Statement of Senator Dianne Feinstein on Legislation to Create a Nationwide AMBER Alert Network
September 4, 2002
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Washington, DC -- U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today convened a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information on legislation that would create a nationwide AMBER Alert network.

The legislation, sponsored by Senator Feinstein and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), would establish a national coordinator for AMBER Alerts in the Department of Justice to expand the network of AMBER Alert systems and to coordinate the issuance of region-wide Amber Alerts.

It would also establish a grant program to provide for the development or upgrade of electronic message boards, and training and education programs. In addition, it would direct the Department of Justice to establish minimum standards to help states determine when and how broadly to issue an alert.

The following is the text of Senator Feinstein's statement:

"I am pleased to convene this hearing on legislation to fill in gaps in the existing patchwork of AMBER Alert programs. I have joined Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in authoring this legislation because I believe it will save the lives of children kidnapped by predators.

AMBER Alerts are official bulletins broadcast over the airwaves to enlist the public's help in tracking down abducted children facing imminent danger from their kidnappers.

The power of the AMBER alert can be seen in the recent kidnapping of two California teenage girls. On August 1, 2002, Tamara Brooks, 16, and Jacqueline Marris, 17, were abducted from their vehicles at gunpoint in Lancaster, California. Shortly thereafter, the California Highway Patrol issued an AMBER Alert on the girls disappearance.

Relying on a flurry of tips from the public, sheriff's deputies located the girls and their abductor, Roy Ratliff, in a vehicle in a dry riverbed, just 12 hours after the abduction. Ratliff was killed during an exchange of gunfire with sheriff's deputies, and the girls were returned home safely.

The AMBER Alert system and the effective work of the Kern County Sheriff's Department are the only reasons those girls are alive today. Children abducted in states without an AMBER Alert system, however, would not have been so fortunate. That is why we are introducing this legislation - to spur the development of State and local AMBER plans across the country so we can increase the chances that children abducted by strangers can be returned home safely.

Sharon Timmons testifies about how an AMBER Alert led to the return of her abducted daughter.

Each year, more than 58,000 children in the United States are abducted by non-family members, often in connection with another crime. In the most dangerous type of child abduction -- stranger abduction - fully 40% of children are murdered.

Speed is crucial to any effective law enforcement response to these most deadly cases. According to a study by the U.S. Department of Justice, 74 percent of children who were abducted, and later found murdered, are murdered in the first hours after being taken.

AMBER Alerts are a proven weapon in the fight against stranger abductions, especially in those cases where an abducted child is facing an imminent threat of harm. The program is named after nine-year-old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and murdered in Arlington, Texas in 1996. AMBER Alerts are such powerful tools because they can be issued within minutes of an abduction - disseminating key information of the crime to the community at large.

Nationally, since 1996, the AMBER Alert has been credited with the safe return of 29 children to their families, including one case in which an abductor reportedly released the child after hearing the alert himself. Since the State of California first adopted AMBER alerts just a month ago, the State has issued 13 AMBER alerts. Each of the AMBER Alerts concluded with the missing child being united with their families.

Eight of these alerts involved stranger abductions. Four involved family members, and one case is considered a false alarm. We will hear today about one of those cases - the story of Sharon Timmons and her daughter Nichole .

The AMBER legislation we are considering today is simple, yet very important. First, it would establish a national coordinator for AMBER Alerts in the Department of Justice to expand the network of AMBER Alert systems and to coordinate the issuance of region-wide AMBER Alerts. We need regional coordination of AMBER Alert because abductors of children may cross state lines as they flee crime scenes.

Second, the bill would establish grant programs at the Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation to provide for the development or upgrade of AMBER Alert systems, electronic message boards, and training and education programs. To date, AMBER Alert systems exist in 16 states and 32 local and regional jurisdictions. This bill would help the expansion of AMBER Alerts to new jurisdictions.

Third, the bill directs the Department of Justice to establish minimum standards for the coordination of AMBER alerts between jurisdictions.

I would also like to stress what the bill does not do. It is the specific intent of this bill not to interfere with the operation of the 50 State and local AMBER plans that are working so well. Participation in regional AMBER plans is only voluntary, and any plan that wishes to go it alone may still do so. The bill also does not change the very strict criteria of the AMBER Alert."

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