mr. chairman , as co-chairman of the congressional missing and exploited children 's caucus and an original author of the sex offender registration and notification measure included in this bill , i rise in strong support of h.r. 3132 , the children 's safety act of 2005 . 
mr. speaker , we have all heard the names : jessica lunsford , jetseta gage , sarah lunde , megan kanka , jacob wetterling , just to name a few . 
all beautiful children carrying with them the hopes and dreams of every young child in this country . 
all taken away from their parents and their futures , killed by sex offenders . 
this is an important piece of legislation we are faced with today . 
it is probably one of the most tragic things any family will ever deal with . 
while katrina , the hurricane , and judge roberts are much in the headlines , below the fold seems to be daily an occurrence of a violent act against our children . 
it is time we get tough . 
i have said repeatedly that in this country we track library books better than we do sex offenders . 
this bill , thanks to the good efforts of the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. sensenbrenner ) xz4003650 and others , seeks to correct that . 
this bill is not a knee-jerk reaction . 
we have worked over 1 year on this legislation with the national center for missing and exploited children , the u.s. department of justice , and other federal agencies . 
it is horrific that in this country we are experiencing these untold tragedies throughout our nation ; but we can do better , and in this bill we will do better . 
i would like to thank the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. sensenbrenner ) xz4003650 and his staff , mike volkov , for working tirelessly to produce this comprehensive child protection legislation . 
this bill has indeed many fathers and mothers . 
it is for the children , though , that we work and we labor . 
i have often said this bill is a labor of love . 
yet it is a labor of shame that we have these kinds of incidents of violence and tragedies affecting our kids . 
i would like to thank bradley schreiber , my legislative director , who has worked so many hours in trying to perfect and work alongside staff to make this legislation possible ; ernie allen from the national center for missing and exploited children ; john walsh from america 's most wanted , who has led a crusade for well over 20 years since the death of his beautiful son adam in florida . 
john walsh has brought a scrutiny to child protection legislation unlike any other human being . 
finally , and most important , i want to recognize the victims ' parents . 
it is their hard work and determination , their tears and their frustration , and their fears for their other children that has brought this bill to the floor so quickly . 
they took away from their own tragedies a chance to help fellow americans protect other children ; and for that we are entirely grateful . 
mr. chairman , these are not petty criminals . 
these are sex offenders , and they must be dealt with accordingly . 
