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Washington, Aug 29, 2002 - U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) announced his co-sponsorship of a new bill to create a nationwide AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert system in his speech yesterday to the Association of Threat Management Professionals' 12th Annual Threat Management Conference. At the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim Royce made the announcement when he accepted a "Lifetime Achievement Award". The association honored him for his visionary leadership in authoring anti-stalking and victims' rights legislation.

"Just last month, 5-year-old Samantha Runnion was abducted from in front of her home, sparking California's adoption of an AMBER Alert Plan," said Royce. "Speed is essential when trying to rescue an abducted child, and currently there is no national AMBER Alert plan. This legislation will coordinate law enforcement and the media's efforts to react quickly and get the word back to our communities."

A long-time advocate for victims' rights, Royce is an original cosponsor of this important legislation that will be introduced after Congress reconvenes on September 4th. As a California state senator, he authored the nation's first anti-stalking law, versions of which have been adopted in all 50 states, and later as a Member of Congress he authored the federal level anti-stalker law.

Created in 1996 after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was kidnapped and murdered, the AMBER Alert Plan is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. Similar to the concept used during severe weather emergencies, broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System to air a description of a missing child and suspected abductor to instantly enlist the help of entire communities in the search for and safe return of a child.

Royce also noted that when an AMBER Alert is activated, it does not go off in every state in the nation. Instead, the alert is targeted locally, regionally, or statewide only the areas that have adopted a plan. While only about a dozen states have AMBER plans, this legislation will create the necessary system to ensure that neighboring states and communities will be able to honor each other's alerts when an abductor is traveling with the child to other parts of the United States.