    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [October 2, 2002]
    [Pages 1702-1706]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the White House Conference on Missing, Exploited, and Runaway
    Children
    October 2, 2002

        Thanks for coming. One of the reasons I like this job so much is,
    you get to be introduced by your wife. [Laughter] And I appreciate
    Laura's love and compassion for all children, and
    I appreciate the job she's doing. I'm a lucky man to be able to call her
    my wife--call her my wife. And thanks for coming.
        The kidnaping of a child is every parent's worst nightmare. Yet, too
    many moms and dads have experienced this nightmare across America. Too
    many have suffered. I've just met with parents--Laura and I met with parents--who have had the most precious
    person in their lives suddenly and brutally taken away from them. Some
    of these parents were eventually reunited with their children. Some are
    still hoping and waiting. Some know they will never see their loved ones
    again in this earthly life.
        When a child's life or liberty or innocence is taken, it is a
    terrible, terrible loss.

    [[Page 1703]]

    And those responsible have committed a terrible crime. Our society has a
    duty, has a solemn duty, to shield children from exploitation and
    danger. At this conference, we are discussing the steps that parents and
    community leaders and law enforcement can take to prevent such
    tragedies.
        I want to thank the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice
    and Delinquency Prevention and the National Center for Missing and
    Exploited Children for helping organize this important and vital
    meeting. And I want to thank you all for coming.
        I appreciate the senior members of my administration who are leading
    the sessions at today's conference. I thank our Secretary of State Colin
    Powell, Attorney General John
    Ashcroft, Secretary Tommy Thompson, Secretary Rod Paige. I
    appreciate the Director of the FBI, Bob Mueller, for coming. And I want to thank the Commissioner, Robert
    Bonner, of the U.S. Customs.
        I know there's a lot of Members of Congress who are here. I see the
    great Senator from Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison, is here, as well as other Members of Congress. Thank
    you all for coming. Thank you for taking this issue seriously, and
    thanks for joining with a lot of concerned citizens.
        I appreciate so very much the National Center for Missing and
    Exploited Children. They do a really good job for America. I want to
    thank Ernie Allen--I want to thank Ernie, and I
    want to thank Carolyn Atwell-Davis, the
    legal consultant, for their hard work and for their care and concern. I
    also want to thank Margaret Spellings,
    who is Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, for moderating
    this conference.
        And of course, I've got to say something about John Walsh, TV star. But he's a guy who cares deeply about our
    country, about the safety of our citizens. And John, thank you for the
    service you do on behalf of the American people.
        Our first duty as adults is to create an environment in which
    children can grow and thrive without fearing for their security. That's
    what we've got to do. Because children are so vulnerable, they need the
    care of adults. Because they're so vulnerable, those who are cruel and
    predatory often target our children.
        We see the dangers to our children in the cases of abduction, many
    of which are known to us all. Each year, tens of thousands of children
    are abducted by non-family members, often in connection with a crime.
    And while the overwhelming majority of these children are returned from
    abductions, too many are not. One is too many, particularly for the mom
    or dad who suffers deeply.
        We see the dangers in the experience of runaway children who are
    often victims of hunger and sickness and sexual abuse. Every year,
    assaults and illness and suicide take the lives of about 5,000 runaways.
    One life is too many.
        The threats to our children are found not just on the streets, but
    they're found on the technology which we use in our homes. The Internet
    is a wonderful tool for our children to broaden their knowledge, expand
    their minds, but the evils of the world have crept into the Internet. In
    1 year alone, one in five children between the ages of 10 and 17
    received a sexual solicitation over the Internet. With expanding use of
    the Internet and the heightened activity of predators searching for
    underage victims, more children are being lured into harmful and even
    tragic situations.
        In every region in the world, children can be vulnerable, not just
    here at home but children everywhere. Each year, about a million girls
    and boys are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced
    labor. Such trafficking is nothing less than a modern form of slavery,
    an unspeakable and unforgivable crime against the most vulnerable
    members of the global society. All these dangers put children at risk.
    All these dangers demand action to protect our children from harm.

    [[Page 1704]]

        The Justice Department has made the prevention and investigation of
    child abductions a major priority. We're providing State and local
    authorities with access to fingerprint records and forensic experts and
    training on missing-children cases. We want the local authorities to
    have the best available technologies and skills in order to respond
    quickly. The Department sponsors a 24-hour hotline for reporting missing
    children, which is operated by the National Center for Missing and
    Exploited Children. We're waging a nationwide effort to prevent use of
    the Internet to sexually exploit children. We're seeking to almost
    double the funding for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces,
    which will help State and local authorities enforce laws against child
    pornography and exploitation.
        We're vigorously prosecuting those who prey on our children. We need
    to send a clear message: If you prey on our children, there will be
    serious, severe consequences.
        Earlier this year, in Operation Candyman, the FBI dismantled a major
    child pornography ring: they made more than 100 arrests. I'm pleased
    that the House of Representatives passed the ``Child Obscenity and
    Pornography Prevention Act'' this year to revise and strengthen our
    pornography laws. The Senate needs to work with the House to get
    legislation done before they go home. We need to do everything we can to
    protect our children from the evils of pornography.
        We will not forget the suffering and struggles of America's runaway
    children. The Federal Government supports hundreds of emergency shelters
    and programs that reach out to young people living on the street,
    offering them food and comfort and counseling. These programs are mainly
    administered by community and faith-based groups. After all, it's in our
    faith-based community where we hear that universal call to love a
    neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. It's in our faith-
    based groups that we find deep compassion to help those in need and who
    are troubled. And many of the runaway kids are troubled and in deep need
    of love.
        There are as many as 100,000 runaway children every year. And these
    children are vulnerable; they're vulnerable to exploitation. There are
    some great programs in America, people who are soldiers in the armies of
    compassion, one of which is the Covenant House. We're honored today to
    have Sister Mary Rose McGeady here. She
    runs the Covenant House. And if you don't know anything about the
    Covenant House and if you're interested in helping, support the Covenant
    House or programs like the Covenant House, because these people help
    those on the street, those young, vulnerable children on the street, to
    realize there is love in our society and there is hope for a better way.
        On the international front, the United States is acting vigorously
    against the trafficking of young people. Last February, I established an
    Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The
    task force is working hard to prosecute traffickers, protect victims,
    and prevent future trafficking. The past year alone, the Department of
    Justice prosecuted four times as many traffickers as it did 2 years ago.
    We are making progress.
        We've got to continue to work with our friends and allies to prevent
    this scourge from not only spreading but to stop it. It is, as I said
    earlier, slavery. And this Nation stands against slavery of any kind.
        The responsibility to protect America's children is shared
    throughout our society by government at every level and by parents in
    every home. Parents, of course, are the first line of defense against
    danger. To help our parents protect their children, the Department of
    Education has distributed a new guidebook providing practical steps that
    parents can take to make their children safer, practical steps that make
    it clear about how a parent needs to deal with their child about the
    dangers facing children. And this information, you'll be pleased to

    [[Page 1705]]

    hear, is written in ways so that the children can actually understand
    what's on the page.
        The book tells mothers and fathers how to rehearse with their
    children what to say or do if they ever feel threatened. It's a
    practical guide to explain to children how to deal with predators that
    are smooth and seductive, how to deal with somebody that's a stranger
    that sounds sweet-talking but may in their heart be dark and dangerous
    for our children. The book also lists web sites that provide information
    about protecting children. Information is powerful, and it's important
    for our parents to know.
        Parents need to pay as much attention to their children, by the way,
    when they're on the Internet as when they're on a playground. They've
    got to know what their children are doing on the Internet. They've got
    to know with whom they're conversing. This guidebook will help. We're
    passing it out to the Nation's schools, and the schools will then make
    it available to parents. And as well, parents can request a copy of the
    guidebook, a practical go-by as to how to train your children how to
    deal with potential danger. And you can find it on missingkids.com. If
    you're interested, if you want a practical go-by, call up
    missingkids.com on the Internet, and you'll get some practical steps as
    to how to help your children avoid danger.
        Sometimes, in spite of a family's best effort, the unthinkable does
    happen, and that's really sad. It breaks my heart to know that that
    continues to happen in America. At that point, the parents need the
    support--when their child is abducted, the parents need immediate
    support of their communities, quick action to find their children. Time
    is of the essence.
        One of the most successful programs to locate abducted children is
    what's called the AMBER Plan. It's a voluntary partnership through which
    police and local broadcasters issue urgent bulletins to the public as
    soon as a child is missing. The program began in a local effort in
    Texas, I'm proud to report, in the Dallas area in 1996 after Amber
    Hagerman was abducted.
        My friend State Senator Florence Shapiro is with us--I believe, one of the panelists. She
    helped launch the AMBER program. I know that it makes her feel really
    good to know that AMBER, when in place, can really help people, just
    like it helped Sharon Brooks and her 16-year-
    old daughter, Tamara. This summer, Tamara and
    Jacqueline were abducted at gunpoint in
    Lancaster, California. Tamara told us her story. The police issued an
    AMBER Alert within hours and soon received tips that led to their
    rescue. People all across America shared a great feeling of relief when
    she and her buddy were rescued. One of the reasons they were is because
    of the AMBER Plan.
        There are gaps in AMBER, however. There are gaps in the AMBER Plan
    coverage which must be filled, and we can fill them. We will develop
    more AMBER Plans and better coordination among plans. We should not
    allow another day to go by without taking steps to expand the AMBER
    Plan's reach all across our country. And so the Attorney General today
    is appointing an AMBER Alert Coordinator to help State and local
    officials develop, enhance, and coordinate AMBER Plans all across
    America.
        The Department of Justice will establish standards for the issuance
    and dissemination of alerts. The Justice and Transportation Departments
    will take immediate action to provide a total of $10 million to improve
    the growing network of AMBER Plans. We want AMBER Plan Alerts to be
    issued as quickly and as effectively as possible, including electronic
    billboards along the Nation's highways.
        I support legislation passed by Senator Hutchison of Texas and Senator Feinstein of California to achieve the goals I just outlined and
    codify them in law. And I want to thank you both for your hard work. The
    House hasn't acted yet, so I am going to. And that's why I've just laid
    out the

    [[Page 1706]]

    initiative. If possible, it would be very helpful if the House passed
    the Hutchison-Feinstein law before they go home.
        I also am pleased that good corporate citizens are involved with
    helping our children. And I particularly want to point out Toys R Us or
    Wal-Mart, Home Depot, as well as Ford Motor dealerships, which are
    providing free child photo IDs, so that parents can provide law
    enforcement with sharply focused head-and-shoulder pictures along with
    relevant biological information in the event of emergency. By the end of
    this year, more than 2\1/2\ million children will have been photographed
    and identified to help recover them if they're ever abducted.
        I hope a lot of other companies follow these good citizens' example.
    I hope you make available resources necessary to help us combat--to
    fight against abduction and to help save those lives--save the lives of
    those who have fallen prey to one of the worst crimes in our society.
        This White House Conference on Missing and Exploited and Runaway
    Children is important for America; it just is. And I want to thank you
    all for coming. This is the beginning of a refocused effort at the
    Federal level to help save people's lives. This is an attempt--more than
    an attempt--this is the beginning of a successful strategy implemented
    at all levels of government and all parts of our society to recognize a
    real threat and to deal with it, to recognize there are some so evil in
    our society that they're willing to harm our most precious and most
    vulnerable citizens, and to be prepared to respond quickly when that
    happens, to help people prevent it from happening in the first place, to
    make it clear, if you do it and we catch you, there's going to be
    serious consequences for you.
        We can deal with this problem, because this is America. This is a
    country full of people who love and care. It's a compassionate and
    decent nation. This is the beginning of a concerted effort to do our
    duty as responsible citizens of the greatest country on the face of the
    Earth.
        Again, I want to thank you all for taking your citizenship
    seriously. I want to thank you for understanding that a patriot is
    somebody more than who just puts their hand on their heart; a patriot is
    somebody who is willing to do whatever you can to make this country the
    best--continue to be the best on the face of our Earth.
        May God bless your efforts. May God bless our children. And may God
    bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:09 p.m. in the Atrium Hall at the Ronald
    Reagan Building and International Trade Center. In his remarks, he
    referred to Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer, Carolyn
    Atwell-Davis, government relations liaison, and John Walsh, co-founder,
    National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; Sister Mary Rose
    McGeady, president, Covenant House; Texas State Senator Florence
    Shapiro; and Jacqueline Marris, who was abducted with Tamara Brooks in
    Lancaster, CA, on August 1. The President also referred to H.R. 4623,
    the proposed ``Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002,''
    and S. 2986, the proposed ``National AMBER Alert Network Act of 2002.''