Mark Kennedy: “this week is the 25th anniversary of National Crime Victims' Rights Week. When President Reagan first announced National…”

“this week is the 25th anniversary of National Crime Victims' Rights Week. When President Reagan first announced National Crime Victims' Rights Week, he said, ``For too long, the victims of crime have been the forgotten persons of our criminal justice system. Each new victim personally represents an instance in which the system has failed, and lack of concern for victims compounds that failure.'' The Crime Victims' Rights constitutional amendment is an important step forward that will empower crime victims by allowing them to confront their assailants in court and alerting them of prisoner releases and allowing victims to seek restitution from their attackers. Last Congress, we passed the PROTECT Act, also known as the Amber Alert bill. The PROTECT Act stiffens penalties for sex offenders, eliminated the statute of limitations for these crimes, and created a national Amber Alert system. We passed the Debbie Smith Act, which funds expanding and improving the quality of crime labs to conduct DNA analyses to catch sex offenders and other criminals, ensuring that the right person is going to jail. But there is more we can do. Last year, Minnesota suffered a great tragedy with Dru Sjodin being abducted. We need to pass Dru's Law this year. ____________________”