White House Conference on Missing, Exploited and Runaway Children

On October 2, President and Mrs. Bush will host the White House Conference on Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children to promote public awareness of the need to improve children's safety. The Conference will be held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. More than 600 people from across the country will attend the Conference, including parents of abducted children; law enforcement officials; federal, state and local leaders; citizen experts; and other leaders involved in the issue. During the course of the day, senior Administration officials and nationally recognized experts will participate in panel discussions on the full range of issues related to missing, exploited, and runaway children.

Following is an outline of activities. Times are approximate and subject to change. Panel participant lists are partial and are subject to change.

9:00 A.M. White House Conference on Missing, OPEN PRESS

Exploited, and Runaway Children Atrium Hall

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20004

9:00 WELCOMING REMARKS

Margaret Spellings, Assistant to the President for Domestic

Policy Moderator for Conference

9:05 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The Honorable John Ashcroft, Attorney General of the United

States

9:25 PANEL: RISKS TO AMERICA'S CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Moderator: Ernie Allen, President and CEO, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

• David Finkelhor, Ph.D., Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire (Durham, NH)
• Don and Claudine Ryce (Miami, FL)
• Phil E. Keith, Chief of Police, Knoxville Police Department (Knoxville, TN)
• Lucy Berliner, Director , Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress (Seattle, WA)

10:10 PANEL: WHAT'S WORKING ? SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS

Moderator: The Honorable Bob Flores, Administrator, Office of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice

• The Honorable Florence Shapiro, Texas State Senator (Addison, TX)
• Rick Minicucci, Chief Technology Officer, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (Alexandria, VA)
• Ed Harless, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, ADVO, Inc. (Windsor, CT)
• Lt. Bill Walsh, Dallas Police Department (Dallas, TX)

10:55 PANEL: THE FEDERAL ROLE

Moderator: The Honorable Robert Mueller, Director, Federal Bureau of

Investigations

• The Honorable Claude Allen, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• The Honorable Lee Heath, Chief Postal Inspector, U.S. Postal Inspection Service
• The Honorable Nina R. Hickson, Chief Presiding Judge, Fulton County Juvenile Court (Atlanta, GA)
• Sgt. Gary R. O'Connor (Retired), Lower Gwynedd Township Police Department (Lansdale, PA)
• Bradley Russ, Chief of Police, Portsmouth Police Department (Portsmouth, NH)

11:55 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: President George W. Bush

Introduced by First Lady Laura Bush

12:40 LUNCH BREAK

1:35 PANEL: INTERNATIONAL ABDUCTION AND TRAFFICKING

Moderator: The Honorable Paula Dobriansky, Undersecretary for Global Affairs, U.S. Department of State

• Gary Haugen, President and CEO, International Justice Mission(Washington, DC)
• Laura Lederer, Deputy Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of State
• Thomas R. Sylvester (Cincinnati, OH)
• The Honorable James D. Garbolino, Superior Court of California (Auburn, CA)

2:20 PANEL: CARE FOR MISSING CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES

Moderator: The Honorable Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human

Services

• Donna Linder, Executive Director, Child Find of America (New Paltz,NY)
• Sister Mary Rose McGeady, President, Covenant House (New York, NY)
• Ann W. Burgess, Boston College School of Nursing (Philadelphia, PA)
• Patty Wetterling, Co-Founder, Jacob Wetterling Foundation (St. Joseph, MN)
• Bishop Keith Butler, Pastor, Word of Faith International Christian Center (Southfield, MI)

3:00 BREAK

3:20 PANEL: PREVENTING THE VICTIMIZATION OF CHILDREN

Moderator: The Honorable Rod Paige, Secretary of Education

• Susan Breault, Executive Director, The Paul and Lisa Program, Inc.(Westbrook, CT)
• Kenneth Wooden, Founder, Child Lures, Ltd., Child Lures Prevention(Shelburne, VT)
• James Kelly, Chief of Police, Palm Beach County School District (West Palm Beach, FL)

4:05 PANEL: THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA AND CORPORATIONS

Moderator: John Walsh, Host "America's Most Wanted"

• John Murphy, Vice President Loss Prevention, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(Bentonville, AR)
• Alina Falcon, Senior Vice President and Director of News Division, Univision (Miami, FL)
• Jim O'Connor, Group Vice President, Marketing Sales and Service, Ford Motor Company (Dearborn, MI)
• Martha Nelson, Editor-in-Chief, People Magazine (New York, NY)
• Parry Aftab, Executive Director, Wiredsafety.org (New York, NY)

PRESS CREDENTIALS: Credentials will be issued at the event site on the day of the event. Every member of the press will be required to produce ONE of the following forms of identification:

*National, state or local press pass

*Police or Fire Department-issued press pass

*Letter of introduction on company letterhead (NO FAX OR PHOTOCOPIES WILL BE ACCEPTED), accompanied by a government-issued photo ID

Panel participants will be available during the lunch break by request.

Please contact Taylor Griffin, White House Office of Media Affairs, at 202-456-6238.

Requests should be received by close of business on Tuesday, October 1.

Secret Service sweep time and media pre-set time will be announced on Monday, September 30.