Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I want to speak on the AMBER alert portion of this legislation because we have been working on it for several months. We…”

“I want to speak on the AMBER alert portion of this legislation because we have been working on it for several months. We passed AMBER alert legislation last year. Senator Feinstein and I cosponsored the legislation. Senator Hatch and Senator Leahy were very supportive. We passed AMBER alert again this year and hoped very much that we could get a clean bill that would be signed quickly by the President. However, I know provisions were added that are very good provisions. I am very pleased that we have finally gotten a bill that the House has passed and would be able hopefully to pass this legislation and send it to the President. Because the AMBER alert is proven to save lives, Senator Feinstein and I have been working very hard to get it passed through the Senate. Ed Smart, a constituent of the distinguished Senator from Utah, told us how important AMBER alerts were in helping to find his daughter Elizabeth. Even though she is one of the few abducted children who was found after a long period, it was the publicity that made the difference because a person who saw the picture of the suspect in the paper then saw the suspect on the street, and the police were able to walk up to the suspect and Elizabeth Smart was right there with him.”