[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 13 (Monday, March 31, 2003)]
[Page 388]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on House of Representatives Action on Legislation on the Amber 
Alert System

March 27, 2003

    As we take steps abroad to make the world a safer place for all, 
there are important steps we can take at home to make America a safer 
place for children.
    I commend the House for acting today on legislation that will help 
expand, enhance, and coordinate the successful Amber Alert system across 
our Nation. I look forward to legislation reaching my desk as quickly as 
possible so that I may sign it into law.
    The prevention and investigation of child abductions will always be 
a top priority in my administration. That is why my administration began 
taking steps last year to expand and improve the Amber Alert system, 
including allocating existing Federal resources to this effort and 
appointing a Federal coordinator within the Department of Justice.
    Protecting our children is a shared priority for the American people 
and Federal, State, and local authorities. We must use every resource 
possible to find and safely return missing children to their families 
and their homes, just as we will continue to use every tool within the 
law to vigorously prosecute and severely punish those who would do our 
children harm.