New Federal Law Coming?

Kelly

Founder, Project Jason
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I have been informed that the deputy director of the National Center for Victims of Crime said that H. RES. 303, a proposed federal law, passed unanimously today in the House of Representatives! We're not sure at this time, but it sounds like this means it will become law.

H. RES. 303 states that "a day ought to be established to bring awareness to the issue of missing persons."

Missing children have their national day. Now all missing persons will have a day to remember and honor them, should this bill be signed into law. I have confidence it will and am checking to find more information about it.

I believe this is the same bill that my friends Doug and Mary Lyall from the Center for Hope have been working on for several years. I will get more clarification tomorrow.

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a day ought to be established to bring awareness to the issue of missing persons.

Whereas each year tens of thousands of people go missing in the United States;

Whereas, on any given day, there are as many as 100,000 active missing persons cases in the United States;

Whereas the Missing Persons File of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) was implemented in 1975;

Whereas, in 2005, 109,531 persons were reported missing to law enforcement agencies nationwide, of whom 11,868 were between the ages of 18 and 20;

Whereas section 204 of the PROTECT Act, known as Suzanne's Law and passed by Congress on April 10, 2003, modifies section 3701(a) of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5779(a)), so that agencies must enter records into the NCIC database for all missing persons under the age of 21;

Whereas Kristen's Act (42 U.S.C. 14665), passed in 1999, has established grants for organizations to, among other things, track missing persons and provide informational services to families and the public;

Whereas, according to the NCIC, 48,639 missing persons were located in 2005, an improvement of 4.2 percent from the previous year;

Whereas many persons reported missing may be victims of Alzheimer's disease or other health-related issues, or may be victims of foul play;

Whereas, regardless of age or circumstances, all missing persons have families who need support and guidance to endure the days, months, or years they may spend searching for their missing loved ones; and

Whereas it is important to applaud the committed efforts of families, law enforcement agencies, and concerned citizens who work to locate missing persons and to prevent all forms of victimization: Now, therefore, be it


Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--

(1) a day ought to be established to bring awareness to the issue of missing persons; and

(2) the people of the United States should be encouraged to--

(A) observe the day with appropriate programs and activities; and

(B) support worthy initiatives and increased efforts to locate missing persons.


Kelly, Project Jason

We are the Voice for the Missing; speaking for those who are not among us but who are forever in our hearts.
 
Here's an update on the breaking news I reported a week or so ago about our friends, Doug and Mary Lyall, parents of missing Suzanne Lyall, and the national law they inspired.

It is now awaiting the President's signature. I have all confidence he will sign it!

We WILL have a National Missing Person's Day!

Kelly, Project Jason

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=626872&category=REGION&newsdate=10/3/2007

Lyalls' missing persons work goes national


By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer

First published: Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Those who have gone missing in New York state are remembered each year on April 6, the birthday of Suzanne Lyall, the University at Albany student who disappeared nearly 10 years ago.

Doug and Mary Lyall are keeping their fingers crossed that a National Missing Persons Day will also be April 6. It all happened very fast last week.

The Lyalls watched on C-Span as Rep. Kirstin Gillibrand, D-Greenport, proposed the national day on the House floor. It passed the House and later cleared the U.S. Senate with the support of her fellow New York Democrat, Sen. Charles E. Schumer. Now it needs the signature of President Bush.

The Lyalls had worked with John Sweeney, the Halfmoon Republican who lost his re-election bid to Gillibrand.

"We decided we still would like to get this done, and we approached Kirsten Gillibrand," Mary Lyall said. "We talked to her for about 20 minutes one day, and the next thing I know we're getting some good information back that she was going to propose this as soon as the session began."

The legislation's future is in Bush's hand. "Now we're just waiting to see if the President signs it," she said. "We're pretty excited."

National Missing Persons Day will not only memorialize Suzanne Lyall, it will also raise the nation's awareness of missing people, Schumer said.

"It's absolutely essential that we shine light on the hundreds of New Yorkers who go missing every year," the New York's senior senator said. "The memory of Suzanne Lyall is a tragic reminder that we must do everything humanly possible to extend help and hope to those in need."

April 6 would "allow Americans to appropriately remember the victims, their families and the efforts of local law enforcement and the community," Gillibrand said.

The country has a National Missing Children Day on May 25.

Suzanne Lyall, 19 and a sophomore computer sciences major, is believed to have vanished after stepping off a CDTA bus at Collins Circle on the uptown campus, March 2, 1998, about 9:45 p.m. after leaving her job at a computer store at Crossgates Mall.

On March 2, it will be 10 years since the Lyalls lost their daughter. On April 6, Suzanne would have been 30, "and hopefully, it'll go through and we'll have a National Missing Persons Day," her mother said.
 

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