Washington, DC, Jul 25, 2006 -

U.S. Congressman John Carter (TX-31) today voted in favor of a bill that will protect our children against sexual predators. H.R. 4472, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act will enhance sex offender registry requirements; strengthen penalties for sex offenders who fail to register properly; enhance protections against internet predators, and will assist in the fight against child pornography.

“As a father of four, I strongly support efforts to keep our children protected—especially from sexual predators. As an elected state judge for 20 years, I put criminals behind bars so our children might live in a safer world,” Congressman Carter said. “The sexual abuse and exploitation of a child is one of the most despicable and vicious crimes conceivable and this bill will help protect our children from these vile perpetrators. The bill passed by the House today will increase the penalties for kidnapping or sexually assaulting a child and gives law enforcement greater support in fighting these predators.”

H.R. 4472 will also create the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website to search for sex offender information in each community and will improve the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Program to ensure that sex offenders register – and keep current – where they reside, work, and attend school.

Congressman Carter has long supported initiatives to protect our nation’s children. Carter wrote a provision of the AMBER Alert law that requires the Department of Justice to review the background approval process for volunteers of child related organizations. This pilot program requires the Attorney General’s office to look at the current state of fingerprinting technology and the federal and state governments’ capacity to perform these checks.