IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1597 

Recognizing the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on its 

40th anniversary. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 26, 2024 

Mr. BIGGS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the National Center for Missing & Exploited 

Children on its 40th anniversary. 

Whereas 40 years ago John and Reve ́ Walsh, along with 

other advocates for children, founded the National Center 

for Missing & Exploited Children, whose mission is to 

serve as the leading nonprofit organization in the United 

States to help locate missing children and combat child 

sexual exploitation; 

Whereas John and Reve ́ Walsh’s son Adam was tragically 

murdered following an unconscionable abduction, leading 

them to a lifetime of advocacy on behalf of missing and 

exploited children; 

Whereas, as a result of the tireless advocacy of the Walshes 

and countless others, in 1984, the National Center for 

Missing & Exploited Children was established to serve as 


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•HRES 1597 IH 

the clearinghouse for information relating to missing and 

exploited children in the United States and as a resource 

for parents, children, and law enforcement; 

Whereas, in 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed into law 

the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (34 U.S.C. 11291 

et seq.), establishing a national resource center and clearinghouse for missing children, a role that the National 

Center for Missing & Exploited Children was designated 

to fulfill; 

Whereas the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, in coordination with Federal, State, local, Tribal, 

and territorial law enforcement agencies, provides a critical response to help in locating missing children, responds to reports of child sexual exploitation, and distributes posters of missing children to the public; 

Whereas, over the last 40 years, the National Center for 

Missing & Exploited Children has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of over 448,000 children and has received 200,000,000 reports relating to suspected child 

sexual exploitation; 

Whereas, since its founding, the National Center for Missing 

& Exploited Children has received more than 5,600,000 

calls to its 24-hour call center; 

Whereas, following an increase in reports relating to the online sexual exploitation of children, the National Center 

for Missing & Exploited Children established its 

CyberTipline, which provides an online mechanism for 

members of the public and electronic service providers to 

report incidents of suspected online sexual exploitation; 

Whereas, since its inception in 1998, the CyberTipline has received 200,000,000 reports of child sexual exploitation, 


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which the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reviews and makes available to international, Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, including 

the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, for their review and handling; 

Whereas, in 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children launched its ‘‘Take It Down’’ tool, a 

groundbreaking program that helps victims of online 

child sexual exploitation remove from the internet nude 

or sexually explicit photos and videos taken of them while 

under the age of 18; 

Whereas, with the passage of the Missing Children’s Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2023 (Public Law 118–65; 

138 Stat. 1439), on June 17, 2024, the National Center 

for Missing & Exploited Children was reauthorized to 

perform 16 programs of work, including— 

(1) helping to locate and recover missing children; 

(2) responding to reports of child sexual exploitation 

and working to identify children depicted in sexually abusive imagery; 

(3) conducting analytical services, including on child 

sex trafficking cases; 

(4) offering community safety education for childserving professionals; and 

(5) providing family crisis and mental health assistance; and 

Whereas, for over 40 years, the National Center for Missing 

& Exploited Children has been essential to combating the 

sexual exploitation of children in the United States and 

has served as a critical resource to children, parents, and 

law enforcement: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 


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1 (1) recognizes the National Center for Missing 

2 & Exploited Children on the 40th anniversary of its 

3 founding; 

4 (2) commends the tremendous work that the 

5 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 

6 undertakes to assist and protect children in the 

7 United States; 

8 (3) supports the continued mission of the Na9 tional Center for Missing & Exploited Children to 

10 help find missing children, reduce child sexual ex11 ploitation, and prevent child victimization; and 

12 (4) respectfully requests that the Clerk of the 

13 House transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to 

14 the National Center for Missing & Exploited Chil15 dren. 

Æ 


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