Goodlatte Applauds House Passage of the Ashanti Alert Act

Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives today approved the Ashanti Alert Act of 2018 (H.R. 5075) by voice vote to create an alert system for missing adults. The bill is named after Ashanti Billie, who went missing at the age of 19 in September 2017 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Ashanti was abducted shortly after arriving to work and tragically was murdered by her captor. The Ashanti Alert Act assists local and regional law enforcement in locating missing adults, like Ashanti Billie. This alert system would use a wide array of media outlets – such as commercial radio stations, television station, and cable television – to broadcast information about missing persons to the public. Public information in an alert usually consists of the name and description of the missing person and a description of the missing person’s vehicle and license plate number. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) applauded today’s vote in the statement below. Chairman Goodlatte: “When a person goes missing, it is critical to get information out to the public as soon as possible to help find and bring him or her to safety. The Ashanti Alert Act will help get out information quickly about missing adults and is named after Ashanti Billie, who was abducted as a young adult and killed by her captor. Ashanti dreamed of owning her own bakery but her captor stole her life and all that she hoped to accomplish. I thank Congressman Taylor for introducing this bill and hope and pray that this alert system will help bring many missing adults to safety.”