Congress is considering creating a national emergency alert system for child abductions following several highly publicized rescues of children in California and other states.

The Amber Alert network, run out of the Justice Department, would help fill gaps in a growing, but patchy system that now includes 17 states and a few dozen cities and counties.

U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas led a group of eight senators at a Capitol news conference today to introduce a bill to establish a national network. They predict quick passage.

Feinstein said the system has foiled 12 kidnappings – eight by strangers and four by family members – since being adopted in California in late July. She said there was one false alarm.