Gilbert Gutknecht: “I was a member of the Minnesota State Legislature when we passed an early version of the Wetterling Act in 1991. In 1994…”

“I was a member of the Minnesota State Legislature when we passed an early version of the Wetterling Act in 1991. In 1994 Congress recognized the importance of this idea, and required all States to register the addresses of convicted kidnappers or child sex offenders. Last year we passed Megan's Law to notify communities when one of these people moves into the neighborhood. While every State now requires registration of child sex offenders, many community notification programs have been stalled by legal challenges and confusion as to what plan would be most effective. Because of this, it is unclear how many States are fully following the Wetterling Act requirements. H.R. 1683 gives the States much needed flexibility as they seek to comply with this law. To help States even further, 31 of my colleagues, and I want to especially thank my colleague, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Lampson], have joined me in cosponsoring and introducing House Concurrent Resolution 125, which provides the States with a model community notification program that they can follow if they choose.”