{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://biggs.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-biggs-statement-markup-amber-alert-indian-country-act", "Congressman Biggs' Statement at Markup of the AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act", "2017-11-29", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "Andy Biggs", "B001302", "biggs.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.\u00a0\u2013 Congressman Andy Biggs delivered the following remarks during today's\u00a0House Judiciary Committee\u2019s markup of the AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act\u00a0(H.R. 2666).\nThank you, Mr. Chairman.\nI am honored to be the sponsor of the AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act in memory of the life of Ashlynne Mike.\u00a0 I want to thank the Chairman for hearing this bill today.\u00a0\n11 year-old Ashlynne lived in the Navajo Nation \u2013 the largest Indian Reservation in the United States \u2013 located in 4 states: Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.\u00a0 Her favorite color was yellow, and she enjoyed playing music for her friends and family.\u00a0 She was a kindhearted young girl who had enormous potential.\u00a0\nAfter school on Monday, May 2, 2016, while Ashlynne and her 9 year-old brother Ian played near the local bus stop, a\u00a0stranger approached them and lured them into his vehicle by offering them a ride home.\u00a0 He abducted the children and took them to a remote part of the reservation, where he abused Ashlynne, slaughtered her, and left her brother to fend for himself in the desert.\u00a0 Ashlynne died alone.\u00a0\nAshlynne was abducted around 4:00 P.M.\u00a0 Her father filed a missing person report at 6:53 P.M., within 3 hours.\u00a0 Unfortunately, authorities did not send an AMBER Alert until 2:30 A.M. on Tuesday\u00a0\u2013 almost 10 hours after Ashlynne went missing.\u00a0\nAccording to law enforcement records, Tom Begay, Jr., Ashlynne\u2019s perpetrator, admitted that Ashlynne was alive when he left her stranded.\nMr. Chairman, had Indian Country been included as partners in the AMBER Alert Plans, law enforcement could have rescued Ashlynne in time, and she might still be alive today.\u00a0\nWhen a child is abducted, action in those first hours is crucial in their safe return.\u00a0 The AMBER Alert program has proven effective at instantly providing information to the public to assist in the effort. \u00a0According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, of the AMBER Alerts issued in 2016, 94 percent of the recovered children were found within the first 72 hours, including 47 percent who were found within the first three hours.\u00a0 Between 1997 and February 2017, the AMBER Alert program was credited with the safe recovery of 868 children.\u00a0 It is obvious that AMBER alerts save lives.\u00a0 Today we have the opportunity to ensure all children can benefit from the AMBER Alert program if necessary, no matter where they reside.\nMy bill \u2013 the AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2017 \u2013 amends the PROTECT Act of 2003, which initially established the federal AMBER Alert program, by:\n Including our 567 federally recognized tribes as partners in the AMBER Alert program;\n\tAllowing the U.S. Attorney General to waive the 50/50 federal share cost for Indian tribes on a case-by-case basis;\n\tRequiring the U.S. Attorney General to examine and report back to Congress on specific readiness, education, training needs, technological challenges, or other obstacles specific to Indian tribes.\n Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for bringing this bill forward and acknowledging the importance of filling a gap in our AMBER alert system that could have prevented the death of Ashlynne.\u00a0 I urge all the members of the committee to support this legislation.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://biggs.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-biggs-statement-markup-amber-alert-indian-country-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6219660174101591, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}