Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this resolution recognizes Tuesday, May 25, as National Missing Children's Day. We hope this resolution will continue to raise public awareness about the problem of missing and abducted children. I therefore thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rooney) and his colleague from Florida (Mr. Hastings) for introducing this resolution. May 25, 1979, was the day that 6-year-old Etan Patz disappeared from New York City while he was on his way to school. The media attention and massive search efforts that followed his disappearance focused the Nation's attention on the problem of child abduction. Two years later, in July 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh disappeared from a Florida shopping mall. His parents, John and Reve Walsh, turned to law enforcement to find their son. They quickly realized that there was no coordinated effort between Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies in the search for their son. And to make the situation even more difficult, in 1981, there were no organizations to assist them in their search. The momentum for a national movement to keep children safe from predators and coordinate efforts by law enforcement to search for missing children began with the disappearance of these two children. As a result of this movement, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was established in 1984.…”