Statement of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein on the Announcement that
AOL and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Will Issue Online AMBER Alerts
October 1, 2002

Washington, DC - "As the Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information, I applaud the partnership of America Online and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to use information technology to issue AMBER Alerts. This will give law enforcement a powerful tool in the effort to help return abducted children to their parents.

Speed is crucial to any effective response to child abductions. Almost three-quarters of children who are abducted, and later found murdered, are murdered in the first hours after being taken. That is why this announcement holds such promise.

Working together, AOL and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children will be able to instantly transmit an AMBER Alert to millions of people via email, pager, or mobile phone seconds after an alert is issued. This means that more people will be aware that a child has been taken, and the more people who are aware of this fact, the greater the likelihood that the child will be returned to his or her parents."

The U.S. Senate approved legislation sponsored by Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to create a nationwide AMBER Alert Network on September 10, 2002. Companion legislation, sponsored by Martin Frost (D-TX) and Jennifer Dunn (R-WA), is pending in the House of Representatives.

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