Tell Congress to Toughen Laws Against Sex Offenders and Pedophiles

My message is simple. It's time to hold states accountable for tracking child sex offenders, hold offenders accountable by enforcing real punishment when they fail to resgister, and to give state governments the money they need to do this once and for all.

In the last few months, too many innocent children have been harmed and killed by convicted sex offenders who found ways to avoid the very system used to "track" them. The problem is growing, and needless to say, the system is insufficient.

Rather than sitting and waiting for the laws to change, I went to Capitol Hill this week, along with representatives of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. We marched through the halls of Congress, bringing our message straight to the hearts of those who can fix the problem.

I have some great news to report. They listened.

Members of Congress are working together to close the loopholes and to fill in the cracks of the current sex offender registration system. But they can't do it without your help.

Representative Mark Foley of Florida and his staff worked for a year writing a comprehensive bill with some important conditions. We hope his thoughtful legislation will become the basis of a bipartisan effort. Rep. Foley will work with Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, Representative Bud Cramer, and Senators Joe Biden and Orrin Hatch to perfect this bill and make its goals a reality. For the bill to have the maximum impact, there will have to be some vital components.

Sex offenders should have to reregister in person twice a year instead of once.

Violent sex offenders should have to reregister in person every three months.

A new federally maintained sex offender DNA database should be created.

The bill must fully integrate the "Megan's Law" amendment into the Wetterling Act.

The bill must develop clear guidelines to determine the threat level posed by each convicted sex offender – using three levels of danger to determine who should register and how often they should be monitored by law enforcement.

The bill should mandate use of tracking devices for the worst offenders.

The bill should add to the registry people convicted of using the Internet to commit a crime against a child.

The bill should make it a felony to lie on the registry, or fail to register.

Most importantly, the bill should develop a system for states to communicate with each other when a sex offender crosses state lines.

If we can tighten up the existing system with these provisions, I guarantee it will help. Please write to your representative telling them you care about this issue – and that you support the ideas. It's time to stand together to protect our children. You can copy the text below into a word processor and send it to your representatives. Do it today!