[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 26556-26557]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCING LEGISLATION GIVING FEMA AUTHORITY TO RELEASE INFORMATION 
                     ABOUT REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. When the First Lady of the Gulf, Katrina, unloaded her wrath 
on Louisiana and Mississippi, thousands of people fled to my home State 
of Texas. This evacuation brought in not only good folks but it brought 
in registered sex offenders to the communities and neighborhoods of 
southeast Texas. Now, 2\1/2\ months later, many child molesters remain 
unaccounted for, lurking in the shadows, some waiting to attack again 
innocent children.
  The Houston Chronicle reported yesterday that almost 300 known sex 
offenders from Louisiana have moved to the Houston area alone since 
Hurricane Katrina. None of them have been accounted for.
  Some of these sex offenders registered with FEMA and received Federal 
disaster assistance. So FEMA has an address and a location of these 
registered sex offenders, but they will not release the names to local 
law enforcement. They are citing privacy reasons. This defies common 
sense.
  Sex offenders gave up their privacy rights when they decided to rape 
and molest children. It is for this reason today I am filing 
legislation giving FEMA the authority and the duty to release this 
information about registered sex offenders to local law enforcement 
officials. The public has a right to know who these people are. Our 
children are in danger, and there should be no red tape when it comes 
to their safety.
  That's just the way it is.

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