Bob Franks: “as cochairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, I want to congratulate the gentleman from Florida (Mr.…”

“as cochairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, I want to congratulate the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn) for bringing this bill forward. But even more importantly, as the father of 7-month-old Kelly Amanda, I want to thank them for their excellent work on this bill. Nothing is more important to a parent than the safety and security of their child. I want to touch on just one important provision of this bill. Twenty-five years ago, 7-year-old Joan D'Alessandro left her home in Hillsdale, New Jersey, to deliver Girl Scout cookies to a neighbor. Three days later that neighbor, a 26-year-old school teacher, confessed to sexually molesting and killing little Joan. But for the D'Alessandro family, the nightmare was far from over. For the past 12 years, they have had to live with the very real prospect that one day very soon their daughter's killer will walk out of jail a free man. He has twice been eligible for parole. Recently a New Jersey appeals court ordered yet another parole hearing. Rosemarie D'Alessandro has fought back against this terrible injustice. She has been the driving force behind a provision in this bill that would mandate a sentence of no less than life imprisonment with no opportunity for early release for anyone who commits a serious violent felony which results in the death of a child.”