U.S. House Approves Cramer's Legislation to Overhaul Sex Offenders Laws

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 14, 2005

U.S. House Approves Cramer's Legislation to Overhaul Sex Offenders Laws

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Representative Bud Cramer (D-Ala.) announced today that the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Children's Safety Act of 2005. Cramer, an original cosponsor of this bill, said the House-passed legislation will increase and tighten supervision of sex offenders and will enhance uniform notification standards for tracking predators.

Earlier this year, Cramer and Representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.) introduced the Sex Offenders Registration and Notification Act. The Cramer-Foley bill would strengthen the ability of federal law enforcement to track convicted sex offenders and improve the ways neighborhoods and school districts are notified about convicted sex offenders. Title 1 of the Children's Safety Act of 2005 includes language from Cramer and Foley's bill.

Representative Cramer spoke in favor of the legislation during its consideration on the House floor.

"I'm proud to have been an original cosponsor of this legislation," said Cramer. "The Children's Safety Act of 2005 does in fact close the gaps. It tightens the ability to track down where convicted sex offenders are living and improves the ways we notify our neighborhoods and our school districts when convicted sex offenders choose to live in our communities.

"When watching the news, it is sickening to see how many communities, how many neighborhoods, how many parents are terrorized because sex offenders are back living in their neighborhoods. I know from being a district attorney that our states have done a lot to correct the gaps, but more needs to be done."

Representative Cramer became a leader in children's issues when he served as the District Attorney of Madison County. During that time, he worked extensively with children and families in the juvenile justice and foster care systems. Cramer is the founder of the first Children's Advocacy Center. Today, there are over 600 CACs across the United States. In Congress, Cramer is the co-founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, a bipartisan caucus with 137 Members of Congress.

Highlights of the Children's Safety Act:

- Improves the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Program to ensure that sex offenders register, and keep current, where they reside, work and attend school.

- Improves verification systems for sex offender information by requiring monthly verification, sex-offender in-person verification for 6 months, and regular notarized verification mailings.

- Requires states to have a uniform, public access sex offender registration website.

- Creates Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website to search for sex offender information in each community.

- Expands sex offenders to include juvenile sex offenders.

- Requires States to notify each other when sex offenders move from state to state.

- Expands sex offenses covered by registration and notification requirements to include crimes committed on military bases, tribal lands, and overseas.

- Expands community notification requirements to include active efforts to inform law enforcement agencies, schools, public housing, social service agencies, and volunteer organizations in areas where a sex offender resides, works or attends school.

- Creates new criminal penalty of mandatory minimum of 5 years to maximum of 20 years for a sex offender who fails to comply with registration requirements.

- Expands law enforcement use of DNA to solve sex crimes.

- Prevents and deters violent crimes against children and sexual exploitation of children.

- Protects foster children from sexual abuse and exploitation.

- Creates a demonstration project for tracking devices for 10 jurisdictions over 3 years.

http://cramer.house.gov/HoR/AL05/News/Press+Releases/2005/9-14-05+U.S.+House+Approves+Cramers+Legislation+to+Overhaul+Sex+Offenders+Laws.htm