[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6180]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS WEEK

  (Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, this week is the 25th 
anniversary of National Crime Victims' Rights Week. When President 
Reagan first announced National Crime Victims' Rights Week, he said, 
``For too long, the victims of crime have been the forgotten persons of 
our criminal justice system. Each new victim personally represents an 
instance in which the system has failed, and lack of concern for 
victims compounds that failure.''
  The Crime Victims' Rights constitutional amendment is an important 
step forward that will empower crime victims by allowing them to 
confront their assailants in court and alerting them of prisoner 
releases and allowing victims to seek restitution from their attackers.
  Last Congress, we passed the PROTECT Act, also known as the Amber 
Alert bill. The PROTECT Act stiffens penalties for sex offenders, 
eliminated the statute of limitations for these crimes, and created a 
national Amber Alert system. We passed the Debbie Smith Act, which 
funds expanding and improving the quality of crime labs to conduct DNA 
analyses to catch sex offenders and other criminals, ensuring that the 
right person is going to jail.
  But there is more we can do. Last year, Minnesota suffered a great 
tragedy with Dru Sjodin being abducted. We need to pass Dru's Law this 
year.

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