I hope you will celebrate
with me as Congress has finally passed the Jessica Lunsford Act.Included as part of a larger children’s
safety bill – H.R. 4472, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act – my
legislation closes dangerous loopholes in current law that hindered law
enforcement from finding nine year-old Jessica in time.My celebration is bittersweet, as the relief
of knowing children are better protected from dangerous sexual predators is
still mingled with my lingering grief and heartbreak at Jessica’s death.However, my heart is lighter because families
in Florida
will be able to sleep better at night, knowing this bill helps to protect their
precious children.
As you are no doubt aware,
convicted sex offender John Couey allegedly assaulted and murdered Jessica last
February.When the details of her death
came out, I was shocked that Couey’s current address was not on file and that
his current probation officer had no knowledge of his previous sex
offense.I immediately introduced H.R.
1505, the Jessica Lunsford Act, to fix these problems.My bill also required sex offenders to wear
electronic ankle devices when they fail to register or keep their address
current with law enforcement.To me,
these seemed like common sense measures to put into federal law.
Many of my colleagues were
also working on legislation to address issues like a sex offender registry and
child pornography, so we combined our bills into H.R. 4472, a comprehensive
bill that combines these changes with tough new penalties for sex offenders and
predators.Working across party lines
for children and families throughout the nation, Congress was able to pass an
inclusive child protection bill.
On July 27, I was honored to
be present as President Bush signed this historic bill into law.Finally, Mark Lunsford has a legacy for his
daughter Jessica of a guardian angel, keeping children safe by closing
dangerous loopholes in the law.Rest
assured, I will do everything in my power to make sure Congress does not stop
here, but continues to pass laws to protect America’s children.They deserve nothing less.
Veterans
