Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through 
Christ who strengthens me.
  She was daddy's girl, and she would call her father, Mark Lunsford, 
as soon as she got home from school each day. She would visit him at 
work and she liked to play in a sand pile.
  Just before she disappeared, she had been to the State fair, where 
Mark had gone with her and bought that now famous pink hat that she has 
on in a photograph. Jessica did not like hearing about people being 
harmed and hurt, and she never liked to see anybody cry.
  Madam Speaker, Jessica Lunsford was a real person. She was a little 
girl. She was daddy's girl. She is shown in this photograph with that 
hat she had on that Mark had given her. Nine years old, life stolen 
from her because of a sexual predator.

[[Page 16029]]

  That person, John Couey, was a convicted sex offender. He was staying 
down the street in a mobile home, even though he did not use this as 
his registered address, as he was required by law to do. Where he was 
staying was near the Lunsford home. And unbeknownst to the Lunsfords, 
he was on watch of their activities. Here is what he said he did.
  He said he snuck into Jessica Lunsford's house through an unlocked 
door at about 3 o'clock in the morning, February 24. He kidnapped 
Jessica and took her to his place, his bedroom. With Jessica in his 
custody, Couey said that he watched the sheriff's command center pull 
up in front of the Lunsford home. He put Jessica in his closet, where 
he kept her till he was ready to abuse her.
  He said, after he was through with her, he decided he would bury her 
after he learned that the Citrus County Sheriff's Department was 
looking for him. So the weekend after Jessica's disappearance, in rainy 
weather and fog, he decided to do his dastardly deed of murdering this 
little girl.
  After having his way with this 9-year-old for as many times as he 
wished, keeping her locked up in the closet, he decided it was time to 
get rid of her. So he took this 9-year-old girl, he tied her hands and 
feet with stereo wire. He wrapped her inside two large plastic garbage 
bags. He dug a hole, and he buried her alive.
  She suffocated to death. Jessica Lunsford, when she was found, was 
still clutching the tiny blue stuffed dolphin she had taken from her 
bedroom when she was stolen in the middle of the night by John Couey. 
The police found where she had poked her fingers through the plastic 
bag seeking air to breathe. That is the way that Jessica Lunsford died.
  John Couey. Well, who is he? He is a convicted sex offender with a 
criminal history a mile long. It includes 24 arrests and goes back over 
30 years. Two of the arrests were allegations of home invasions, where 
he had molested little girls.
  Madam Speaker, I have talked to Mark Lunsford at length. He is a good 
guy. He loved his daughter, as all fathers do. Girls are special to 
those of us who are fathers, and he says he will never get over the 
fact that he lost his daughter and the way that she was murdered. Of 
course, he will not get over it. And hopefully, none of us in this 
United States will get over it.
  Jessica Lunsford, 9, State of Florida.
  Madam Speaker, Dylan and Shasta Groene were declared missing May 16 
this year after police found the beaten and bound bodies of their 
mother, their older brother, and their mother's boyfriend. Shasta was 
discovered on July 2, just a couple of weeks ago, in a local restaurant 
with Joseph Edward Duncan, III, of course, a registered sex offender 
who had fled Fargo, North Dakota.
  Human remains were discovered at a remote western Montana campsite 
later, and they were identified on July 10, a few days ago, of those of 
Dylan Groene, 9 years of age.
  Investigators have not revealed what they believe happened to Dylan 
or how long they believe the boy was alive after the children's mother, 
13-year-old brother, and their mother's boyfriend were beaten to death. 
Sheriff Rocky Watson has said he believes the motive for the killings 
was to acquire these two children for sex. Watson also said authorities 
believe the family was chosen at random, but the attack was carefully 
planned and executed by the criminal.

                              {time}  1800

  The police have interviewed Shasta, the daughter, a couple of times, 
and the details are agonizing and slow in being revealed, but she has 
provided helpful information. Sheriff Watson does not go into all the 
facts and say what he believes happened to the girl and to Dylan, but 
those actions are not good.
  Dylan, he was 9. Like the others that I have mentioned, he was a real 
person. He wanted to live like all kids, but he never made it to his 
10th birthday because of the criminal, this individual by the name of 
Duncan.
  Duncan: By the time he was 16, he had committed 13 rapes. In 1980, 
Duncan was arrested for breaking into a neighbor's house, stealing guns 
and then accosting a 14-year-old boy and raping him at gun point. He 
was convicted of rape and sentenced to the maximum of 20 years in the 
penitentiary. However, in lieu of prison, somebody sent Duncan to the 
Sex Offender Treatment Center at Western State Hospital.
  In 1980, an evaluation at Western State Mental Hospital found that 
Duncan, who was only 17, met the definition of a sexual psychopath. 
Western State Hospital had given up on Duncan. He was 19, and he 
announced that he wanted to leave treatment and serve the rest of the 
time in prison. So he served 14 years for the rape and three more for 
parole violations. When he got out of the penitentiary, he moved to 
Fargo, North Dakota.
  Duncan, after leaving the penitentiary, he decided to create a blog 
on the Internet, and many of the entries appear to focus on his own 
sexual abuse crimes; he seems to be proud of it; and his rage over how 
sex offenders are treated in our community.
  Brenda Groene and her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, and 13-year-old Slade 
Groene were killed in their home some time on May 15 by Joseph Edward 
Duncan, III. They were beaten to death. Duncan, after kidnapping 
Shasta, he told her what he did to these other three before he murdered 
them. He said he had watched the house and specifically had watched her 
for 2 or 3 days. At night, he would peer inside the home, and he said 
it was simple. He said he used a night vision goggle set to learn about 
the family's layout before breaking into the home.
  Duncan was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree 
kidnapping in the bludgeoning deaths of this family. He bragged to 
Shasta about killing her family with a hammer and even taunted her with 
the hammer after he had kidnapped her.
  McKenzie, Brenda Groene's boyfriend, took the kids fishing to Wolf 
Lodge Creek to catch crawdads. The last time Dylan's father, Steve, saw 
Dylan and Slade alive was about 3 weeks before the murders. They spent 
the weekend with him. Dylan and Slade liked to play games on 
PlayStation. Dylan, 4 feet, 60 pounds, blond crewcut, blue eyes, and 9 
years of age when he was murdered.
  Madam Speaker, Sarah Lunde was 13. She led a troubled life because 
she was abused as a child, so she sought peace with her church group. 
She was last seen on April 9, 2005, shortly after she returned home 
from a church trip and about the time a registered sex offender 
unexpectedly paid a visit to her home.
  The teen was reported missing Monday when her mother learned she was 
not at a friend's home and reported that to the police. Investigators 
found Sarah Lunde's body abandoned in a fish pond on April 16, 2005.
  Madam Speaker, Sarah Lunde, she was a real person as well, a child in 
our community of children.
  David Onstott, he was a convicted sex offender, 35, and he has been 
arrested for the murder of Sarah Lunde. Onstott has been indicted for 
first-degree murder, sexual battery. He confessed to choking Sarah to 
death, dumping her partly clad body in a pond near her home in rural 
Hillsborough County, Florida. He has a lengthy history of violence 
against women, sexual deviance and failure to even pay child support. 
He once beat a man with a baseball bat, and later, he was accused of 
attacking another with a machete. He once stalked a former girlfriend 
and scared her so badly she moved to a different city. He was a heavy 
drinker, and he liked to use cocaine.
  He was convicted in August 1995 of raping a 25-year-old woman in 
Florida. During the sentencing phase of that trial, his former wife and 
step-daughter testified against him. Onstott's ex-wife testified he 
raped her repeatedly and even fondled the 16-year-old daughter. He was 
a registered sex offender. In November 1990, Onstott picked up the 
step-daughter from school, fondled her and even left marks on her 
chest.
  In May, David Onstott, the convicted sex offender, was in jail and 
charged

[[Page 16030]]

with the murder of Sarah Lunde. While in jail awaiting trial, he was 
caught trying to dig his way out of the jail. He had stolen some type 
of metal object and was digging into the concrete floor. He waits for 
his day in court.
  Sarah Lunde, 13.
  Madam Speaker, the assault on children continues. The last example I 
would like to discuss occurred in Houston, Texas. It happened this 
year. I want to read and paraphrase from different articles of the 
Houston Chronicle which relate the events better than I can. According 
to the Houston Chronicle, on February 4, 2005, a 6-month-old little 
girl showed up at Texas Children's Hospital severely abused, physically 
and sexually, and was put on life support by the hospital authorities. 
She was only able to breathe because she was on a respirator. This 6-
month-old little girl had been penetrated and raped vaginally and 
anally. Her tongue had been severed almost completely off. The baby, 
mind you, six months of age, was in critical condition at the hospital. 
The baby's parents were arrested, put in police custody and charges 
have been filed against them.
  According to the hospital authorities, one said, ``it is the worst 
case I have ever seen where a child has suffered such horrific types of 
injuries and is still alive . . . The pain that this baby girl must 
have suffered.''
  Doctors have found other signs of abuse since the baby's admittance. 
The parents, who are not married, are in their early 20s. They took 
this child to Doctor's Parkway Hospital and told the staff she had some 
problems. The medical staff obviously became suspicious of abuse and 
transferred the 6-month-old baby and another child, a 15-month-old, the 
sister of the 6-month-old, to Texas Children's Hospital. Texas 
Children's Hospital examined both of the kids and noticed that the 15-
month-old had an old broken rib and skull fractures. Children's 
protective services took official legal custody of both girls, and the 
15-month-old is now in foster care.
  When the 15-month-old was a month old, she suffered a fracture to her 
leg. She also had hemorrhaging in different parts of her body which was 
indicative of shaken baby syndrome, according to child protective 
services. They are not sure who did this, so the father was charged 
with injury of a child in December 2003, but for some reason, the case 
was dismissed in October. Once again, this is the 15-month-old 
daughter.
  The mother had gone to some parenting classes and some therapy and 
told some officials that she had left the older child with the father 
and was living with her parents, but for some reason, the toddler was 
sent home to her mother. These children are vulnerable. They cannot 
tell anyone, and they do not have anyone to turn to.
  According to the Houston Chronicle, the 6-month-old was still 
fighting for her life. She had been physically and sexually abused. She 
was covered with brutal injuries, according to the police. She has been 
partly blinded by the injuries, and now, the parents, Ivan Castaneda, 
22, and Donna Marie Norman, 19, are each charged with injury to a child 
and being held without bond. If this 6-month-old dies, they would be 
charged with capital murder.
  This little girl, however, is a remarkable person. Even though she 
had been admitted to the hospital in February, her kidneys ceased 
functioning, she was put on dialysis, she had skull fractures, injuries 
to her lungs, liver, kidneys and her eyes, she continues to live and 
continues to live to this day.
  I have talked to Lieutenant Stanley of the Houston Police, and he 
said that the investigators investigating these cases are having 
difficulty handling the abuse that they personally saw. However, the 6-
month-old has defied all odds. The reddish-haired infant, described as 
the miracle baby, has been released to a family that hopes to adopt 
her. The baby has been in hospital for some time, but according to a 
hospital spokesperson, it was a great day because this child survived 
the most brutal of all attacks. Physically and sexually abused, every 
part of her body bruised, but some way she survived. So they call her 
wonder baby, six months. She lived to the age of six months when she 
was physically and sexually abused, but today she is still alive.
  She is the only person I will talk about tonight that survived these 
brutal attacks.
  Madam Speaker, these are just a few stories of real people, real 
children in our communities that were preyed on by some sexual 
predator. There is some hope, however. Things are happening to protect 
children in the United States. Here in Washington, D.C., we have the 
National Children's Alliance. It was the idea of the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Cramer) who sits on the other side of the aisle, proof 
that child abuse, child protection, is a bipartisan issue. What this 
National Children's Alliance does is protect children that have been 
abused and sexually assaulted throughout the country. There are some 
400 different centers where children who are assaulted sexually can go 
and be treated. Their medical and emotional needs can be met, and they 
can be interviewed so criminal prosecution can take place against the 
perpetrator.
  We probably have the best one of these centers in Houston, Texas, 
called the Children's Assessment Center. The reason for these centers 
is this: It used to be, when I first started prosecuting cases and then 
when I was a criminal court judge, when a crime was committed against a 
child, especially a sexual assault crime, the system continued to 
sometimes commit crimes against the child. The justice system was not 
really justice for the kid. What I mean is, they would be interviewed 
by a police officer, then taken to a hospital and interviewed by 
medical personnel. They would sit in the emergency room with other 
people, sometimes for hours. Then they would go downtown and be 
interviewed by the police. And sometimes, the children would be on the 
elevator at the police station, and who else would be on the elevator? 
The perpetrator going to be interviewed for the criminal conduct.

                              {time}  1815

  They would be bounced around all over the city, interviewed by 
different prosecutors. But now, thankfully, because of the National 
Children's Alliance and the Children's Assessment Center in Houston, 
those days are over. When kids are sexually assaulted, they go to one 
center where all of their needs are met. They are interviewed. Their 
physical needs are met. When they are continuing to need more physical 
or mental therapy later, they go back to this same center. The people 
that are there are experts in child sexual assault cases and those 
people are available for trial when the perpetrator is caught and his 
day in court arrives. That is some good news. Unfortunately, we have to 
have these centers throughout the United States where children go who 
are sexually abused by the predators in our community.
  Mr. Speaker, this year before the House and the Senate, it was 
learned that money that goes to protect victims of crime was being 
depleted and removed from the budget. Let me explain. In 1994, the 
President of the United States established what is called VOCA funding, 
Victims of Crime Act. What that allows is for a person who is convicted 
of a Federal crime, they contribute moneys into a fund and that money 
goes to victims of crime for their medical and physical needs. What a 
wonderful idea, make criminals pay for the system that they have 
created by establishing this VOCA fund.
  Once again, this is not money that is obtained from taxpayers. It is 
obtained from criminals. This year there was about $1.6 billion in the 
VOCA funding, and there was an attempt and thought to remove this money 
and put it into the general fund. Thanks to the efforts of numerous 
victims groups throughout the United States and individuals on both 
sides of the aisle in not only the House but the Senate, that fund has 
been restored and victims organizations throughout the United States 
will be able to get that funding.
  Where does it go? It goes to domestic violence shelters. It goes to 
child abuse sexual assault centers like the Children's Assessment 
Center and numerous organizations that receive funds

[[Page 16031]]

 that criminals have contributed. That is some good news.
  Mr. Speaker, we have also started this year the Victims Rights 
Caucus. I, along with the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Harris) and the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Costa) from the other side of the aisle, 
have started the first-ever Victims Rights Caucus to raise the profile, 
the plight of victims throughout the United States. This is a good 
start.
  It is important that judges throughout the United States be on the 
first line of defense of our children. What I mean by that is when 
individuals are caught sexually assaulting our children and they come 
to court and they have their day in court and they are convicted, 
judges need to understand they have a responsibility to punish those 
individuals. We need to lock them up. That is why we build prisons. It 
may be important to prosecute thieves and drug dealers and all those 
other types of criminals, but we build prisons to house and warehouse 
people who commit sex crimes against our children. That is why we build 
those institutions and judges have an obligation to send them there.
  The cases that I recited earlier, many of them, they had gone to 
prison, but not for long enough because they got out and did it again. 
We know the fact that almost everybody who goes to prison gets out 
eventually. We also know this about sexual predators on our children, 
that the overwhelming number of them, when they leave the penitentiary, 
repeat that conduct.
  So we have an obligation when they get out of the penitentiary to 
keep up with them, to track them, so they can no longer haunt our 
schools, our Boy Scouts, our churches and our neighborhoods.
  That is why I introduced legislation called the Child Predator Act of 
2005. This legislation requires registration of sex offenders 
throughout the United States. When they cross State lines, we lose 
them. They fall through the cracks. This legislation will require them 
to register when they move across State lines, they must notify the 
community; and by failure to notify, they have committed a Federal 
offense.
  This act, this bill, has been incorporated in a larger bill sponsored 
by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), sponsors from both 
sides of the House, called the Child Safety Act. This bipartisan 
legislation, when hopefully passed this summer, is a measure that will 
protect the safety of children. It will allow for the Internet access 
of parents and law enforcement of those sexual predators that live in 
their communities. States will be required to notify each other when an 
individual who is a sex offender crosses State lines. There are 
numerous other provisions that protect children from sex offenders. But 
basically we will track these individuals when they leave the 
penitentiary, and we will track them for the rest of their lives. That 
is the price they pay when they choose to commit a crime against 
children.
  We know this about child predators: they are slick; they are cunning; 
they are evil. And they continue to repeat their conduct. Most sexual 
predators that show up at the courthouse that have committed sex crimes 
against children, it is understood that they have committed several sex 
crimes against that one victim and that there are at least 10 other 
victims that they have committed sex crimes against.
  There is a war on terror going on in this world, and we say it is 
somewhere else. We have a war on terror not only abroad but we have it 
at home. The terror here, they are child molesters. They are the bad 
guys. And they can no longer run and hide, because we are going to keep 
up with them. We know that they cannot be rehabilitated. All statistics 
show that. So if we do not keep them in prison, we need to track them 
when they leave the penitentiaries.
  It is probably the hope of most of us when we leave this world, when 
we die, that we want to be surrounded with the most important people in 
our life, probably our kids. This week I had my third grandchild born 2 
days ago, Elizabeth. I have four kids, three girls, a son, and now 
three grandkids. They are all very special to me. I hope that when I 
die, I am surrounded by those kids.
  The worst thing I think that could ever happen to a parent is to lose 
a child and especially lose a child to a crime of violence. But none of 
these children that I talked about tonight left this world surrounded 
by the people that love them. They were found in holes in the ground, 
dumped on parking lots, thrown in rivers and lakes. Some of their 
bodies were burned. The last person they saw on Earth was not their 
mother, their father, their brother, their sister, but a sex offender. 
That is the last person they saw before they died.
  We need to be sensitive as a people to our children, not just our own 
personal kids but the children down the street, our neighbors' kids. We 
need to watch for them and protect them. We have that obligation. We 
have that moral and legal obligation as a people. These kids, these 
children, they had the right to life. They had the right to grow up, 
play in their backyard, go to school, have a picnic, run through the 
fields, believe in Santa Claus, play sports, be in the school play, be 
in the high school prom, find a mate. All these things were stolen from 
all of the kids that I mentioned to you tonight, and they were stolen 
by a child predator.
  We must hold these criminals accountable for their conduct. As a 
judge, I heard all types of excuses by these sexual predators about why 
they did what they did. Those comments by those individuals were 
nothing more than excuses. Some of them said they had a bad childhood. 
Their mom was not a nice person. They saw too much TV violence. They 
played video games. They watched the Internet. They continued to blame 
something or someone else for their own personal choices. Mr. Speaker, 
we now seem to live in the land of excusable conduct. All of us are 
responsible for the choices that we make. Every choice we make, we are 
personally responsible for that choice. We are accountable for making 
those choices, and those choices must result in consequences, 
regardless of what that crime is.
  Our greatest resource in this country is not our oil, it is not the 
trees in the West, it is not other natural resources, it is not our 
wealth. The greatest resource we have in the United States is our 
children. We as a people must realize that. We are not judged by the 
way we treat the rich, the famous, the influential, the important 
people in our culture. We are judged by the way we treat the weak, the 
innocent, the children. Children are our greatest natural resource. We 
have a legal and moral obligation to protect them. The first duty of 
government is public safety and providing safety for children should be 
our primary concern and the duty of government.
  Mr. Speaker, I close the way I began this comment, because I think 
the names of these people, these real people, these children, are names 
that we should not forget.
  Dru Sjoden, 22, North Dakota.
  Cary Ann Medlin, 8, Tennessee.
  Nicole Parker, 8, California.
  Chris Byers, 8, Arkansas.
  Sherrice Iverson, 7, Nevada.
  Amanda Brown, 7, Florida.
  Christina Long, 13, Connecticut.
  Michelle Vick, 14, Washington.
  Samantha Runnion, 5, California.
  Maryann Measles, 13, Connecticut.
  Polly Klaas, 12, California.
  Amber Hagerman, 9, Texas.
  Adam Walsh, 6, Florida.
  Megan Kanka 7, New Jersey.
  JonBenet Ramsey 6, Colorado.
  Sarah Lundy, 13, Florida.
  Danielle Van Dam, 7, California.
  Carlie Brucia, 11, Florida.
  Jessica Lunsford, 9, Florida.
  Dylan Groene, 9, Idaho.
  Wonderbaby, 6 months, Houston, Texas.

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