Bush Pushes Abduction Prevention Programs

President Bush on Wednesday announced a federal push to help broaden a voluntary rapid-response alert system on abducted youth, in hopes preventing the "terrible, terrible loss" of a child.

With the heartbroken but still-hopeful parents of missing Elizabeth Smart looking on, Bush said that the Justice Department would develop a national standard for the Amber Alert electronic notifications that speed information about kidnapped children to the public. According to a White House fact sheet, the goal is limit the alerts to "rare instances of serious child abductions" and ensure their effectiveness is not undermined by overuse.

The president also announced a new Amber Alert coordinator at the Justice Department who will work on increasing cooperation among state and local plans and disbursing $10 million in federal money for training and equipment upgrades.

"The kidnapping of a child is every parent's worst nightmare, yet too many moms and dads have experienced this nightmare across America. Too many have suffered," Bush told about 600 family members, law enforcement officials and experts attending the daylong White House Conference on Missing, Exploited and Runaway Children. "Our society has a duty, has a solemn duty to shield children from exploitation and danger."

Activists have sought to expand the use of the alerts, developed after the 1996 kidnapping and murder of 9-year Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas, and now in use in more than a dozen states. The Senate approved a bill in September that would provide $25 million to help create a national network; similar legislation is moving through the House.

Thirty-two children have been found as a result of an Amber Alert, in which law enforcement agencies that choose to participate distribute photos and other information about missing children and their abductors to television and radio stations via the Emergency Alert System created during the Cold War. Some states are also flashing alerts to drivers on roadside emergency signs.

A series of high-profile child abductions _ Samantha Runnion and Danielle van Dam in California, Cassandra Williamson in Missouri and Smart _ have filled the headlines this year and terrified parents.

Though the other girls were found slain, Elizabeth Smart remains missing, her kidnapping unsolved. Elizabeth was taken from her Salt Lake City bedroom in the early morning of June 5. Her 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, was the only witness and told police a man with a gun took her sister.

Elizabeth's mother, Lois Smart, called the conference "the best thing that's ever happened to promote the safety of children."

Before his remarks, Bush met privately for about 45 minutes with about a dozen people involved in missing children cases _ "parents who have had the most precious person in their lives suddenly and brutally taken away from them," the president said.

Among those in the meeting were the sheriff in the Runnion case and teenager Tamara Brooks, with her mother, Sharon. Tamara and Jacqueline Marris were abducted at gunpoint in Lancaster, Calif., and rescued 12 hours later when sheriff's deputies closed in on their abductors stolen car in a remote location and shot him to death.

"Some of these parents were eventually reunited with their children. Some are still hoping and waiting. Some know they will never see their loved ones again in this earthly life," Bush said. "When a child's life or liberty or innocence is taken, it is a terrible, terrible loss."

Despite the attention to recent cases, experts say abductions by strangers _ the most dangerous type _ remain rare. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates the total number of cases annually at 100 now, down from 200 to 300 in the 1980s. However, the Justice Department estimates that about 40 percent of these children are killed and that another 4 percent are never found.

Overall, about 800,000 children are reported missing to police nationwide each year, most runaways or children taken by a parent or other family member, the Justice Department said.

With the heartbroken but still-hopeful parents of missing Elizabeth Smart looking on, Bush said that the Justice Department would develop a national standard for the Amber Alert electronic notifications that speed information about kidnapped children to the public. According to a White House fact sheet, the goal is limit the alerts to "rare instances of serious child abductions" and ensure their effectiveness is not undermined by overuse.

The president also announced a new Amber Alert coordinator at the Justice Department who will work on increasing cooperation among state and local plans and disbursing $10 million in federal money for training and equipment upgrades.

"The kidnapping of a child is every parent's worst nightmare, yet too many moms and dads have experienced this nightmare across America. Too many have suffered," Bush told about 600 family members, law enforcement officials and experts attending the daylong White House Conference on Missing, Exploited and Runaway Children. "Our society has a duty, has a solemn duty to shield children from exploitation and danger."

Activists have sought to expand the use of the alerts, developed after the 1996 kidnapping and murder of 9-year Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas, and now in use in more than a dozen states. The Senate approved a bill in September that would provide $25 million to help create a national network; similar legislation is moving through the House.

Thirty-two children have been found as a result of an Amber Alert, in which law enforcement agencies that choose to participate distribute photos and other information about missing children and their abductors to television and radio stations via the Emergency Alert System created during the Cold War. Some states are also flashing alerts to drivers on roadside emergency signs.

A series of high-profile child abductions _ Samantha Runnion and Danielle van Dam in California, Cassandra Williamson in Missouri and Smart _ have filled the headlines this year and terrified parents.

Though the other girls were found slain, Elizabeth Smart remains missing, her kidnapping unsolved. Elizabeth was taken from her Salt Lake City bedroom in the early morning of June 5. Her 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, was the only witness and told police a man with a gun took her sister.

Elizabeth's mother, Lois Smart, called the conference "the best thing that's ever happened to promote the safety of children."

Before his remarks, Bush met privately for about 45 minutes with about a dozen people involved in missing children cases _ "parents who have had the most precious person in their lives suddenly and brutally taken away from them," the president said.

Among those in the meeting were the sheriff in the Runnion case and teenager Tamara Brooks, with her mother, Sharon. Tamara and Jacqueline Marris were abducted at gunpoint in Lancaster, Calif., and rescued 12 hours later when sheriff's deputies closed in on their abductors stolen car in a remote location and shot him to death.

"Some of these parents were eventually reunited with their children. Some are still hoping and waiting. Some know they will never see their loved ones again in this earthly life," Bush said. "When a child's life or liberty or innocence is taken, it is a terrible, terrible loss."

Despite the attention to recent cases, experts say abductions by strangers _ the most dangerous type _ remain rare. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates the total number of cases annually at 100 now, down from 200 to 300 in the 1980s. However, the Justice Department estimates that about 40 percent of these children are killed and that another 4 percent are never found.

Overall, about 800,000 children are reported missing to police nationwide each year, most runaways or children taken by a parent or other family member, the Justice Department said.