I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5224 

To reauthorize the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 18, 2023 

Mr. BEAN of Florida (for himself and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Missing Children’s As5 sistance Reauthorization Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MISSING CHILDREN’S ASSISTANCE ACT AMEND7 MENTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 403 of the Missing 

2 Children’s Assistance Act (34 U.S.C. 11292) is 

3 amended— 

4 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

5 the end; 

6 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe7 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(5) the term ‘child sexual abuse material’ has 

10 the meaning given the term ‘child pornography’ in 

11 section 2256 of title 18, United States Code; 

12 ‘‘(6) the term ‘child sexual exploitation’ means 

13 the sexual victimization or abuse of a child; 

14 ‘‘(7) the term ‘sexting’ means sending and re15 ceiving messages containing sexually explicit, nude, 

16 or partially nude images by cell phone or messaging 

17 application; 

18 ‘‘(8) the term ‘sextortion’— 

19 ‘‘(A) means sexual exploitation in which 

20 coercion, a threat, or blackmail, is used to 

21 cause a child to— 

22 ‘‘(i) provide child sexual abuse mate23 rial; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) agree to engage in sexual activ25 ity; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) may involve a threat to publicly dis2 close nude or sexual images of a child if the 

3 child does not comply with a demand to— 

4 ‘‘(i) engage in conduct described in 

5 clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A); or 

6 ‘‘(ii) provide financial payment; and 

7 ‘‘(9) the term ‘sexually exploited child’ means a 

8 child who has been victimized by any form of sexual 

9 exploitation, including— 

10 ‘‘(A) the live-streaming, production, dis11 tribution, or possession of child sexual abuse 

12 material; 

13 ‘‘(B) enticement for sexual abuse; 

14 ‘‘(C) sexual molestation or abuse; 

15 ‘‘(D) sextortion; and 

16 ‘‘(E) child sex trafficking.’’. 

17 (2) DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ADMINIS18 TRATOR.—Section 404 of the Missing Children’s As19 sistance Act (34 U.S.C. 11293) is amended— 

20 (A) in subsection (a)(6)(E), by striking 

21 ‘‘the tipline established’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

22 CyberTipline established’’; and 

23 (B) in subsection (b)(1)— 

24 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

25 (I) in clause (i)— 


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1 (aa) by striking ‘‘hotline by 

2 which’’ and inserting ‘‘call center 

3 to which’’; and 

4 (bb) by striking ‘‘individuals 

5 may report’’ and all that follows 

6 and inserting ‘‘individuals may— 

7 ‘‘(I) report child sexual exploitation 

8 and the location of any missing child; and 

9 ‘‘(II) request information pertaining 

10 to procedures necessary to reunite such 

11 child with such child’s parent;’’; 

12 (II) by redesignating clause (ii) 

13 as clause (iii); and 

14 (III) by inserting after clause (i) 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(ii) manage the AMBER Alert Secondary 

17 Distribution Program; and’’; 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

19 ‘‘with their families’’ and inserting ‘‘with 

20 their parents’’; 

21 (iii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

22 ‘‘to families’’ and inserting ‘‘to parents’’; 

23 (iv) by striking subparagraph (G) and 

24 inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(G) provide technical assistance and case2 related resources, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) referrals to— 

4 ‘‘(I) child-serving professionals 

5 involved in helping to recover missing 

6 and exploited children; and 

7 ‘‘(II) law enforcement officers in 

8 their efforts to identify, locate, and re9 cover missing and exploited children; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(ii) searching public records data12 bases and publicly accessible open source 

13 data to— 

14 ‘‘(I) locate and identify potential 

15 abductors and offenders involved in 

16 attempted or actual abductions; and 

17 ‘‘(II) identify, locate, and recover 

18 abducted children;’’; 

19 (v) in subparagraph (H), by inserting 

20 ‘‘on long-term missing child cases’’ after 

21 ‘‘techniques to assist’’; 

22 (vi) by striking subparagraph (I) and 

23 inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(I) provide education, technical assist25 ance, and information to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) nongovernmental organizations 

2 with respect to procedures and resources to 

3 conduct background checks on individuals 

4 working with children; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) law enforcement agencies with 

6 respect to identifying and locating non7 compliant sex offenders;’’; 

8 (vii) in subparagraph (J), by striking 

9 ‘‘with their families’’ and inserting ‘‘with 

10 their parents’’; 

11 (viii) in subparagraph (K)— 

12 (I) in clause (i)— 

13 (aa) in the matter preceding 

14 subclause (I), by striking 

15 ‘‘tipline’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘CyberTipline’’; 

17 (bb) in subclause (I)— 

18 (AA) in item (aa), by 

19 striking ‘‘child pornography’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘child sexual 

21 abuse material’’; and 

22 (BB) in item (ee), by 

23 striking ‘‘extra-familial’’; 

24 and 

25 (cc) in subclause (II)— 


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1 (AA) by striking 

2 ‘‘tipline’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘CyberTipline’’; and 

4 (BB) by adding ‘‘and’’ 

5 at the end; 

6 (II) in clause (ii)— 

7 (aa) by striking ‘‘child por8 nography’’ and inserting ‘‘child 

9 sexual abuse material’’; 

10 (bb) by inserting ‘‘and’’ 

11 after ‘‘other sexual crimes’’; and 

12 (cc) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at 

13 the end and inserting ‘‘, includ14 ing by providing information on 

15 legal remedies available to such 

16 victims;’’; and 

17 (III) by striking clause (iii); 

18 (ix) by redesignating subparagraphs 

19 (L) through (O) as subparagraphs (M) 

20 through (P), respectively; 

21 (x) by inserting after subparagraph 

22 (K) the following: 

23 ‘‘(L) provide support services, consultation, 

24 and assistance to missing and sexually exploited 


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1 children, parents, their families, and child-serv2 ing professionals on— 

3 ‘‘(i) recovery support, including coun4 seling recommendations and community 

5 support; 

6 ‘‘(ii) family and peer support; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the removal of child sexual 

8 abuse material and sexually exploitive con9 tent depicting children from the internet, 

10 including by facilitating requests to pro11 viders (as defined in section 2258E of title 

12 18, United States Code) to remove visual 

13 depictions of victims that— 

14 ‘‘(I) constitute or are associated 

15 with child sexual abuse material; or 

16 ‘‘(II) do not constitute child sex17 ual abuse material but are sexually 

18 suggestive;’’; 

19 (xi) in subparagraph (M), as so redes20 ignated— 

21 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

22 (i), by inserting ‘‘educational’’ before 

23 ‘‘information to families’’; 

24 (II) in clause (i)— 


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1 (aa) by striking ‘‘child ab2 duction and’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘missing children and child’’; and 

4 (bb) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; and 

6 (III) by striking clauses (ii) and 

7 (iii) and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(ii) internet safety, including tips 

9 and strategies to promote safety for chil10 dren using technology (including social 

11 media) and reduce risk relating to— 

12 ‘‘(I) cyberbullying; 

13 ‘‘(II) child sex trafficking; 

14 ‘‘(III) youth-produced child sex15 ual abuse material or sexting; 

16 ‘‘(IV) sextortion; and 

17 ‘‘(V) online enticement;’’; 

18 (xii) in subparagraph (N), as so re19 designated, by inserting ‘‘and preventing 

20 child sexual exploitation’’ after ‘‘recovering 

21 such children’’; 

22 (xiii) by striking subparagraph (O), as 

23 so redesignated, and inserting the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(O) coordinate with and provide technical 

2 assistance to Federal, State, and local govern3 ment agencies relating to cases of children 

4 missing from a State child welfare system and 

5 assist the efforts of law enforcement agencies 

6 and State child welfare agencies in— 

7 ‘‘(i) coordinating to ensure the report8 ing, documentation, and resolution of cases 

9 involving children missing from a State 

10 child welfare system; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) responding to foster children 

12 missing from a State child welfare system; 

13 and’’; and 

14 (xiv) in subparagraph (P), as so re15 designated, by inserting ‘‘and recovery sup16 port services’’ after ‘‘technical assistance’’; 

17 and 

18 (C) in subsection (c)— 

19 (i) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

20 at the end; 

21 (ii) in paragraph (2) by striking the 

22 period at the end; and 

23 (iii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(3) publish an analysis of the information de2 termined under paragraph (1) that includes 

3 disaggregated demographic data and comparison of 

4 such data to demographic data from the census.’’. 

5 (3) REPORTING.—Section 407 of the of the 

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

7 11295a) is amended— 

8 (A) in subsection (a)— 

9 (i) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

10 at the end; 

11 (ii) in paragraph (4) by striking the 

12 period at the end and inserting a semi13 colon, 

14 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (4) 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(5) the number of children nationwide who are 

17 reported to the grantee as missing from State-spon18 sored care; 

19 ‘‘(6) the number of children nationwide who are 

20 reported to the grantee as missing from State-spon21 sored care whose recovery was reported to the grant22 ee; and 

23 ‘‘(7) the number of children nationwide who are 

24 reported to the grantee as missing from State-sponVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5224.IH H5224

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1 sored care and are likely victims of child sex traf2 ficking.’’, and 

3 (B) by adding at end the following: 

4 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR FORENSIC PARTNERSHIPS.—As 

5 a condition of receiving funds under section 404(b), the 

6 grant recipient shall annually provide to the Administrator 

7 and make available to the general public, as appropriate, 

8 the criteria and processes the grantee uses to establish fo9 rensic partnerships and recommend forensic resources to 

10 law enforcement and shall annually review these forensic 

11 partnerships and forensic referrals against the criteria and 

12 review new advancements in technology.’’. 

13 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 Section 409(a) of the Missing Children’s Assistance 

15 Act (34 U.S.C. 11297(a)) is amended by striking 

16 ‘‘$40,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2014 

17 through 2023, up to $32,200,000’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘$49,300,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

19 2028, up to $41,500,000’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act, and the amend21 ments made by this Act, shall take effect on October 1, 

22 2023. 

Æ 


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