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| July 20th, 2006 |
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Media Contact(s): Peter Carr (202) 224-9854,
Jared Whitley (202) 224-0134 |
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Printable Version |
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CONGRESS REACHES AGREEMENT ON HATCH
Pres. Bush Will Sign The Adam Walsh Act On July 27 |
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| Sen. Hatch discusses his sex-offender registry bill with Utahns Ed and Elizabeth Smart and with "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh on July 19, 2006. The Smarts and Walsh have lobbied and spoken out tirelessly on behalf of the Hatch bill. Hatch is holding an example of the ankle-tracking devices that will be attached to the worst of the worst convicted offenders. |
Washington – Congress reached a final compromise today between the House and Senate versions of Sen. Orrin G. Hatch’s (R-Utah) sex offender bill. The final law is named The Adam Walsh Act, after the son of “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh. President Bush has promised to sign the bill on July 27, the 25th anniversary of Adam’s abduction and subsequent murder.
“Before this, we tracked library books in this country better than sex offenders,” Hatch said. “Now law enforcement will have the best means possible to throw the book at sex offenders and protect our nation’s most precious natural resource: our kids.”
The Adam Walsh Act will create a national database and require convicted sex offenders to register their whereabouts every month in person. Failure to comply would be a felony. Existing sex-offender sites are managed from state to state, and do not correspond with each other. Under current law, convicts are required to register usually only once per year, by mail, and failure to comply is only a misdemeanor. The bill also authorizes funding for tracking devices for the worst sex offenders.
“Sex offenders use the Internet as an ‘open game preserve’ to prey on kids,” Hatch said. “With this law, now the good guys will use the Internet to hunt them.”
The Hatch legislation will also create within the Department of Justice the SMART office specifically targeting sex offenders. An acronym for Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registration, Tracking, the SMART office is also a tribute to Utahn Elizabeth Smart and her family. Smart was kidnapped from her home four years ago and miraculously recovered nine months later. Since then, she and her father, Ed Smart, have been tireless advocates for sex-crime victims and laws to help them, including this law.
“As the father of six and the grandfather of 22, I can only imagine how those parents must feel when their children become the victims of sexual predators,” Hatch said. “I am confident that because of Congress’s swift action today, in the future there will be fewer victims in America, and fewer sex offenders roaming free.”
Hatch has always sought for aggressive, innovative ways to protect children from criminals. In 1982, Hatch supported legislation to create the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In 2003, he authored the PROTECT ACT, which simplifies prosecution against pedophiles and child pornographers.
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