Tom Udall: “I rise to express my strong disappointment in the House Leadership's politics-as-usual tactics that effectively continue…”

“I rise to express my strong disappointment in the House Leadership's politics-as-usual tactics that effectively continue to hold the AMBER bill hostage, a word I do not use lightly considering the gravity of this important legislation. Yesterday, the House had yet another opportunity to expedite the enactment of a national AMBER Alert System. The AMBER bill has had strong bipartisan support for several months now. The national alert system would be law today but for Leadership's permitting Judiciary Committee Chairman Sensenbrenner to hinder passage of a widely supported stands alone AMBER bill. Instead of a simple House bill narrowly tailored to address the abduction of missing children in the United States, the Chairman instead presented for a vote a broader and more complicated bill riddled with controversial provisions. Yet as a result of yesterday's vote on the rule for the Sensenbrenner bill, the national AMBER Alert System faces further delay and an uncertain outcome due to the impending conference with the Senate.”