[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17408]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING MOBILE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY JOHN TYSON AND HIS WORK IN 
             CREATING THE ALABAMA SECRET SAFE PLACE PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 30, 2008

  Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mobile 
County District Attorney John Tyson for his leadership and support in 
creating the Nation's first Secret Safe Place for Newborns program in 
Mobile, Alabama. As Mobile's Press-Register recently editorialized, `` 
`Saving newborns' lives is a legacy of which Mobile can be proud.''
   The brainchild of former WPMI-TV reporter Jodi Brooks, the Alabama 
Secret Safe Place program was created in 1998 through the hard work and 
support of John Tyson. Due to his leadership, every State has 
established a program similar to Alabama's as an option for mothers who 
are unable and unprepared to provide for their newborn baby.
   These programs allow mothers to turn over their newborns to a local 
hospital, fire station, police station, or other public entity without 
being charged with a crime. Within the time limit set by each State's 
law, the mothers are able to remain anonymous and will not be accused 
of child neglect. The mothers also continue to have the opportunity, if 
they wish to change their minds, to return and reclaim their child.
   When the Secret Safe Place for Newborns program began, it was all 
too common for distraught mothers, in most cases teenagers, to abandon 
their newborns in trash cans or in public places hoping someone would 
discover them. Some even went so far as to murder their unwanted 
babies. Due in large part to John's efforts, an estimated 500 newborns 
across the country have been saved over the past 10 years because of 
infant safe haven programs.
   John often serves as the spokesman for infant safe haven programs 
speaking to media outlets throughout the country and around the world 
on efforts to combat the unsafe abandonment of newborns.
   Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join with me in commending 
District Attorney John Tyson and so many others for their efforts on 
behalf of newborns in Alabama and across the country. The success of 
the Alabama Secret Safe Place for Newborns program is a tribute to 
their efforts to save infants' lives--they are true heroes.

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