Bring Home Missing Children

We join the rest of the country in sending a welcome home message to Elizabeth Smart. We are thrilled for the Smart family of Utah. Fourteen year-old Elizabeth was abducted from her bedroom nine months ago by a homeless person who the family felt sorry for and invited into their home, hiring him to do work.

Elizabeth has now been found by citizens who took action and we applaud these heroes. Although Elizabeth is home safe and loved, there will be many issues for her and her family to deal with. The road ahead will be a long and arduous one for this teenager, who by all rights should be enjoying school, friends, family and all of the things that teenagers look forward to.

Her life is changed forever because of one fanatic and his beliefs. We don't know everything that happened to Elizabeth Smart and frankly, it's none of our business. Elizabeth and her family need privacy in order to get through this ordeal. But we do know that Elizabeth was brainwashed and she was not able to escape. Now there are years of therapy ahead of this young girl and the memories will never go away.

We urge all parents to learn lessons from what has happened ,because not all kids are returned to their families!

• Be wary of who you let into your home. It is admirable to be socially responsible and help out someone who is less fortunate than yourself. A better alternative when you meet someone who is down on their luck is to give them money so they can go to a motel, buy food, etc. By letting strangers into your home and around your children, you are open to many potential problems, problems that could have serious consequences. We live in a very different world today and therefore our actions must be for the way we live today.
• If you have a burglar alarm in your home, use it every night and when your children are home.
• If people are doing work in your home, keep distance between them and your children. They're in your home to work, not to associate with your children.
• Educate your children and enroll them in self-defense classes.

We urge you to be aware! We also urge you to please contact your legislators and ask them to adopt the AMBER Plan in every state across America. The AMBER Plan must be used in ALL child-abduction cases.

The AMBER Plan is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System (EAS), to air a description of the abducted child and suspected abductor. The same concept used is during severe weather emergencies. The goal of the AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and safe return of the child. The AMBER Alert has saved the lives of 49 children.

Take Action!
Send more missing kids home: Tell your Representative to co-sponsor the National Amber Alert Act!

Elizabeth Smart is home and safe! We join her father, Ed Smart, in calling for the passage of the National Amber Alert Network Act. The U.S. House of Representatives is dragging its feet, but your actions RIGHT NOW can make the difference, your Representatives are listening.

Please copy this letter and send it to your Representative and other House Leaders, urging them to co-sponsor the National Amber Alert Network Act TODAY:
 

Dear

I am writing to join President Bush in calling for the passage of the National Amber Alert Network Act.
In January, the Senate unanimously passed the National Amber Alert Network Act of 2003 (S.121), sponsored by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Last week, Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn (R-WA) and Congressman Martin Frost (D-TX) afforded the House of Representatives the same opportunity to protect America's children by introducing a companion bill, the National Amber Alert Act of 2003 (H.R. 412). I am asking you to join over one hundred of your colleagues by becoming a co-sponsor of this legislation.
Last year, the President hosted the first White House Conference on Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children to raise public awareness about how we can make America's children safer. At the conference, the President correctly identified the Amber Alert Plan as being one of the most effective tools available to keep our children safe. The Amber Alert is a non-partisan tool for law enforcement and the public that helps stop kidnappers of children. We have all seen how successful Amber Alerts have been. To date, Amber Alerts have been credited with the recovery of 44 children. Thanks to the work of the Polly Klaas Foundation and other organizations, the number of states that have implemented statewide Amber Alert Plans has risen from 14 to 37 in less than three months. However, our work is far from done and we must not rest until a national network of Amber Alerts is created so that law enforcement can use Amber Alerts across state lines. In order to ensure that Amber Alert legislation is signed into law this year, I strongly encourage you to become a co-sponsor and urge the Judiciary Committee to send a clean bill to the House floor by May 25, National Missing Children's Day. For the 44 families whose children are back at home because of the Amber Alert, and for the hundreds of families still searching. It is critical to the security of America's children that National Amber Alert legislation be signed into law soon. Every day that a national Amber Alert system is not in place, is another day that law enforcement and the public have inadequate tools and resources needed to protect our children.

Sincerely,
Your Name

In doing this you will be helping a missing child to be found.