19–006 

112TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 112–649 

CHILD AND ELDERLY MISSING ALERT PROGRAM 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. SMITH of Texas, from the Committee on the Judiciary, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 4305] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 4305) to authorize the Attorney General to provide a grant 

to assist Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies 

in the rapid recovery of missing individuals, having considered the 

same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

The Amendment ...................................................................................................... 1 

Purpose and Summary ............................................................................................ 3 

Background and Need for the Legislation ............................................................. 3 

Hearings ................................................................................................................... 3 

Committee Consideration ........................................................................................ 4 

Committee Votes ...................................................................................................... 4 

Committee Oversight Findings ............................................................................... 4 

New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures ...................................................... 4 

Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate .......................................................... 4 

Performance Goals and Objectives ......................................................................... 6 

Advisory on Earmarks ............................................................................................. 6 

Section-by-Section Analysis .................................................................................... 6 

Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ..................................... 7 

The Amendment 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child and Elderly Missing Alert Program’’. 


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SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO ASSIST FEDERAL, STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 

AGENCIES IN THE RAPID RECOVERY OF MISSING CHILDREN, THE ELDERLY, AND 

DISABLED INDIVIDUALS. 

Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

(42 U.S.C. 3796dd) is amended— 

(1) in subsection (b)— 

(A) in paragraph (16), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

(B) in paragraph (17), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

(C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

‘‘(18) to permit eligible nonprofit organizations to assist Federal, State, tribal, 

and local law enforcement agencies in the rapid recovery of missing children, 

elderly individuals, and disabled individuals through the use of a rapid telephone and cellular alert call system, in accordance with subsection (l).’’; and 

(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

‘‘(l) CHILD AND ELDERLY MISSING ALERTS.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is authorized to award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations to assist Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies in the rapid recovery of missing children, elderly individuals, and disabled individuals through the use of a rapid telephone and cellular 

alert call system. 

‘‘(2) SPECIFIED USE OF FUNDS.—The grants awarded under this subsection 

shall be used to— 

‘‘(A) provide services to Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement 

agencies, in response to a request from such agencies, to promote the rapid 

recovery of a missing child, an elderly individual, or a disabled individual 

by utilizing rapid telephone and cellular alert calls; 

‘‘(B) maintain and expand technologies and techniques to ensure the 

highest level of performance of such services; 

‘‘(C) provide both centralized and on-site training and distribute information to Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agency officials 

about missing children, elderly individuals, and disabled individuals and 

use of a rapid telephone and cellular alert call system; 

‘‘(D) provide services to Federal, State, tribal, and local Child Abduction 

Response Teams; 

‘‘(E) assist Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies to 

combat human trafficking through the use of rapid telephone and cellular 

alert calls; 

‘‘(F) share appropriate information on cases with the National Center for 

Missing and Exploited Children, the AMBER Alert, Silver Alert, and Blue 

Alert programs, and appropriate Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies; and 

‘‘(G) assist appropriate organizations, including Federal, State, tribal, and 

local law enforcement agencies, with education and prevention programs related to missing children, elderly individuals, and disabled individuals. 

‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be an eligible nonprofit organization for purposes of a 

grant under this subsection, a nonprofit organization shall have experience providing rapid telephone and cellular alert calls on behalf of Federal, State, and 

local law enforcement agencies to find missing children and elderly adults. 

‘‘(4) GRANT PERIOD AND RENEWAL.—The Attorney General shall determine an 

appropriate grant period for grants awarded under this subsection. Such grants 

may be renewed at the discretion of the Attorney General. 

‘‘(5) EVALUATION.—The Attorney General shall require each grantee under 

this subsection to annually submit the results of the monitoring and evaluations 

required under subsections (a) and (b) of section 1705, and shall publish an annual report regarding such results and the effectiveness of the activities carried 

out under each such grant. 

‘‘(6) INAPPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—The following provisions of this part shall not 

apply to grants awarded under this subsection: 

‘‘(A) Subsection (j) of this section (relating to grants to Indian tribes). 

‘‘(B) Section 1703 (relating to renewal of grants). 

‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

‘‘(A) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an individual under 21 years of age. 

‘‘(B) DISABLED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘disabled individual’ means— 

‘‘(i) an individual with 1 or more disabilities (as defined in section 3 

of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102)); or 

‘‘(ii) an individual who has been diagnosed by a physician or other 

qualified medical professional with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. 


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‘‘(C) ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘elderly individual’ means an individual who is 60 years of age or older. 

‘‘(D) MISSING.—The term ‘missing’, with respect to a child, an elderly individual, or a disabled individual, means such a child or individual who has 

been reported to law enforcement as missing and whose whereabouts are 

unknown to Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies. 

‘‘(E) RAPID TELEPHONE AND CELLULAR ALERT CALL SYSTEM.—The term 

‘rapid telephone and cellular alert call system’ means an automated system 

with the ability to place at least 1,000 telephone and cellular calls in 60 

seconds to a specific geographic area determined by law enforcement— 

‘‘(i) based on the last known whereabouts of a missing individual; or 

‘‘(ii) based on other evidence and determined by such law enforcement agency to be necessary to the search for the missing individual.’’. 

Purpose and Summary 

H.R. 4305 adds a new purpose area to the Justice Department’s 

Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS) Program for grants 

to nonprofit organizations that assist law enforcement agencies 

with the rapid recovery of missing children, elderly persons, and 

disabled persons. 

Background and Need for the Legislation 

A child goes missing in the United States every 40 seconds, or 

over 2,100 per day. At least 800,000 children are reported missing 

each year. Of these children, an estimated 200,000 children are abducted by family members and over 55,000 by non-family members. 

In many cases of missing children, an AMBER (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert can be issued to help 

search efforts. AMBER Alert systems are voluntary partnerships 

between law enforcement agencies, broadcasters, and transportation agencies to activate messages in a targeted area when a 

child is abducted and believed to be in grave danger. The Justice 

Department’s AMBER Alert guidance recommends only issuing 

alerts when: law enforcement officials have a reasonable belief that 

an abduction has occurred; law enforcement officials believe that 

the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death; 

enough descriptive information exists about the victim and the abductor for law enforcement to issue an alert (e.g., there is a description of the suspected abductor or vehicle); the victim is age 17 or 

younger; and the child’s name and other critical data elements 

have been entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system. 

Because of these guidelines, an AMBER Alert cannot always be 

issued in the critical hours after a child first goes missing. The 

Child and Elderly Missing Alert Program would fill this void by 

quickly disseminating information about missing persons within 

targeted geographic areas when a child, elderly person, or disabled 

person is reported missing to law enforcement agencies, even when 

the information available is minimal. This information is disseminated through the use of recorded telephone calls. 

Hearings 

The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R. 4305. 


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Committee Consideration 

On August 1, 2012, the Committee met in open session and ordered the bill H.R. 4305 favorably reported with an amendment, by 

voice vote, a quorum being present. 

Committee Votes 

In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there were 

no recorded votes during the Committee’s consideration of H.R. 

4305. 

Committee Oversight Findings 

In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the findings 

and recommendations of the Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report. 

New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures 

Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does not provide new 

budgetary authority or increased tax expenditures. 

Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate 

In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with respect to 

the bill, H.R. 4305, the following estimate and comparison prepared 

by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974: 

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, August 10, 2012. 

Hon. LAMAR SMITH, CHAIRMAN, 

Committee on the Judiciary, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4305, the ‘‘Child and Elderly Missing Alert Program.’’ 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark Grabowicz, who 

can be reached at 226–2860. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF, DIRECTOR. 

Enclosure 


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cc: Honorable John Conyers, Jr. 

Ranking Member 

H.R. 4305—Child and Elderly Missing Alert Program. 

As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary 

on August 1, 2012. 

SUMMARY

H.R. 4305 would authorize the Department of Justice (DOJ) to 

make grants to nonprofit organizations to establish an alert system 

to assist law enforcement agencies in recovering missing children, 

elderly, and disabled individuals. Grants could also be used by recipients to improve the technology of the alert system, provide 

training for users of the system, and for other purposes. 

Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO esti- mates that implementing H.R. 4305 would cost $19 million over the 

2013–2017 period. Pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply to this 

legislation because it would not affect direct spending or revenues. 

H.R. 4305 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

ESTIMATED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 4305 is shown in the following table. CBO assumes that the estimated amounts will be appropriated near the start of each fiscal year and that outlays will 

follow the historical rate of spending for similar activities. The 

costs of this legislation fall within budget function 750 (administration of justice). 

By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars 

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013– 

2017 

CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION 

Estimated Authorization Level 4 4 4 4 4 20 

Estimated Outlays 3 4 4 4 4 19 

BASIS OF ESTIMATE

H.R. 4305 would authorize DOJ to make grants to nonprofit organizations to establish a rapid telephone and cellular alert system 

to assist Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies 

in recovering missing children, elderly, and disabled individuals. 

Grants could also be used by recipients to improve the technology 

of the alert system, provide training for users of the system, and 

assist law enforcement agencies in combating human trafficking 

and providing education and prevention programs. 

Based on information from a nonprofit organization (A Child Is 

Missing) that provides alerts, training, and other services relating 

to missing individuals, CBO estimates that the grants authorized 

by H.R. 4305 would require funding of about $4 million annually. 


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PAY-AS-YOU-GO CONSIDERATIONS: 

None. 

INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND PRIVATE-SECTOR IMPACT

H.R. 4305 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

ESTIMATE PREPARED BY: 

Federal Costs: Mark Grabowicz 

Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Melissa Merrell 

Impact on the Private Sector: Marin Randall 

ESTIMATE APPROVED BY: 

Theresa Gullo 

Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis 

Performance Goals and Objectives 

The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R. 4305 adds a new 

purpose area to the COPS Program for grants to nonprofit organizations that assist law enforcement agencies with the rapid recovery of missing children, elderly persons, and disabled persons. 

Advisory on Earmarks 

In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, H.R. 4305 does not contain any congressional 

earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 

in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of Rule XXI. 

Section-by-Section Analysis 

The following discussion describes the bill as reported by the 

Committee. 

Sec. 1. Short title. Section 1 sets forth the short title of the bill 

as the Child and Elderly Missing Alert Program. 

Sec. 2. Program to Assist Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Law 

Enforcement Agencies in the Rapid Recovery of Missing Children, 

the Elderly, and Disabled Individuals. Section 2 adds a new purpose area to the Justice Department’s COPS Program for grants to 

nonprofit organizations that assist law enforcement agencies with 

the rapid recovery of missing children, elderly persons, and disabled persons. The grant funds can used, among other things, to 

make rapid recorded telephone calls disseminating information regarding missing persons, to maintain and expand technology, to 

provide training to law enforcement entities, and to share information regarding missing persons to the National Center for Missing 

and Exploited Children. This section also provides eligibility requirements for the program and requires that grantees provide an 

evaluation of their services to the Justice Department each year, 

which shall be published in an annual report. 


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Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported 

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, 

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

OMNIBUS CRIME CONTROL AND SAFE STREETS ACT OF 

1968 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE I—JUSTICE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT 

* * * * * * * 

PART Q—PUBLIC SAFETY AND COMMUNITY 

POLICING; ‘‘COPS ON THE BEAT’’ 

SEC. 1701. AUTHORITY TO MAKE PUBLIC SAFETY AND COMMUNITY POLICING GRANTS. 

(a) * * * 

(b) USES OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—The purposes for which grants 

made under subsection (a) may be made are— 

(1) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(16) to support the purchase by a law enforcement agency 

of no more than 1 service weapon per officer, upon hiring for 

deployment in community-oriented policing or, if necessary, 

upon existing officers’ initial redeployment to community-oriented policing; øand¿ 

(17) to permit tribal governments receiving direct law enforcement services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to access 

the program under this section for use in accordance with 

paragraphs (1) through (16)ø.¿; and 

(18) to permit eligible nonprofit organizations to assist Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies in the 

rapid recovery of missing children, elderly individuals, and disabled individuals through the use of a rapid telephone and cellular alert call system, in accordance with subsection (l). 

* * * * * * * 

(l) CHILD AND ELDERLY MISSING ALERTS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is authorized to 

award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations to assist Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies in the 

rapid recovery of missing children, elderly individuals, and disabled individuals through the use of a rapid telephone and cellular alert call system. 

(2) SPECIFIED USE OF FUNDS.—The grants awarded under 

this subsection shall be used to— 

(A) provide services to Federal, State, tribal, and local 

law enforcement agencies, in response to a request from 


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such agencies, to promote the rapid recovery of a missing 

child, an elderly individual, or a disabled individual by 

utilizing rapid telephone and cellular alert calls; 

(B) maintain and expand technologies and techniques 

to ensure the highest level of performance of such services; 

(C) provide both centralized and on-site training and 

distribute information to Federal, State, tribal, and local 

law enforcement agency officials about missing children, elderly individuals, and disabled individuals and use of a 

rapid telephone and cellular alert call system; 

(D) provide services to Federal, State, tribal, and local 

Child Abduction Response Teams; 

(E) assist Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies to combat human trafficking through the use 

of rapid telephone and cellular alert calls; 

(F) share appropriate information on cases with the 

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the 

AMBER Alert, Silver Alert, and Blue Alert programs, and 

appropriate Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies; and 

(G) assist appropriate organizations, including Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies, with 

education and prevention programs related to missing children, elderly individuals, and disabled individuals. 

(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be an eligible nonprofit organization 

for purposes of a grant under this subsection, a nonprofit organization shall have experience providing rapid telephone and 

cellular alert calls on behalf of Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to find missing children and elderly adults. 

(4) GRANT PERIOD AND RENEWAL.—The Attorney General 

shall determine an appropriate grant period for grants awarded 

under this subsection. Such grants may be renewed at the discretion of the Attorney General. 

(5) EVALUATION.—The Attorney General shall require each 

grantee under this subsection to annually submit the results of 

the monitoring and evaluations required under subsections (a) 

and (b) of section 1705, and shall publish an annual report regarding such results and the effectiveness of the activities carried out under each such grant. 

(6) INAPPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—The following provisions of 

this part shall not apply to grants awarded under this subsection: 

(A) Subsection (j) of this section (relating to grants to 

Indian tribes). 

(B) Section 1703 (relating to renewal of grants). 

(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

(A) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an individual 

under 21 years of age. 

(B) DISABLED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘disabled individual’’ means— 

(i) an individual with 1 or more disabilities (as defined in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities 

Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102)); or 


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(ii) an individual who has been diagnosed by a 

physician or other qualified medical professional with 

Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. 

(C) ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘elderly individual’’ means an individual who is 60 years of age or 

older. 

(D) MISSING.—The term ‘‘missing’’, with respect to a 

child, an elderly individual, or a disabled individual, 

means such a child or individual who has been reported to 

law enforcement as missing and whose whereabouts are unknown to Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement 

agencies. 

(E) RAPID TELEPHONE AND CELLULAR ALERT CALL SYS- TEM.—The term ‘‘rapid telephone and cellular alert call system’’ means an automated system with the ability to place 

at least 1,000 telephone and cellular calls in 60 seconds to 

a specific geographic area determined by law enforcement— 

(i) based on the last known whereabouts of a missing individual; or 

(ii) based on other evidence and determined by 

such law enforcement agency to be necessary to the 

search for the missing individual. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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