U.S. HOUSE CLEARS STRONG Child
Protection Legislation FOR PRESIDENT’S SIGNATURE

 legislation defends children & other victims from sexual predators

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States House of Representatives Tuesday gave final approval to strong and effective child protection legislation which has been described as the most important child protection legislation of the last 25 years.

“Our children are our nation’s most precious resource and we must fight to protect them,” said Iowa Congressman Tom Latham who has repeatedly supported the legislation over the past two years.  “When this bill is signed into law this week it will arm our states and local communities with the tools they need to combat threats posed by sex offenders and violent criminals”.

The legislation, H.R. 4472, the “Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006,” protects the nation’s children by strengthening and improving sex offender registration and notification programs, enhancing law enforcement resources, preventing child exploitation, stopping child pornography and creating new criminal offense penalties protecting children from the Internet, and authorizes financial grants and other programs to protect and help children.

Latham noted that this legislation is especially long overdue based on the fact that more than 100,000 of the nation’s sex offenders are considered “missing” because their locations are unknown to the public and law enforcement.  “The requirements of national registration of sex offenders, mandated regular updates, frequent in-person verification, and tough criminal penalties contained in this legislation makes it clear to sex offenders across America that the days of hiding behind state to state loopholes are over.”

President Bush is expected to sign the legislation into law this week.