WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Smart made her Capitol debut Wednesday, speaking out in support of a major child safety bill now pending in the Senate.

Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart, has been to Washington several times hoping to convince lawmakers to make tougher laws to protect children from kidnapping or other forms of abuse, but Wednesday's press conference marked the first time Elizabeth herself spoke out in favor of a particular piece of legislation.

"I am behind this bill 100 percent," she said. "It will protect any future victims from ever having to have an experience that no one should deserve to have."

Smart was abducted from her home in 2002 and was missing for nine months before being reunited with her family in March 2003.

"I don't want to see others go through what I had to go through," she said. "More can be saved and potential tragedies avoided. We must do all we can to prevent this trauma.."

Now 18 years old, Smart said she finished high school in January and will head to Brigham Young University in the fall. She said she's "doing great."

Her alleged kidnappers, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, still await trial.

Smart said she hopes her presence would make a difference in getting the bill through Congress. Ed Smart said "having the victim that has been through the nightmare" puts a face on the topic and makes for a stronger case.

"How can somebody say no?" Ed Smart said.

The House approved the "Children's Safety and Violent Crimes Reduction Act" again on Wednesday, pushing the bill over to the Senate.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced the Senate's version of the bill last May, which ensures the sex offender registry is current and is verified regularly and requires states to notify each other when a registered offender moves to another state.

The bill also requires background checks for teachers, extends sex offender registration requirements for crimes committed juvenile sex offenders and creates a national sex offender public Web site.

Ed Smart said this will prevent sex offenders from leaving an area with stricter laws and going somewhere with fewer or less restrictive requirements.

The Smarts appeared at a press conference with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and several other members of Congress who had sponsored provisions included in the final version of the bill. They were planning to visit with some other members of Congress

Robbie Callaway, a founding board member of the National Centers for Missing and Exploited Children, called the pending bill "the strongest piece of child-protection legislation in the past 24 years."

"This is a major step, this is not a minor thing," Callaway said. "Sex offenders in this country, if you are watching, you ought to be starting to get real scared," Callaway said.

He said once the bill is passed, those offenders who do not register will end up in jail.

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