[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9375]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                 MARK LUNSFORD--TRUCK DRIVER AND DADDY

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker: ``Just a truck driver and a daddy'' is how Mark 
Lunsford described himself before February 24, 2005. However, that 
night forever altered the course of his own life. A convicted sex 
offender snuck into the Lunsford home and kidnapped Mark's 9-year-old 
daughter, Jessica. For 3 weeks, Mark pled to the American public for 
Jessica's safe return, to no avail.
  A sex offender was captured, confessed to kidnapping, sexually 
assaulting, and killing Jessica by burying her alive. Mark's mission to 
protect our Nation's children from these predators became his life's 
ambition.
  Using the local and national media, Mark has raised the awareness and 
the need to strengthen the laws to keep sex offenders from harming our 
kids. He has traveled from State to State campaigning for Jessica's 
Law, which includes harsher punishments for sex offenders. He was also 
instrumental in helping Congress pass the Adam Walsh Child Safety Act, 
which tracks child molesters.
  Last night, Congressman Jim Costa and myself, on behalf of the 
Victims' Rights Caucus, were pleased to honor Mark Lunsford, this 
daddy, this truck driver, for his commitment to our Nation's children. 
After all, children are our greatest natural resource.
  And that's just the way it is.

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