House Okays National Sex Offender Registry

WASHINGTON " The House voted Wednesday to give the public access to a national registry of sex offenders. Congressman Brad Sherman introduced similar legislation during his first year in Congress.

Shermans Child Protection Act, first proposed in 1997, called for creation of a national hotline to give the public access to a nationwide list of registered sexual predators. His bipartisan proposal was modeled on a statewide registry in California that provides parents a way to protect children from sex offenders convicted in California.

œA national registry will allow parents everywhere, who are the first line of defense for their families, to get the information that they need to protect their children from sexual predators convicted anywhere, Sherman said.

œCalifornia has an excellent system, he added, œbut a national registry will arm parents no matter where they live with information about predators no matter where they were convicted.

Sherman worked with Kids Safe of Granada Hills, a national leader in the fight against child abuse, to develop his original legislation.

Under the version that the House approved 371 to 52, a national sex offender registry would be maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The registry would include every person required to register in any jurisdiction's sex offender registry.

œFor eight years Ive been working for a system so parents, day-care centers and others could check to see if a particular individual has been convicted of a sexual offense anywhere in the country, said Sherman.

œFinally, parents will have this important tool to protect their children, he concluded.