Seventeen states already have Amber Alerts.
Law enforcement agencies send the alerts to radio and television stations with descriptions of the missing children, their abductors and other information. They also are broadcast on electronic highway signs.
"Prompt public alerts of an abducted child could be the difference between life and death for that innocent victim," said Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
The Senate last month passed a bill creating a nationwide Amber Alert system.
Democrats said they supported expanding the Amber Alert system but complained that Republicans had attached a number of controversial provisions to the bill, including language that would allow judges to require lifetime supervision of sex offenders who have completed their sentences. Currently, there is a five-year limit on supervision.
The measure would also establish mandatory life sentences for twice-convicted child sex offenders. The bill also includes provisions to expand the list of crime investigations that allow for government wiretaps and other surveillance.
The provisions have not passed the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Rep. Robert Scott, D-Va., complained that the Amber Alert provision had been buried.
"I would hope we would put aside the politics of divisive sound-bite legislation," Scott said.
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