Oct. 2,
2002
WASHINGTON
(AP) _ President Bush on Wednesday announced a federal push
to help broaden a voluntary rapid-response alert system on
abducted youth, in hopes preventing the "terrible, terrible
loss" of a child.
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With the
heartbroken but still-hopeful parents of missing Elizabeth
Smart looking on, Bush said that the Justice Department would
develop a national standard for the Amber Alert electronic
notifications that speed information about kidnapped children
to the public. According to a White House fact sheet, the
goal is limit the alerts to "rare instances of serious
child abductions" and ensure their effectiveness is not
undermined by overuse.
The president
also announced a new Amber Alert coordinator at the Justice
Department who will work on increasing cooperation among state
and local plans and disbursing $10 million in federal money
for training and equipment upgrades.
"The
kidnapping of a child is every parent's worst nightmare, yet
too many moms and dads have experienced this nightmare across
America. Too many have suffered," Bush told about 600
family members, law enforcement officials and experts attending
the daylong White House Conference on Missing, Exploited and
Runaway Children. "Our society has a duty, has a solemn
duty to shield children from exploitation and danger."
Activists
have sought to expand the use of the alerts, developed after
the 1996 kidnapping and murder of 9-year Amber Hagerman in
Arlington, Texas, and now in use in more than a dozen states.
The Senate approved a bill in September that would provide
$25 million to help create a national network; similar legislation
is moving through the House.
Thirty-two
children have been found as a result of an Amber Alert, in
which law enforcement agencies that choose to participate
distribute photos and other information about missing children
and their abductors to television and radio stations via the
Emergency Alert System created during the Cold War. Some states
are also flashing alerts to drivers on roadside emergency
signs.
A series
of high-profile child abductions _ Samantha Runnion and Danielle
van Dam in California, Cassandra Williamson in Missouri and
Smart _ have filled the headlines this year and terrified
parents.
Though
the other girls were found slain, Elizabeth Smart remains
missing, her kidnapping unsolved. Elizabeth was taken from
her Salt Lake City bedroom in the early morning of June 5.
Her 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, was the only witness
and told police a man with a gun took her sister.
Elizabeth's
mother, Lois Smart, called the conference "the best thing
that's ever happened to promote the safety of children."
Before
his remarks, Bush met privately for about 45 minutes with
about a dozen people involved in missing children cases _
"parents who have had the most precious person in their
lives suddenly and brutally taken away from them," the
president said.
Among
those in the meeting were the sheriff in the Runnion case
and teenager Tamara Brooks, with her mother, Sharon. Tamara
and Jacqueline Marris were abducted at gunpoint in Lancaster,
Calif., and rescued 12 hours later when sheriff's deputies
closed in on their abductors stolen car in a remote location
and shot him to death.
"Some
of these parents were eventually reunited with their children.
Some are still hoping and waiting. Some know they will never
see their loved ones again in this earthly life," Bush
said. "When a child's life or liberty or innocence is
taken, it is a terrible, terrible loss."
Despite
the attention to recent cases, experts say abductions by strangers
_ the most dangerous type _ remain rare. The National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children estimates the total number
of cases annually at 100 now, down from 200 to 300 in the
1980s. However, the Justice Department estimates that about
40 percent of these children are killed and that another 4
percent are never found.
Overall,
about 800,000 children are reported missing to police nationwide
each year, most runaways or children taken by a parent or
other family member, the Justice Department said.
With the
heartbroken but still-hopeful parents of missing Elizabeth
Smart looking on, Bush said that the Justice Department would
develop a national standard for the Amber Alert electronic
notifications that speed information about kidnapped children
to the public. According to a White House fact sheet, the
goal is limit the alerts to "rare instances of serious
child abductions" and ensure their effectiveness is not
undermined by overuse.
The president
also announced a new Amber Alert coordinator at the Justice
Department who will work on increasing cooperation among state
and local plans and disbursing $10 million in federal money
for training and equipment upgrades.
"The
kidnapping of a child is every parent's worst nightmare, yet
too many moms and dads have experienced this nightmare across
America. Too many have suffered," Bush told about 600
family members, law enforcement officials and experts attending
the daylong White House Conference on Missing, Exploited and
Runaway Children. "Our society has a duty, has a solemn
duty to shield children from exploitation and danger."
Activists
have sought to expand the use of the alerts, developed after
the 1996 kidnapping and murder of 9-year Amber Hagerman in
Arlington, Texas, and now in use in more than a dozen states.
The Senate approved a bill in September that would provide
$25 million to help create a national network; similar legislation
is moving through the House.
Thirty-two
children have been found as a result of an Amber Alert, in
which law enforcement agencies that choose to participate
distribute photos and other information about missing children
and their abductors to television and radio stations via the
Emergency Alert System created during the Cold War. Some states
are also flashing alerts to drivers on roadside emergency
signs.
A series
of high-profile child abductions _ Samantha Runnion and Danielle
van Dam in California, Cassandra Williamson in Missouri and
Smart _ have filled the headlines this year and terrified
parents.
Though
the other girls were found slain, Elizabeth Smart remains
missing, her kidnapping unsolved. Elizabeth was taken from
her Salt Lake City bedroom in the early morning of June 5.
Her 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, was the only witness
and told police a man with a gun took her sister.
Elizabeth's
mother, Lois Smart, called the conference "the best thing
that's ever happened to promote the safety of children."
Before
his remarks, Bush met privately for about 45 minutes with
about a dozen people involved in missing children cases _
"parents who have had the most precious person in their
lives suddenly and brutally taken away from them," the
president said.
Among
those in the meeting were the sheriff in the Runnion case
and teenager Tamara Brooks, with her mother, Sharon. Tamara
and Jacqueline Marris were abducted at gunpoint in Lancaster,
Calif., and rescued 12 hours later when sheriff's deputies
closed in on their abductors stolen car in a remote location
and shot him to death.
"Some
of these parents were eventually reunited with their children.
Some are still hoping and waiting. Some know they will never
see their loved ones again in this earthly life," Bush
said. "When a child's life or liberty or innocence is
taken, it is a terrible, terrible loss."
Despite
the attention to recent cases, experts say abductions by strangers
_ the most dangerous type _ remain rare. The National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children estimates the total number
of cases annually at 100 now, down from 200 to 300 in the
1980s. However, the Justice Department estimates that about
40 percent of these children are killed and that another 4
percent are never found.
Overall,
about 800,000 children are reported missing to police nationwide
each year, most runaways or children taken by a parent or
other family member, the Justice Department said.
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