[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    NATIONAL MISSING CHILDREN'S DAY

  (Mr. BIGGS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, today is National Missing Children's Day. 
This day of recognition was started by President Reagan in 1983 to 
raise awareness of the threat of child abduction, and reminds us today 
that we still have work to do.
  Following the tragic murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in 1996, 
Congress authorized the AMBER Alert system to create a coordinated 
alert system to assist law enforcement in finding abducted children in 
the important first hours after an abduction. Since its inception, more 
than 800 children have been recovered through the use of the AMBER 
Alert system.
  However, the original legislation did not include Indian Tribes as 
eligible users of the program, and we saw the tragic effects of this 
exclusion when 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike was abducted and murdered on 
the Navajo Nation.
  For this reason, I have introduced the AMBER Alert in Indian Country 
Act. This act will include our 567 Federally recognized tribes as 
partners in the AMBER Alert Program to ensure that everyone is able to 
utilize this important tool. My bill is a bipartisan effort and it is 
endorsed by criminal justice, child safety groups, and Indian Tribes 
around the country.
  Mr. Speaker, the AMBER Alert has helped many families experience the 
joy of being reunited with an abducted child. It is time we extend this 
alert to Indian Country so that no child is outside the jurisdiction of 
this vital program.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation so we can continue 
to protect our children.

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