Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA-39) praised the House's overwhelming passage of the Child Abduction Prevention Act [H.R. 5422], legislation creating a nation wide AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert program. Royce, a long-time advocate of victims' rights, is an original cosponsor of the legislation to expand the child abduction communications and warning network throughout the United States. The Senate passed a similar measure in September, and the two bodies must now work out the differences between the two bills.

"According to the federal government, three out of four children who are kidnapped and murdered are killed within three hours of their initial abduction. Having a child brutally taken from their home or the playground is every parent's worst nightmare, and these children deserve every chance of being returned home safely," said Royce.

Created in 1996 after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was kidnapped and murdered, the AMBER Alert Plan is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. Broadcasters air a description of a missing child and suspected abductor to instantly enlist the help of entire communities in the search for and safe return of a child.

The bill will allow coordination between states, like California, or regions that already have AMBER Alert plans in place, and facilitate the establishment of an AMBER communications system in the areas that do not have a plan. It will also establish a coordinator within the Department of Justice.

In addition, the measure provides a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment for stranger abductions of a child under the age of 18, lifetime supervision for sex offenders, and mandatory life imprisonment for second time offenders. The bill removes any statute of limitations and opportunity for pretrial release for crimes of child abduction and sex offenses.

Royce pointed out that although some researchers indicate that the worst cases of child abduction might actually be on the decline, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has indicated that the sexual victimization of children is in fact on the rise.

"The recent wave of high profile child abductions that has swept our nation has illustrated the tremendous need for legislation in this area. A national AMBER Alert system will get the word out, and ensure that communities are able to honor each other's alerts when an abductor is traveling with a child," said Royce.