Text of Prepared Remarks of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales at The AMBER Alert 10th Anniversary Celebration
15 January 2006 Following is a text of prepared remarks by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales at the Amber Alert 10th Anniversary Celebration:
Thank you and good morning.
It's good to be with you again to close out this important conference and take a moment to reflect on ten years of the AMBER Alert program.
By now, Amber Hagerman's story is familiar to most Americans. She was riding her bike in her Arlington, Texas neighborhood when the driver of a pick-up truck pulled up beside her, snatched Amber from her bike, threw her into his cab, and sped away. Four days later, she was found dead.
For days and weeks following this terrible crime, the shocked and grieving citizens of the Dallas-area flooded local radio stations with calls of outrage. The tragedy gripped the community, as well as the nation, and people were looking for answers. Not only answers to why this happened . . . but also answers to how to avoid it from happening again.
One local caller suggested that the public be alerted of child abductions in the same way it is notified of severe weather warnings. Local radio broadcasters liked the idea, discussed it with law enforcement officials, and formed a partnership to quickly disseminate information so that residents could be on the lookout and children could be found quickly.
The AMBER Alert system was adopted in states and communities across America. Amber's tragic story inspired a national urgency still felt ten years after her abduction and death.
Other names are now forever linked to Amber's . . . names like Jessica Lunsford, Sarah Lunde, and Samantha Runnion. They are a constant reminder that we must continue to do everything we can to protect our children.
Incredibly, every year nearly 800,000 children are reported missing. While most of these children return home safely, the death or disappearance of just one child is a price that no parent should have to bear.
In my heart I feel that nothing could possibly be more devastating to a parent than the loss of a child. As a father of three sons, I cannot imagine the pain and sorrow I would feel if I lost one of my boys. But just as nothing can compare to the death or kidnapping of a child, I have to believe there is no more joyous feeling in the world than being reunited with a son or daughter who was missing or abducted.
Even though Amber's story -- and others -- force us to remember the pain and devastation we feel when we lose a child, her legacy also allows us to celebrate the success of the AMBER Alert program.
I am proud that the Department of Justice is part of the effort to build a system that tracks abducted children more quickly and alerts police and citizens as soon as possible. In the event a child is taken, we'll have the resources and teamwork of the law enforcement community ready to help return that child safely to his or her family.
President Bush made this effort a national priority. He has taken a number of steps to develop a seamless national network of AMBER Alerts to protect our children.
When President Bush signed the PROTECT Act into law in 2003, a few scattered AMBER programs soon yielded to alert systems in all 50 states coordinated at the national level by an Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice. As the President has said, "Every person who would think of abducting a child can know that a wide net will be cast." Today, that net is wide, indeed.
In 2005, we recovered and returned 54 abducted children to grateful families. In the ten years since the program began in Texas, more than 240 children have been found as a result of AMBER Alerts -- most of those coming in the last few years.
I am hopeful that those numbers will decrease as more criminals realize that they won't be able to get away with kidnappings thanks to a national system of AMBER Alerts and hundreds of thousands of citizen-watchdogs. In fact, last month we learned of a story where two twin boys were returned when their abductors learned that an AMBER Alert had been issued.
Of course, we won't be able to reduce the number of child abductions -- or the deterrent effect of AMBER Alerts -- without continued dedication by everyone who cares deeply about our nation's children.
President Bush has said, "No child should ever have to experience the terror of abduction, or worse. No family should ever have to endure the nightmare of losing a child." I think the President articulated what we all believe -- even one loss is too much to bear.
I hope that marking the 10th anniversary of Amber's disappearance will help to renew our urgency for this work. It's an appropriate time to ask the question: "What more can we do?"
Steve Largent, Ernie Allen and the Wireless industry in America have already answered that question. They launched an initiative to allow cell phone users to receive text messages -- free of charge -- when an AMBER Alert is issued in their area. The Department of Justice is participating in this initiative to make AMBER Alert stronger, faster, and more effective by reaching more and more people -- by making that net even bigger. With more than 190 million cell phone users, the possibilities are tremendous. I encourage every owner of a cell phone with text capability to contact their carrier or visit the AMBER Alert website for information about enrolling.
At the Justice Department, we're enrolling employees in our Office of Justice Programs -- many of whom are here today -- to receive notice of AMBER Alerts in the Washington area while they are at work. And I believe that many have registered their personal cell phones as well.
I plan to encourage other DOJ components to participate in this pilot project, so that more than 100,000 Justice employees across the country can join the army of searchers when one of our nation's children is abducted.
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Ten years removed from the day her daughter went for a bike ride and never came back, Amber Hagerman's mother, Donna Norris, is with us today. She can be proud of the success -- inspired by her daughter -- that the AMBER Alert system has had preventing similar tragedies for other families.
The national coordination of AMBER and a concerted effort to increase and improve secondary distributions of active alerts have had a measurable impact on the effectiveness of this important program.
As these efforts show, our nation is committed to protecting children. No effort is too small to protect their lives and hopes from abductors and predators.
For the sake of Amber Hagerman, and every other child who we've lost in this manner, we must continue to rededicate ourselves to the safety and support of the most vulnerable in our society.
You're doing it in your daily work on behalf of disadvantaged youth in America -- and I thank you again for attending this conference.
We're doing it at DOJ as well, working to build a justice system that protects the promise and potential of every young life.
And we will continue to work together until we ensure a bright and successful future for our children and grandchildren.
Thank you. May God keep our children safe. And may He continue to bless the United States of America.
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Source: usnewswire
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