Kevin Roberts: “I rise today to speak about my amendment to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking bill that would make a minor but…”

“I rise today to speak about my amendment to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking bill that would make a minor but nevertheless important commonsense update to the current telecommunications law to provide law enforcement with access to information that should and could help locate individuals in life-or- death situations. My amendment--identical to the stand-alone legislation I plan to reintroduce later this month--is aptly named after the young Kansan whose life and bright future was cut short by a senseless act of violence and whose case is the inspiration for why we desperately need to update this law. Almost 8 years ago. On June 2, 2007, 18-year-old Kansan Kelsey Smith--a lovely girl--was abducted in broad daylight from an Overland Park, KS, parking lot. Kelsey's abduction was captured on the closed circuit camera, therefore leaving little doubt of the emergency situation. Here is the tragedy. Four days after Kelsey disappeared, authorities were finally able to locate her body after her wireless provider released the ``ping'' or call location information from her cell phone. It took 4 days to get that vital information. Providing this information as fast as possible is absolutely critical to ensure law enforcement officials can rescue victims in imminent danger of death or serious physical harm and hopefully prevent future cases similar to Kelsey's.…”