Mitch Landrieu: “I rise to commemorate this very special day, National Missing Children's Day. Proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in…”

“I rise to commemorate this very special day, National Missing Children's Day. Proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 and honored by every administration since, May 25th is the day 6 year old Ethan Patz disappeared from a New York City street corner on his way to school in 1979. His case remains unsolved and is an annual reminder to the nation to renew efforts to reunite missing children with their families and make child protection a national priority. As a mother of two beautiful children, I cannot imagine what I would do if my children were missing. All of us with children know that this a parent's greatest nightmare. Yet every 18 seconds a child disappears, and so each day over three thousand parents go through the terror of losing their child. The Theme of this year's National Missing Children's Day is 'Picture them Home.' This national public awareness campaign is aimed at encouraging the public at large to be aware of their important role in the recovery of these children. One in six children featured in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's photo-distribution program is recovered as a direct result of someone in the public recognizing the child in the picture and notifying the authorities. Unlike so many of our national tragedies, we can do something to help return a missing child to their families. I urge the American public to really look closely at pictures of missing children they see.”