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[110th Congress Public Law 240]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]

[DOCID: f:publ240.110]

[[Page 1559]]

             PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN COMES FIRST ACT OF 2007

[[Page 122 STAT. 1560]]

Public Law 110-240
110th Congress

                                 An Act

 
      To amend the Missing Children's Assistance Act to authorize 
 appropriations; and for other purposes. <<NOTE: June 3, 2008 -  [H.R. 
                                2517]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress <<NOTE: Protecting Our Children 
Comes First Act of 2007. 42 USC 5601 note.>> 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;

[[Page 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 <<NOTE: Grants.>>  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

[[Page 122 STAT. 1562]]

                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;

[[Page 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''.

[[Page 122 STAT. 1564]]

SEC. 5. REPEALER.

    The Missing Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5771 et seq.) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking section 407; <<NOTE: 42 USC 5776a.>>  and
            (2) by redesignating section 408 <<NOTE: 42 USC 5777.>>  as 
        section 407.

    Approved 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.

                                  <all>
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