Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 515, International Megan's Law. While I support the underlying goal of ensuring that American law enforcement agencies share information on potential child sex offenders with foreign law enforcement agencies, I am opposed to how one particular provision, added in the Senate amendment before us today, would work in practice. Other existing provisions of the bill already contain the following information-sharing requirements with and among law enforcement agencies here in the United States and abroad: U.S. sex offenders are required to provide international travel- related information to the sex offender registries; the Department of Homeland Security is required to create the Angel Watch Center to receive information on individuals seeking to enter the U.S. who have committed offenses of a sexual nature as well as registered sex offenders seeking to travel outside the U.S. in order to share all relevant information to federal, state, and local law enforcement officials; the U.S. Marshal's Service is required to notify law enforcement agencies of sex offenders seeking to leave the United States who have not transmitted their travel information to sex offender registries; the U.S. Marshal's Service is required to notify the international destination country of a sex offender's upcoming travel; and the Secretary of State should seek reciprocal international agreements or arrangements to further these goals.…”