A day after the "miraculous" safe return of Elizabeth Smart, several lawmakers joined Ed Smart, the Utah teenager's father, in urging quick passage of a federal Amber Alert bill, which would allocate $25 million to implement the program that broadcasts information on highway signs, electronic message boards and radio and TV stations in the crucial first hours after a child is kidnapped. The bill, named after Amber Hagerman, a Texas girl who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996, was passed unanimously in the Senate in September, but stalled after the House attached it to Rep. James Sensenbrenner's (R-Wis) larger Child Abduction Prevention Act, which provides for mandatory 20 year sentencing for kidnapping someone under 18 and expansion of wiretap authority for investigations of sex crimes involving children. Ed Smart said, "This is clearly an issue that cannot wait one day longer." "Each day costs a life...Jim Sensenbrenner seems to be exhibiting reckless disregard for not only his constituents, but children throughout the country."
The House yesterday passed "Amber Alert" legislation that would establish the nationwide child kidnapping notification network. "We're very disappointed we couldn't get a stand-alone bill," said Rep. Louise Slaughter (R-Rochester), who had helped lead the fight for a simple Amber bill. "It could have been signed immediately. It flies in the face of what everybody said when Elizabeth Smart came home, that you've got to get this done immediately." The House bill includes new crackdowns on sex offenders, a toughened wiretap provision for suspected child predators, and sanctions for those who mislead Internet users into accessing pornographic sites. In addition, accused child rapists and abductors would be denied bail. And there would be not statute of limitations on child kidnappings and sex crimes.
(Washington)