About Patty Wetterling

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About Patty Wetterling

Patty Wetterling has been fighting for safer American families since the abduction of her son Jacob sixteen years ago. Since then, Patty has become one of the nation's most respected and effective child advocates.

As a private citizen, she worked across party lines, passing more legislation than many members of Congress. Patty was instrumental in the passage of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Sex Offender Registration Act on both the state and federal level. Additionally, Patty helped initiate and pass Community Notification (Megan’s Law) and the launch of the Amber Alert system in Minnesota.

Patty has used her expertise in the issues of child exploitation and abduction to educate and raise awareness among law enforcement officials, parents, and community leaders. Patty has given presentations to FBI Agents at the FBI Academy in Quantico and police officers around the country on preventing and responding to child abduction and abuse cases.

In her career as a child advocate, Patty has received numerous awards from local, state, and nonprofit organizations including: the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s "100 Most Influential Minnesotans of the Century" award; the President’s Award from the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association; the Governor’s Award in Minnesota for Unique Individuals for providing Community Leadership; and the "First Alert Award" by Larry King of CNN.

Patty is a secondary school math teacher by training. She and her husband Jerry live in St. Joseph, Minnesota, where they built his local chiropractic practice. They have four children: Amy, Jacob, Trevor and Carmen. Their first grandchild, Lili, was born in September 2004.

• Patty was a consultant with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and Fox Valley Technical College in Wisconsin.
• She presented a victim impact session to CEOs at the Jimmy Ryce Training Center and law enforcement training programs across the country (REMAC). She has also been instrumental in establishing a national parent support group (Team H.O.P.E.) for families of missing children.
• Patty co-authored the book, "When Your Child Is Missing: A Family Survival Guide," along with four other families. She spoke on behalf of victim families at President Bush's White House Summit Conference on Missing and Exploited Children in October 2002.
• Patty was instrumental in the passage of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Sex Offender Registration Act on the state level as well as part of the 1994 Federal Crime Bill. Patty is grateful to Congressman Jim Ramstad and Senator Dave Durenburger for their sponsoring this legislation in Congress.
• Additionally, Patty helped intitiate the Community Notification (Megan's Law) and the statewide launch of the Amber Plan in Minnesota.
• In June 2003, Patty was invited to the Rose Garden at the White house by President and First Lady Bush to witness the AMBER Plan's signing into national law.

Patty has received numerous awards for her work to make this world safer for our children, including:

• Patty was selected by the Minneapolis Star Tribune as one of the "100 Most Influential Minnesotans of the Century".
• In 2003, Patty was honored with the President's Award from the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.
• In 2002, she earned the Governor's Award in Minnesota for Unique Individuals for providing Community Leadership.
• She has received a variety of awards including "Eleven Who Care" sponsored by KARE 11-TV in Minneapolis.
• In addition, she has received several honors from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, including "10th Anniversary Award", "The Rainbow Award" and the "The Vision Award".
• In 1996, Patty was selected as a Community Hero Torch Bearer for the Olympic Games in Atlanta.
• She was awarded the First Alert Award by Larry King of CNN.
• Patty continues to serve on the Board of Directors for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
• She is also a founding member and past president of the Board of Directors of the Association of Missing and Exploited Children's Organizations (AMECO) and the Program Director and co-founder for Team H.O.P.E.
• She is a co-founder and past board member of the Jacob Wetterling Foundation.

"I believe with every fiber of my being that we can build an America that truly cares for all of her citizens. We need to maximize the potential of our youth, recognizing that investing in our children and grandchildren is an issue of national security. We can, and we must, do better."

On the Issues: Veterans

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On the Issues: Veterans

Everywhere we look these days, we see bumper stickers, buttons, and signs declaring support for our troops. While, I applaud and fully support that sentiment, I believe that we, as a Nation, must do more to honor both our service personnel and our veterans. It is time for our leaders in Washington to live to up America ’s promise to those brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for us.

Today, we are a nation at war. Thousands of men and women are in harm’s way around the world and more than half of the US Army troops serving in Iraq are National Guardsmen and Reservists. Too many of their families are being torn apart by the economic challenges of seeing the family breadwinner repeatedly sent overseas. We must do better for those who serve. If we can spend billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq, we can find the money to protect the lives and livelihoods of the Americans we send to do it: they should never have to worry about losing their pay, their health insurance, or their homes.

As long as American lives are at risk, Congress must do everything it can to support our armed forces and see that our soldiers have the equipment and supplies that they need to do their jobs.

A New GI Bill of Rights

We must remember that the war in Iraq is creating a new generation of veterans, with their own unique set of needs. I have called for legislation to establish a new generation of programs to honor their service and ease their transition home, including:

• Full Funding for VA Hospitals
• An Updated GI Bill for the 21st Century
• Compensation for Soldiers that have suffered a pay cut while serving
• Increased Penalties on companies that refuse to protect Military Families from foreclosure and eviction
• Legislation that blocks increases to health insurance premiums for reservists and members of the National Guard who return from war and reinstate their old policies

If these proposals for our veterans and soldiers are not passed in this session of Congress, they will be among my first orders of business upon being sworn in.

Disabled Veterans

Disabled veterans have sacrificed greatly for this country and we owe them a debt that we can never hope to repay, yet current law is shortchanging them. Disabled military veterans must be allowed to receive their full retirement benefits and I will work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to see that that inequity is corrected.

Wetterling Delivers National Radio Address

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Wetterling Delivers National Radio Address

For Immediate Release
Friday, October 06, 2006

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Patty Wetterling, child safety advocate and candidate for Congress in Minnesota's 6th District, recorded the Democratic response to President Bush's weekly radio address today in St. Paul.

Excerpts from the response are printed below. The full text is embargoed until after the response is aired at 11:06 a.m. CDT on Saturday.

"Foley sent obvious predatory signals, received loud and clear by members of congressional leadership, who swept them under the rug to protect their political power.

"My prayers are with all the families who are suffering because of the tragedies of the past week. I admire the courage of the victims who, in speaking up, inspire us all. My family joins me in offering a prayer today for their continued strength, and for the support of their communities to see them through this dark time, as our community has done since Jacob was taken from us.

"We need a new direction in Congress because our children need strong voices. We need to stop the sexual exploitation of children across the country, and in Washington we must hold accountable all those complicit in allowing this victimization to happen.

"For seventeen years, I have fought for tough penalties for those who harm children. Members of Congress are not and should not be above the law. We need a full and complete investigation with unfettered access to emails, records and correspondence and subpoena power over members, leadership and staff.

"We need to restore integrity to Congress, integrity that was further damaged by Congressional leadership's silence. We need a new direction to restore the trust we've lost."

More: Listen to Patty's address...

Wetterling Demands Tough, Thorough Investigation of House Leadership

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Wetterling Demands Tough, Thorough Investigation of House Leadership

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, October 03, 2006

ANOKA, Minn. - Child safety advocate and 6th District congressional candidate Patty Wetterling called for a tough and thorough investigation of the House leadership's knowledge of Rep. Mark Foley's (R-FL) conduct with a 16-year-old House page, at a state Capitol press conference on Monday.

"Allowing a child predator to walk the halls of Congress is the most despicable disregard for the values of decency and family," Wetterling said. "I am disgusted that House leaders knew for a year about Representative Foley's inappropriate conduct with a child and did nothing."

"This matter demands a full investigation that involves both sides of the aisle," said Wetterling. "The House needs to appoint a special investigator - not just the Ethics Committee - who has full access to emails, records and correspondence and who has subpoena power over members, leadership and staff."

"We need to determine if other kids have been victimized," she said. "The page program needs policies and procedures that safeguard our children. If we cannot guarantee the safety of these kids, we cannot be in the business of bringing them to Washington."

"Anyone who knew about this situation and protected a sexual predator, should not be a member of Congress," said Wetterling.

"My prayers are with all the families involved in this matter. I salute the 16-year-old for his bravery to come forward," she said. "I know about the pain and the sleepless nights. The fear of predators violating the sacred bond within our families is more than anyone should have to endure. We need to stop the sexual exploitation of children and hold accountable those who participated in allowing this victimization to continue by doing nothing."

"When it comes to sexual exploitation of children, you've heard me say over and over again, somebody knows something," added Wetterling. "In this case, many people knew and did nothing. That's criminal."