WASHINGTON — Undaunted by last year's last-minute failure on Amber Alert legislation, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison reintroduced a measure Tuesday to create a national system for quickly locating abducted children.
The Texas Republican again teamed with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to expand the program, which asks for the public's help in locating abducted children by using radio, television and highway message boards.
"Forty-three children in this country have been saved by the Amber Alert," Hutchison said. "If there is any reason that needed to be stated beyond that, I can't imagine what it is."
An identical bill sailed through the Senate last summer but got bogged down in the House. The House Judiciary Committee eventually approved a bill in October, but there wasn't enough time remaining before Congress adjourned.
"I suspect we'll move this out very quickly (again)," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. "And I suspect the other body will approve it, too."
The bill, which has 25 bipartisan Senate co-sponsors, would:
— Create a national Amber Alert coordinator in the Justice Department — particularly useful when an abduction occurs near state lines. "We want to let (law officers) make one call . . . and say please put out an Amber Alert in these contiguous states," Hutchison said.
— Allocate $25 million to help states set up or expand Amber Alerts.
— Direct the Justice Department to establish voluntary standards to improve coordination between states.
President Bush last year signed an executive order establishing many of the bill's provisions but asked Congress to codify the rules for future administrations.
Amber Alerts have been set up in 33 states, including Texas. The system is named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old who was abducted and murdered in Arlington seven years ago this week.
"There aren't many pieces of legislation where you can actually attribute lives saved to a specific program," Feinstein said. "Amber Alert is one of those."