National Silver Alert Act

NATIONAL SILVER ALERT ACT -- (House of Representatives - September 15, 2008)

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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia for his help and leadership on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6064, the National Sliver Alert Act, which I authored and on which we have had very good bipartisan cooperation. I appreciate the statement, the concern and cooperation of the gentleman from Florida who has recounted a very serious incident that occurred in his State, and I appreciate the leadership of the gentlewoman from North Carolina. We merged our proposals in committee and have reauthorized through this legislation the National Center for Missing Adults.

Our seniors, who have worked a lifetime building families, giving back to their communities, deserve dignity and respect in their retirement years. And when some of them are unable to care for themselves, they need our support. There is no silver bullet to providing that support, but one meaningful way of helping is through the national Silver Alert system that this measure would establish nationwide.

Silver Alert is a public notification system triggered by the report of the missing senior with dementia or other mental impairment, similar to Amber Alert which has worked so successfully to find missing children, where we rely on postings on the highways, radio, television, and various forms of media to broadcast information about missing persons, to locate them, and bring them safely home.

Sixty percent of those with Alzheimer's wander away from home at some point during their disability. If not found within 24 hours, up to half will suffer serious injury or death. Only 4 percent of those who leave home are able to get back without some assistance. Silver Alert provides that assistance.

Responding to this need, 11 States, including my home State of Texas, have already enacted such programs, and another five States are seriously considering State legislation.

While this is successful and important, we believe that every American should have the benefits of Silver Alert and that all States can benefit from learning about best practices that are occurring around the country.

The National AMBER Alert law, which Congress approved in 2003, has provided the national leadership to coordinate State programs, link States to resources and best practices, and fund the technology and improvements necessary to assure the best assistance that we can provide.

National Silver Alert will do much the same, coordinating from the Justice Department with the Federal Communication Commission, the Department of Transportation and the Administration on Aging to avoid duplication of efforts. This is a voluntary program that will help States initiate Silver Alert programs and sustain those that are already underway.

In short, coordination saves lives. Reuniting missing seniors with their families requires a rapid, united response. What's missing from efforts to locate missing seniors is sufficient Federal support, and this bill closes that gap.

With National Silver Alert, communities can use and build on existing resources to help keep our seniors safe. And as the population of the United States ages, more and more seniors will need this kind of support.

Since its inception in Texas last September, Silver Alert has been invoked 52 times. Forty-eight of the missing seniors were located safely, and 13 of these recoveries were directly attributable to Silver Alert.

One of these successes involved an 85-year-old man in my district in Austin. He left his home in Austin, drove south to San Antonio, then turned around and drove back, all the way through Austin to Dallas, a total of 325 miles. If it had occurred, instead of on I-35 in Texas, if it occurred here in the Northeast, he would have traveled through seven States.

He was finally located in a parking lot at a department store late at night in Dallas. The responding officer had heard about the Silver Alert, knew there was a missing person from Austin in a dark green Buick. They were able to connect him back, after some treatment for dehydration, and get him back the next morning to his family in Austin.

A National Silver Alert program complements other existing programs like Project Lifesaver, the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Program Alert Program, and I believe that Silver Alert will be effective with a unique ``wide net'' approach. The ability to broadcast the alert beyond the immediate vicinity will complement existing programs and assure more missing seniors are found within that crucial first 24 hours.

I especially want to thank two Texans, Bill Cummings and Carlos Higgins of the Texas Silver Haired Legislature, who first asked me to develop this legislation to replicate nationally the success that they experienced through Texas Silver Alert. This bill shows that it is still possible, at least on a rather occasion, for an individual citizen who has a good cause but no lobbyists to get the attention of Congress and get legislation, creative solutions adopted. Since they first proposed the bill to me it has gained the endorsement of the Elder Justice Coalition, the National Silver Haired Legislature, the Child Alert Foundation, the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, and the Assisted Living Federation of America.

I appreciate the cooperation of my colleagues in getting this measure approved. I urge its adoption, recognizing that by working together we can take an important step toward making our seniors safe.

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