Child Is Missing Alert and Recovery Center Act

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the lead sponsor of H.R. 5464 to urge my colleagues to vote in support of the A Child is Missing Alert and Recovery Center Act. And before I begin, I would like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) and the gentleman from Ohio, as he supported the bill in committee as well; as well as Mr. Conyers of Michigan, the Chair of our Judiciary Committee; and the Chair of the Crime Subcommittee, Mr. Scott of Virginia, for their extraordinary leadership and support in moving this bill out of their committees and on to the floor. And also I would like to acknowledge and thank the ranking members, Mr. Smith and Mr. Gohmert. Mr. Gohmert was especially supportive during the hearing on the legislation in the Crime Subcommittee, and I would personally like to thank him for his remarks and support.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5464 would expand the widely praised A Child is Missing nonprofit organization into a national program with regional centers under the Department of Justice. The authorized funds would allow for the purchase of future technologies and techniques, centralized and on-site training, and for the distribution of information to Federal, State, and local law enforcement agency officials on the best ways to utilize the round-the-clock services provided by the A Child is Missing Alert and Recovery Center.

Currently, A Child is Missing is the only program of its kind that assists in all missing cases involving abduction, children who are lost, wander, or run away; and adults with special needs such as the elderly who suffer with Alzheimer's, which is a concern in my district in south Florida.

When a person is reported missing to the police, A Child is Missing utilizes the latest technology to place 1,000 emergency telephone calls every 60 seconds to residents and businesses in the area where the person was last seen. It works in concert with the existing AMBER Alert system and all other child safety programs and has the support of law enforcement agencies all across our country.

A Child is Missing also fills a critical gap in time in the most dangerous cases. Although the AMBER Alert has been an extremely successful program, there is still a crucial void of 3 to 5 hours in many cases from when a child is first reported missing and when an AMBER Alert shows up on our highways or is announced, which is only activated when cases of criminal abduction have been issued. This critical period of time can be the difference between whether a child lives or dies. Recently, a Washington State Attorney General's office study showed that among cases involving children abducted and murdered, 74 percent were slain in the first 3 hours. This only highlights the importance of this time element. Adding to this problem is the resource and manpower limitations facing many local law enforcement agencies. Roughly half of these officers in the United States have 25 or fewer officers, and an average 12-hour search for a missing child can cost up to $400,000.

A Child is Missing helps to fill this critical gap in time as well as complement the AMBER Alert during the ongoing search. We know this for a fact because we have heard it from countless law enforcement officers from all over the United States.

So the issue isn't whether A Child is Missing works or not. The real issue is that not enough local communities have access to the program. The founder and president of A Child is Missing, Sherry Friedlander from my home community of Ft. Lauderdale, has done an exceptional job in creating and spreading this program not only in our community but throughout all 50 States. But if we are going to bring the program to every community in all these States, then we will need to leverage the resources of the Federal Government, and that's exactly what this legislation does.

H.R. 5464 has broad bipartisan support in Congress. We have cosponsors from all across the country including Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Indiana, and New York. In the Senate companion legislation was introduced by Senator Menendez and is cosponsored by Senator Hatch, the distinguished former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. We have such support because A Child is Missing provides a service that transcends politics. Our children are not Democrats or Republicans. They are our children, and they are all of our responsibility, and their protection requires us to work together to do what's best for their continued safety.

That's why, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues today to support H.R. 5464.

Mr. Speaker, for your leadership in bringing this very important bill to the floor. I support this bill and urge my colleagues to do the same. This bill is good and it is necessary.

The bill is sponsored by Mr. Klein and has bi-partisan support. It has 21 cosponsors, including the following Judiciary members: Chairman Conyers, Chairman Scott, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Sutton, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz.

A child goes missing every 40 seconds. The successful recovery of missing children often requires a quick response. In 1997, Sherry Friedlander, the founder of A Child is Missing (ACIM), saw the need for a rapid-response program to persons who go missing, especially in situations that do not involve abductions. In response to this need, she established ACIM, a national non-profit organization that offers free assistance to law enforcement 365 days of the year, 24 hours per day. The program is not limited to children, but extends to elderly persons (suffering from senility or Alzheimer's), mentally challenged or disabled individuals and college students.

When law enforcement receives a call regarding a missing person, the first-responder can immediately call ACIM for help. The officer provides critical information to ACIM, such as the person's age and description and the last time/place seen. ACIM uses that information to record a message that, within minutes, is sent via phone to 1000s of locations within a radius of the last sighting of the person. Through their computer mapping system, ACIM also can identify ``hot spots,'' such as water or wooded areas.

ACIM complements the Amber Alert program by providing different services. While Amber Alert focuses on children who are abducted, ACIM covers all ``persons'' who go missing, including situations where criminal intent may not be at issue. Amber Alert uses television and highway signs to broadcast information about the abducted child and the related vehicle, while ACIM uses a rapid response telephone alert system and covers cases where there is no vehicle involved. The ACIM notification system often can respond more quickly than the Amber Alert program.

ACIM would use the requested money to operate and expand the existing ACIM office in Florida, to develop Regional Centers for on-site training and communication with local law enforcement, to maintain and expand their computer and phone technologies, and to assist the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the AMBER Alert Coordinator, and appropriate law enforcement agencies with training.

H.R. 5464 authorizes $5 million annual grants for 2009 through 2014 to A Child is Missing Alert and Recovery Center (ACIM) to assist law enforcement in the rapid recovery of missing children and other individuals.

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses and look forward to their testimony. I hope that we can ensure the health and safety of the young and the elderly--two vulnerable populations--whose rights I have long championed.

Madam Speaker, thank you for your leadership in bringing this very important bill to the floor. I support this bill and urge my colleagues to do the same. This bill is good and it is necessary.

The bill is sponsored by Mr. Klein and has bi-partisan support. It has 21 cosponsors, including the following Judiciary members: Chairman Conyers, Chairman Scott, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Sutton, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz.

A child goes missing every 40 seconds. The successful recovery of missing children often requires a quick response. In 1997, Sherry Friedlander, the founder of A Child is Missing (ACIM), saw the need for a rapid-response program to persons who go missing, especially in situations that do not involve abductions. In response to this need, she established ACIM, a national non-profit organization that offers free assistance to law enforcement 365 days of the year, 24 hours per day. The program is not limited to children, but extends to elderly persons (suffering from senility or Alzheimer's), mentally challenged or disabled individuals and college students.

When law enforcement receives a call regarding a missing person, the first-responder can immediately call ACIM for help. The officer provides critical information to ACIM, such as the person's age and description and the last time/place seen. ACIM uses that information to record a message that, within minutes, is sent via phone to 1000s of locations within a radius of the last sighting of the person. Through their computer mapping system, ACIM also can identify ``hot spots,'' such as water or wooded areas.

ACIM complements the Amber Alert program by providing different services. While Amber Alert focuses on children who are abducted, ACIM covers all ``persons'' who go missing, including situations where criminal intent may not be at issue. Amber Alert uses television and highway signs to broadcast information about the abducted child and the related vehicle, while ACIM uses a rapid response telephone alert system and covers cases where there is no vehicle involved. The ACIM notification system often can respond more quickly than the Amber Alert program.

ACIM would use the requested money to operate and expand the existing ACIM office in Florida, to develop Regional Centers for on-site training and communication with local law enforcement, to maintain and expand their computer and phone technologies, and to assist the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the AMBER Alert Coordinator, and appropriate law enforcement agencies with training.

H.R. 5464 authorizes $5 million annual grants for 2009 through 2014 to A Child is Missing Alert and Recovery Center (ACIM) to assist law enforcement in the rapid recovery of missing children and other individuals.

I support this bill and I urge my colleagues to support it also.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5464) to direct the Attorney General to make an annual grant to the A Child Is Missing Alert and Recovery Center to assist law enforcement agencies in the rapid recovery of missing children, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have an additional 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5464, the ``A Child is Missing Alert and Recovery Center Act,'' helps address the terrifying experience of when a family member or friend goes missing.

Under current law, there are programs such as Amber Alert to help missing children who are abducted or become victims of foul play. But these programs do not extend to situations where a child or elderly person becomes missing in other more innocent ways. H.R. 5464 fills this gap and authorizes money for annual grants to the A Child is Missing Alert and Recovery Center. This national nonprofit program provides assistance to local law enforcement throughout the country in all situations of missing persons, not only those involved in criminal activity.

The center helps when a small child fails to come home from school or a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer's disease walks out of her home in the middle of the night. When the terrifying event of a missing person is reported to the police, the responding police officer can call the center, which operates 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Based on information from the call, the center quickly prepares a recorded message that includes a description of the missing person, along with a location where the person was last seen. Within minutes, the center sends this recording to thousands of phones within a radius of the last known location. This activity can save not only precious lives, but also critically needed enforcement resources that would otherwise be spent in extended searches for missing persons.

The bill before us today will make a significant contribution to the protection of children and vulnerable adults throughout the United States. I want to thank the sponsor of this bill, Ron Klein of Florida, for his leadership on this very important issue. I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5464, a bill that would authorize the A Child is Missing Program for the next 5 years.

I would like to thank the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein) for his work on this important bill.

The A Child is Missing Program is an unsung tool that our law enforcement and communities have been using since 1997 to locate missing children and also elderly that are missing due to Alzheimer's or other difficulties.

I would also like to recognize the founder of this program that was founded back in January 1997. I had the opportunity to meet with her in Cincinnati, the Greater Cincinnati area, Norwood, in particular, Sherry Friedlander, who is in the gallery today. And if she could stand, I would like to acknowledge her.

Statistics released by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children reveal that more than 2,000 children go missing each day in this country. Let me repeat that, 2,000 children go missing every day in this country.

We know that the first couple of hours a child is missing are critical to the successful recovery of that child. While the AMBER Alert is a critical tool, it takes hours to initiate. The A Child is Missing program fills that void, alerting and mobilizing the community almost immediately. The A Child is Missing program has been credited with over 300 safe-assisted recoveries and is supported by law enforcement organizations all over the country. In my own district, the First District of Ohio, local law enforcement agencies have directly benefited from

the program. In fact, just this past May, we highlighted the program's success in the city of Norwood, as I mentioned before, Norwood, Ohio.

H.R. 5464 will ensure that the program has the resources it needs over the next 5 years to continue serving communities like Norwood, Ohio, and communities all over the country. I urge my colleagues to support this critical program by passing H.R. 5464.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.