National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Supports AMBER Alert Legislation

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Wednesday, 15 January 2003

Senators Hutchinson and Feinstein re-introduce legislation on seventh anniversary of Amber's death

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) commends U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for re-introducing legislation to expand the AMBER Plan network nationwide. Similar legislation was passed last year in the House and Senate in separate bills, but the 107th Congress ended before final decisions were made.

The bill, "The National AMBER Network Act" (S.121), was introduced on the anniversary of the death of Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas, for whom the AMBER Plan is named. "This week, the seventh anniversary of little Amber's tragic death, makes it especially important that we move on this legislation and help ensure other parents do not suffer the loss of their precious child," Hutchison said in a statement.

The Senators' bill would establish an AMBER coordinator within the Department of Justice to enhance the operation of the AMBER Alert communications; establish voluntary, minimum standards for coordination between various AMBER Plans, particularly between states; provide $20 million for a matching grant program in the Department of Transportation to assist in 50 percent of the cost for programs; and provide $5 million for a grant program to pay for 50 percent of costs for education, training, and related equipment for AMBER Plans.

In October 2002, in support of the 2002 Hutchison-Feinstein legislation, President George W. Bush issued an executive order that set in place many of the provisions of this legislation. He also pledged $10 million for AMBER Plan training and equipment upgrades. But the President urged Congress to pass the bill so that it could become law.

"This is one more tool that law enforcement can use in the fight against child abductions," said Ernie Allen, President and CEO of NCMEC. "When this legislation is passed, we are confident more AMBER Plans will be developed across the nation and many more children will be saved."

The AMBER Plan is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to air a description of the abducted child and suspected abductor on radio and television. Electronic highway signs can also be used to display pertinent information about the child, abductor or suspected vehicle, which could help to hasten a recovery. The goal of the AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and safe return of the child.

Other co-sponsors of the National AMBER Network Act are Senators Hatch, Leahy, Frist, Clinton, Ensign, Miller, Voinovich, Crapo, Lugar, Bingaman, Stabenow, Fitzgerald, Feingold, Biden, McConnell, Nelson (Bill), Bennett, Dodd, Landrieu, Collins, Allard, Rockefeller, Wyden, Harkin, and Durbin.

NCMEC, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCMEC serves as national clearinghouse for information and a resource center for child protection. For more information about the AMBER Plan or NCMEC please call its toll free, 24- hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST.

For more information, or to contact National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, see their website at: www.missingkids.org