In city after city and town after town, crime and violence are finally coming down. Crime is coming down this year overall in America for the fourth year in a row. But we all know we've got a long way to go before our streets are safe again. We are fighting to restore a sense of community. And most of all we are fighting for our children and their future.
Nothing is more important than keeping our children safe.
We have taken decisive steps to help families protect their children, especially from sex offenders, people who according to study after study are likely to commit their crimes again and again. We've all read too many tragic stories about young people victimized by repeat offenders. That's why in the crime bill we required every state in the country to compile a registry of sex offenders, and gave states the power to notify communities about child sex offenders and violent sex offenders that move into their neighborhoods. But that wasn't enough, and last month I signed Megan's law. That insists that states tell a community whenever a dangerous sexual predator enters its midst.