Date: 2002-10-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just would say in closing that again I want to thank the gentleman from Texas and the gentleman from Delaware for their work on this legislation. and the fact that this legislation is on the floor. I think. is a tribute. I am sure many of us have heard our parents or grandparents say. out of a dark cloud comes a silver lining. and that is that some of these parents who have suffered some of the most horrible things that we could imagine happening to us. .our families. our children. ourselves. have found the energy to carry on in the name of their children. efforts at the local community level and now at the national level with the national center. There are so many local organizations. I know in my own area in Contra Costa County and Solasta County. we have had a number of children who have gone missing. not only gone missing and later found. but dlearly children who have gone missing and were killed and violently assaulted. that local organizations have come into existence because of the energy of these parents and of the community to help other parents and families when this happens to them and in a number of instances have. because of their quick response. because of their understanding of the nature of this crime and what needs to be done in the first few hours of the- discovery. have facilitated the rescue of some children. And the national center has continued that effort and has provided recognition of those local programs. of those local individuals who really have taken a tragedy and turned it to positive energy. and have taken the tragic loss and victimization of a child and used that to save other children and to prevent other children and families having to go through this. I would say as part of this resolution to recognize those individuals. I think almost tragically so. but almost every Member of Congress has experienced this in their own congressional district where these individuals have gone on. where we think one would be so devastated that they would cease to function. they have gone on to provide an incredible amount of leadership. and fortunately the national center has recognized these individuals and their -efforts. * We had a young girl. Ms. Sanchez. who I had the opportunity to give an award to because of her courage. who was abducted. kidnapped. taken. but somehow found it within herself at a given moment when her abductor happened to look the other way. since he stopped to ask directions from somebody. she ran from his vehicle and was saved by a passing truck driver. Her own personal courage has been an example. and she shared that with other children. Amber Schwarz. who many years ago disappeared from our community in Pinole. Her mother has gone on to develop the Amber Foundation. which has provided assistance to law enforcement. assistance to families and to communities to cope with these incidents and to bring resources to try and save and recover these children. and the Amber Alert in California that was so successful just recently and now many States are looking at replicating. We owe a great deal of thanks to those families who have been able to summon the courage and the wherewithal to share their tragedy with others to try and avoid that tragedy from happening to other children and to the -families. And again. I thank the gentleman from Delaware SO much for shepherding this resolution to the floor of the House. Madam Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.