PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 

PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN COMES FIRST 

ACT OF 2007 


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122 STAT. 1560 PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 

Public Law 110–240 

110th Congress 

An Act 

To amend the Missing Children’s Assistance Act to authorize appropriations; and 

for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Our Children Comes 

First Act of 2007’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Section 402 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

5771) is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘SEC. 402. FINDINGS. 

‘‘The Congress finds that— 

‘‘(1) each year thousands of children are abducted or 

removed from the control of a parent having legal custody 

without such parent’s consent, under circumstances which 

immediately place the child in grave danger; 

‘‘(2) many missing children are at great risk of both physical 

harm and sexual exploitation; 

‘‘(3) in many cases, parents and local law enforcement 

officials have neither the resources nor the expertise to mount 

expanded search efforts; 

‘‘(4) abducted children are frequently moved from one 

locality to another, requiring the cooperation and coordination 

of local, State, and Federal law enforcement efforts; 

‘‘(5) growing numbers of children are the victims of child 

sexual exploitation, increasingly involving the use of new technology to access the Internet; 

‘‘(6) children may be separated from their parents or legal 

guardians as a result of national disasters such as hurricanes 

and floods; 

‘‘(7) sex offenders pose a threat to children; 

‘‘(8) the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention administers programs under this Act through the Child 

Protection Division, including programs which prevent or 

address offenses committed against vulnerable children and 

which support missing children’s organizations; and 

‘‘(9) a key component of such programs is the National 

Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which— 

‘‘(A) serves as a national resource center and clearinghouse; 

Protecting Our 

Children Comes 

First Act of 2007. 

42 USC 5601 

note. 

June 3, 2008 

[H.R. 2517] 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 122 STAT. 1561 

‘‘(B) works in partnership with the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States 

Marshals Service, the Department of the Treasury, the 

Department of State, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Secret Service, the 

United States Postal Inspection Service, and many other 

agencies in the effort to find missing children and prevent 

child victimization; and 

‘‘(C) operates a national network, linking the Center 

online with each of the missing children clearinghouses 

operated by the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 

Puerto Rico, as well as with international organizations, 

including Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom, the Royal 

Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL headquarters in 

Lyon, France, and others, which enable the Center to 

transmit images and information regarding missing and 

exploited children to law enforcement across the United 

States and around the world instantly.’’. 

SEC. 3. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATOR. 

Section 404(b) of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 

U.S.C. 5773(b)) is amended— 

(1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall annually make 

a grant to the Center, which shall be used to— 

‘‘(A)(i) operate a national 24-hour toll-free telephone 

line by which individuals may report information regarding 

the location of any missing child, and request information 

pertaining to procedures necessary to reunite such child 

with such child’s legal custodian; and 

‘‘(ii) coordinate the operation of such telephone line 

with the operation of the national communications system 

referred to in part C of the Runaway and Homeless Youth 

Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–11); 

‘‘(B) operate the official national resource center and 

information clearinghouse for missing and exploited children; 

‘‘(C) provide to State and local governments, and public 

and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals, information regarding— 

‘‘(i) free or low-cost legal, restaurant, lodging, and 

transportation services that are available for the benefit of missing and exploited children and their families; and 

‘‘(ii) the existence and nature of programs being 

carried out by Federal agencies to assist missing and 

exploited children and their families; 

‘‘(D) coordinate public and private programs that 

locate, recover, or reunite missing children with their families; 

‘‘(E) disseminate, on a national basis, information 

relating to innovative and model programs, services, and 

legislation that benefit missing and exploited children; 

‘‘(F) based solely on reports received by the National 

Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and 

not involving any data collection by NCMEC other than 

Grants. 


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122 STAT. 1562 PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 

the receipt of those reports, annually provide to the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention— 

‘‘(i) the number of children nationwide who are 

reported to NCMEC as missing; 

‘‘(ii) the number of children nationwide who are 

reported to NCMEC as victims of non-family abductions; 

‘‘(iii) the number of children nationwide who are 

reported to NCMEC as victims of parental kidnappings; 

and 

‘‘(iv) the number of children recovered nationwide 

whose recovery was reported to NCMEC; 

‘‘(G) provide, at the request of State and local governments, and public and private nonprofit agencies, guidance 

on how to facilitate the lawful use of school records and 

birth certificates to identify and locate missing children; 

‘‘(H) provide technical assistance and training to law 

enforcement agencies, State and local governments, elements of the criminal justice system, public and private 

nonprofit agencies, and individuals in the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and treatment of cases involving 

missing and exploited children; 

‘‘(I) provide assistance to families and law enforcement 

agencies in locating and recovering missing and exploited 

children, both nationally and, in cooperation with the 

Department of State, internationally; 

‘‘(J) provide analytical support and technical assistance 

to law enforcement agencies through searching public 

records databases in locating and recovering missing and 

exploited children and helping to locate and identify abductors; 

‘‘(K) provide direct on-site technical assistance and consultation to law enforcement agencies in child abduction 

and exploitation cases; 

‘‘(L) provide forensic technical assistance and consultation to law enforcement and other agencies in the identification of unidentified deceased children through facial 

reconstruction of skeletal remains and similar techniques; 

‘‘(M) track the incidence of attempted child abductions 

in order to identify links and patterns, and provide such 

information to law enforcement agencies; 

‘‘(N) provide training and assistance to law enforcement 

agencies in identifying and locating non-compliant sex 

offenders; 

‘‘(O) facilitate the deployment of the National Emergency Child Locator Center to assist in reuniting missing 

children with their families during periods of national 

disasters; 

‘‘(P) operate a cyber tipline to provide online users 

and electronic service providers an effective means of 

reporting Internet-related child sexual exploitation in the 

areas of— 

‘‘(i) possession, manufacture, and distribution of 

child pornography; 

‘‘(ii) online enticement of children for sexual acts; 

‘‘(iii) child prostitution; 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 122 STAT. 1563 

‘‘(iv) sex tourism involving children; 

‘‘(v) extrafamilial child sexual molestation; 

‘‘(vi) unsolicited obscene material sent to a child; 

‘‘(vii) misleading domain names; and 

‘‘(viii) misleading words or digital images on the 

Internet, 

and subsequently to transmit such reports, including relevant images and information, to the appropriate international, Federal, State or local law enforcement agency 

for investigation; 

‘‘(Q) work with law enforcement, Internet service providers, electronic payment service providers, and others 

on methods to reduce the distribution on the Internet of 

images and videos of sexually exploited children; 

‘‘(R) operate a child victim identification program in 

order to assist the efforts of law enforcement agencies 

in identifying victims of child pornography and other sexual 

crimes; and 

‘‘(S) develop and disseminate programs and information 

to the general public, schools, public officials, youth-serving 

organizations, and nonprofit organizations, directly or 

through grants or contracts with public agencies and public 

and private nonprofit organizations, on— 

‘‘(i) the prevention of child abduction and sexual 

exploitation; and 

‘‘(ii) internet safety.’’; and 

(2) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘$20,000,000’’ and all that 

follows through ‘‘2008’’, and inserting ‘‘$40,000,000 for fiscal 

year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 

2009 through 2013’’. 

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

Section 408(a) of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 

U.S.C. 5777(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘2007 through 2008’’ and 

inserting ‘‘2008 through 2013’’. 


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122 STAT. 1564 PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2517 (S. 1829): 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 

Vol. 153 (2007): Dec. 5, considered and passed House. 

Vol. 154 (2008): May 20, considered and passed Senate. 

Æ 

SEC. 5. REPEALER. 

The Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5771 et seq.) 

is amended— 

(1) by striking section 407; and 

(2) by redesignating section 408 as section 407. 

Approved June 3, 2008. 

42 USC 5777. 

42 USC 5776a. 


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