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Bill includes CNMI to AMBER system
A bill that includes three U.S. territories into a nationwide system for locating missing children has been introduced on the U.S. House of Representatives.
Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) introduced over the weekend H.R. 6350 to incorporate Guam, the CNMI, and American Samoa into the America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response System, or AMBER System.
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) and American Samoa Delegate Aumua Amata C. Radewagen (R-AS) co-sponsor the bill.
“The AMBER alert system mobilizes law enforcement and the whole community in the case of missing, abducted, or exploited children. We want that protection for our children in the Pacific islands, too. It can save lives,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune.
“The bill authorizes federal funding to extend the national AMBER alert system to the Marianas, Guam, and American Samoa. And it is supported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,” he continued.
According to the official website for the system, AMBER is utilized in all 50 states including the District of Columbia, Indian country, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 22 other countries as well.
The website noted that as of March 2018, the system has assisted in the recovery of a total of 924 children.
The AMBER alert system was created in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed up with local police to develop early warning systems for missing children. The system was named after Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas before brutally murdered.
On April 30, 2003, former U.S. president George W. Bush enacted the PROTECT Act, which sets guidelines for missing children alert announcements. H.R. 6350 amends the legislation to include the CNMI, American Samoa, and Guam into the AMBER system.
