SALEM – Oregon State Representative Donna Nelson (R-McMinnville) celebrated an important milestone towards enacting Dalton’s Law. House Bill 3176, named after the late Dalton Robertson, was unanimously approved by the House Judiciary Committee and will now proceed to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote.
In 2005, Dalton Robertson disappeared in his brand new car equipped with an anti-theft vehicle locator device. Because the device could only be activated by the vehicle’s owner, law enforcement was unable to use it to find Dalton. When Dalton was found five days later, he was already dead; the coroner’s report indicated his death occurred earlier that same day. Had law enforcement been able to quickly obtain the vehicle location, Dalton could have been saved.
“This is a great day for the safety of our citizens,” said Representative Nelson. “This bill will help law enforcement quickly and safely find missing people when lives are in danger.”
Once enacted, Dalton’s Law would require vehicle location services to provide vehicle location information to law enforcement when life is danger or when crimes are committed. Representative Nelson’s office worked together with the Department of Justice and civil liberties groups to strengthen the bill’s capabilities to respond to life-threatening emergencies while protecting individual rights. J Graigory, Representative Nelson’s son and a personal friend of Dalton Robertson, emphasized the focus of the bill: “Dalton’s Law is about time: it protects the responsibility to obtain search warrants while affording the opportunity of law enforcement to save lives when time is of the essence, such as an Amber Alert, a violent car-jacking, or when a person suffering from an illness disappears.”
During the committee hearing, Representative Nelson read a prepared statement from Ann Robertson, Dalton’s Mother: “The greatest gift of Dalton’s Law is sparing a mother the frustration and anguish of knowing there is a way to immediately locate her son who’s in imminent danger, but law enforcement is not being allowed to utilize it—so the family must wait. Wait and fear. Wait and cry. Wait until it’s too late. House Bill 3176—Dalton’s Law—will not only save lives, it will save mothers and brothers and cousins and spouses from that terrible wait.”
The committee also received written testimony from John Walsh, host of America’s Most Wanted. “Every minute counts when trying to find missing persons. Oregon House Bill 3176 saves time, saves the resources of law enforcement, and saves lives.” The importance of time was echoed in written testimony from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. According to NCMEC President Ernie Allen, “immediate response is critical to safely recovering an abducted child. A recent study found that in 76% of the child abduction-homicide cases, the child is killed within the first 3 hours.”
Representative Nelson is optimistic that Dalton’s Law will soon pass the House of Representatives and move on to the Oregon Senate for further consideration.
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Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Friday, April 27, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Dalton's Law
SALEM – Oregon State Representative Donna Nelson (R-McMinnville) has introduced House Bill 3176, named Dalton’s Law, in honor of the late Dalton Robertson. Dalton was a close friend of Representative Nelson’s family.
In 2005, Dalton Robertson disappeared, along with his brand new car. The car did not yet have license plates, but was equipped with LoJack. Despite requests by Dalton’s mother and local law enforcement, LoJack was unable to provide information on the whereabouts of the vehicle without permission from Dalton himself. Dalton was found dead five days later; the coroner’s report indicated Dalton died earlier that day.
“It is such a tragedy, and it might have been stopped had emergency services been able to use the information available from his automobile,” said Representative Nelson. “I’m bringing Dalton’s Law to Oregon to help prevent this from happening again, to help save lives.”
House Bill 3176 would give emergency personnel the ability to obtain information from telematic service providers, the companies providing such services as LoJack and OnStar for the owners of new automobiles, when there is probable cause to believe lives are in danger. “This is as appropriate as the Amber Alert System,” Representative Nelson stated. “It takes the search for a missing person from a needle-in-a-haystack to a precise search and rescue—and it protects service providers who risk liability from providing customer information.”
House Bill 3176 has bipartisan support in the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Representative Nelson is currently working with Oregon’s law enforcement community to help garner additional support for Dalton’s Law.
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In 2005, Dalton Robertson disappeared, along with his brand new car. The car did not yet have license plates, but was equipped with LoJack. Despite requests by Dalton’s mother and local law enforcement, LoJack was unable to provide information on the whereabouts of the vehicle without permission from Dalton himself. Dalton was found dead five days later; the coroner’s report indicated Dalton died earlier that day.
“It is such a tragedy, and it might have been stopped had emergency services been able to use the information available from his automobile,” said Representative Nelson. “I’m bringing Dalton’s Law to Oregon to help prevent this from happening again, to help save lives.”
House Bill 3176 would give emergency personnel the ability to obtain information from telematic service providers, the companies providing such services as LoJack and OnStar for the owners of new automobiles, when there is probable cause to believe lives are in danger. “This is as appropriate as the Amber Alert System,” Representative Nelson stated. “It takes the search for a missing person from a needle-in-a-haystack to a precise search and rescue—and it protects service providers who risk liability from providing customer information.”
House Bill 3176 has bipartisan support in the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Representative Nelson is currently working with Oregon’s law enforcement community to help garner additional support for Dalton’s Law.
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Thursday, January 18, 2007
HB 2459
It's been a busy day - office phone was ringing off the hook, KATU stopped by the office, radio stations and newspapers want statements - all over HB 2459, my English Language Bill.
E-mail into the office has been about 10-1 in favor of the bill. What makes me sad is that the negative e-mails, rather than addressing actual issues, have been almost entirely mean-spirited ad hominem attacks. Funny thing is, people like to make comments about my attitude towards minorities or the Spanish Language without realizing that I've travelled to 178 different countries on business in my life (where I learned first hand the difficulties of not having a common language) or that my mother was a Spanish teacher...
Oh well, when you make a principled stand on a controversial issue, you have to expect that sort of treatment.
Keep your eyes on KATU tonight to see the story!
E-mail into the office has been about 10-1 in favor of the bill. What makes me sad is that the negative e-mails, rather than addressing actual issues, have been almost entirely mean-spirited ad hominem attacks. Funny thing is, people like to make comments about my attitude towards minorities or the Spanish Language without realizing that I've travelled to 178 different countries on business in my life (where I learned first hand the difficulties of not having a common language) or that my mother was a Spanish teacher...
Oh well, when you make a principled stand on a controversial issue, you have to expect that sort of treatment.
Keep your eyes on KATU tonight to see the story!
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Committees!
NEWS RELEASE
December 21, 2006
Contact:
David Gulliver
(503) 986-1424
SALEM – Oregon State Representative Donna Nelson (R-McMinnville) has been appointed to two committee leadership positions for the upcoming legislative session. Representative Nelson will serve as Vice-Chair for both the House Committee on Consumer Protection and the Joint Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Ocean Policy.
“I’m very excited,” said Representative Nelson. “The most important function of Oregon’s government is protecting Oregonians.” One of the Representative’s concerns is the possibility of a natural disaster affecting the Portland area. “If there were a need to evacuate half a million people on short notice, I don’t think it could be done. As Vice-Chair, I want to help steer the committee towards finding a solution we can implement now, instead of waiting until after the fact. We don’t want to play the ‘we should have’ game when dealing with the lives of Oregonians.”
This session’s assignments will be a change of focus for the Representative, who previously served as Chair of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. “I will sincerely miss working so closely with our service members; but I am glad to see that there are several veterans assigned to the committee this year,” stated the Representative. “We owe it to those who protect us to ensure they receive the care they so richly deserve.”
Representative Nelson begins her fourth term in the Oregon House this January. She is one of the only Republicans to be named to a leadership position in more than one committee, and will be the only Republican to serve as a Vice-Chair in both a House committee and a Joint committee.
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December 21, 2006
Contact:
David Gulliver
(503) 986-1424
SALEM – Oregon State Representative Donna Nelson (R-McMinnville) has been appointed to two committee leadership positions for the upcoming legislative session. Representative Nelson will serve as Vice-Chair for both the House Committee on Consumer Protection and the Joint Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Ocean Policy.
“I’m very excited,” said Representative Nelson. “The most important function of Oregon’s government is protecting Oregonians.” One of the Representative’s concerns is the possibility of a natural disaster affecting the Portland area. “If there were a need to evacuate half a million people on short notice, I don’t think it could be done. As Vice-Chair, I want to help steer the committee towards finding a solution we can implement now, instead of waiting until after the fact. We don’t want to play the ‘we should have’ game when dealing with the lives of Oregonians.”
This session’s assignments will be a change of focus for the Representative, who previously served as Chair of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. “I will sincerely miss working so closely with our service members; but I am glad to see that there are several veterans assigned to the committee this year,” stated the Representative. “We owe it to those who protect us to ensure they receive the care they so richly deserve.”
Representative Nelson begins her fourth term in the Oregon House this January. She is one of the only Republicans to be named to a leadership position in more than one committee, and will be the only Republican to serve as a Vice-Chair in both a House committee and a Joint committee.
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Wednesday, December 6, 2006
I think I need a blog...
Welcome readers!
It's great to be back after a tough election, and an even tougher operation. I'd just like to thank everyone for their prayers and support during my recovery. God bless you all!
I hope you like my new blog. I'm still learning how to do this blogging thing, but everyone tells me I need to use the power of the blog to help reach my constituents and share news and information from the Capitol. So please keep your eyes here for important updates, as well as the occasional personal anecdote.
Warmest regards,
Donna G. Nelson
It's great to be back after a tough election, and an even tougher operation. I'd just like to thank everyone for their prayers and support during my recovery. God bless you all!
I hope you like my new blog. I'm still learning how to do this blogging thing, but everyone tells me I need to use the power of the blog to help reach my constituents and share news and information from the Capitol. So please keep your eyes here for important updates, as well as the occasional personal anecdote.
Warmest regards,
Donna G. Nelson
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