[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6013-6014]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 ADAM WALSH REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2016

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, hopefully this week the Senate will vote on 
legislation to reauthorize key elements of the Adam Walsh Act. I 
supported this important law when it was first enacted nearly 10 years 
ago, and I am proud to be a cosponsor of this reauthorization bill. 
Over the years, I have worked closely with John Walsh and others who 
have been such tireless advocates on behalf of missing and exploited 
children. And as a Senator and former prosecutor, but most importantly, 
as a father and a grandfather, I take seriously my duty to protect the 
children of Vermont and every community throughout the country.
  The Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act will reauthorize two important 
programs that assist State and local law enforcement agencies to 
monitor and apprehend sex offenders. Specifically, this legislation 
authorizes the Attorney General to continue providing grants to State 
and local law enforcement agencies in their efforts to improve sex 
offender registry systems. The bill also reauthorizes funding for 
grants to improve information sharing and verification and supports the 
work of the U.S. Marshals Service in helping State and local law 
enforcement to locate and apprehend sex offenders who fail to comply 
with registration requirements.
  Last Congress, I was proud to help lead the fight to reauthorize the 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC, which has 
served for more than three decades as a national clearinghouse on 
issues related to missing and exploited children. I know that the 
center works closely with the marshals and other Federal, State, and 
local law enforcement agencies, and the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act 
will help further our support for these collaborative efforts.
  The bill also includes an important set of provisions authored by 
Senator

[[Page 6014]]

Shaheen to protect the rights of sexual assault survivors. I want to 
thank and applaud Senator Shaheen for her hard work and leadership on 
the Sexual Assault Survivors Rights Act. As an original cosponsor of 
her bill, I supported the inclusion of her important measure as part of 
this bill.
  I encourage all Senators to support this bill. I hope that the House 
will take it up and promptly pass it so that it can be signed into law 
by the President. There is no need to delay any longer our support for 
the Federal, State, and local enforcement agencies that work tirelessly 
to protect the children of our community. But once this bill becomes 
law, our job does not end there. It is not sufficient to just pay lip 
service to this issue and allow Congress to pat itself on the back for 
passing an authorization bill. Just as we have seen with our efforts to 
combat the opioid abuse epidemic, a bill that authorizes programs is 
important and worthy of support, but ultimately an empty promise if it 
is not backed up with the actual Federal resources that Congress 
authorizes. I will keep fighting to ensure that Congress puts its money 
where its mouth is and provides the funding that is necessary to 
support these important efforts. I will continue fighting to improve 
our laws so that we protect the most vulnerable in all of our 
communities.

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