Proposed Law Would Help US Marshals Track Sex Offenders

4/7/2011

 


On July 27, 2006, 25 years to the day after the abduction and murder of John Walsh's son Adam, the Walshes look on as President Bush signs a new bill into law, named in memory of their son.

 

When AMW viewers helped persuade Congress to pass the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act in 2006, it was a big step toward protecting our children from predators. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on July 27, 2006 -- the 25th anniversary of the kidnapping and murder of John and Revè Walsh's 6-year-old son, Adam. Among other things, The Adam Walsh law creates a national sex offender registry and makes failing to register a federal crime. It assigns the U.S. Marshals Service the primary job of tracking down unregistered offenders.

A bill now under consideration in the Senate would give the Marshals a powerful and much-needed new tool for tracking these creeps: the power to issue subpoenas. The Finding Fugitive Sex Offender Act of 2011, S671, was introduced on March 29, 2011, with bipartisan support. AMW host John Walsh is calling on members of the public to show their support for the bill by contacting their lawmakers, just as they did for the Adam Walsh Act.

"This is a great piece of legislation that will make America a lot safer for children," says Walsh.

According to one of the bill's main sponsors, Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, S671 would allow the Marshals to hunt down unregistered sex offenders across jurisdictions in real-time.

"As offenders circumvent the law to hide their location, every second could mean the difference between life and death for a new set of victims," says Sen. Sessions. "Marshals must have the ability to quickly obtain vital information in these fast-moving investigations of unregistered sex offenders, so they will be able to find missing predators more easily and greatly curb the threat of future offenses."

In addition to Sen. Sessions, other cosponsors of the bill include Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Richard Burr, R-N.C.; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; Thomas Coburn, R-Okla.;  Susan Collins, R-Maine; John Cornyn, R-Texas; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.;  Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Charles Grassley, R-Iowa; Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Mike Lee, R-Utah; John Thune, R-S.D.; David Vitter, R-La.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

Here's a sample of a letter that you can send to your U.S. Senator, asking them to support the Finding Fugitive Sex Offender Act of 2011:

Dear Senator ________________________

I'm writing to let you know that I support the passage of S671, "The Finding Fugitive Sex Offender Act of 2011."

The Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act, signed by President Bush in 2006, was a major step in protecting our children. It gives the U.S. Marshals Service primary authority to hunt down and arrest unregistered sex offenders. S671, introduced with bipartisan support, would give the Marshals a much-needed new tool to fulfill that mandate: administrative subpoena power that would allow the Marshals the ability to track unregistered sex offenders in real time across jurisdictions.

I hope you will do everything within your power to see that the Finding Fugitive Sex Offender Act of 2011 becomes law as quickly as possible so that America can be made safer for our children.

Sincerely,
Your Name Here

You can cut and paste this letter into an e-mail to your Senator. Click here for a list of Senators' e-mail addresses.

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