Walter B. Jones: “as an American citizen concerned about our Nation's children and as a member of the Missing and Exploited Children's…”

“as an American citizen concerned about our Nation's children and as a member of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, I have always admired the work of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This organization, among numerous other tasks, works in cooperation with law enforcement agencies to help locate missing children. Regrettably, I had the opportunity to see this process firsthand during the August recess. I received a phone call in my eastern North Carolina district office from the parents of a young girl who was missing. I telephoned the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and was relieved to hear that the center was already working on the case. Although the following days must have seemed like years to the young girl's parents, the center worked efficiently with the Lenoir County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement agencies to locate the missing girl. I am pleased to report that those parents got their daughter back safely. The young girl was returned to them as a result of the hard work of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and their cooperation with local law enforcement. Unfortunately, not all parents with missing children see this positive outcome. Each year more than 4,600 children are abducted by nonfamily members. It pains me to say that 800 of these abductions end in murder.”