II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1829 

To reauthorize programs under the Missing Children’s Assistance Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2007 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. HATCH, Mrs. LINCOLN, and Mr. SHELBY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reauthorize programs under the Missing Children’s 

Assistance Act. 

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 ‘‘Protect our Children 

5 First Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO FINDINGS. 

7 Section 402 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act 

8 (42 U.S.C. 5771) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 402. FINDINGS. 

10 ‘‘Congress finds that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) each year thousands of children are ab2 ducted or removed from the control of a parent hav3 ing legal custody without such parent’s consent, 

4 under circumstances which immediately place the 

5 child in grave danger; 

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

7 both physical harm and sexual exploitation; 

8 ‘‘(3) in many cases, parents and local law en9 forcement officials have neither the resources nor 

10 the expertise to mount expanded search efforts; 

11 ‘‘(4) abducted children are frequently moved 

12 from one locality to another, requiring the coopera13 tion and coordination of local, State, and Federal 

14 law enforcement efforts; 

15 ‘‘(5) growing numbers of children are the vic16 tims of child sexual exploitation, increasingly involv17 ing the use of new technology to access the Internet; 

18 ‘‘(6) children may be displaced from their par19 ents or legal guardians as a result of national disas20 ters such as hurricanes and floods; 

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

22 and 

23 ‘‘(8) the National Center for Missing and Ex24 ploited Children— 


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1 ‘‘(A) serves as the national resource center 

2 and clearinghouse; 

3 ‘‘(B) works in partnership with the De4 partment of Justice, the Federal Bureau of In5 vestigation, the United States Marshals Service, 

6 the Department of the Treasury, the Depart7 ment of State, the Department of Homeland 

8 Security’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs 

9 Enforcement, the United States Secret Service, 

10 and many other agencies in the effort to find 

11 missing children and prevent child victimiza12 tion; and 

13 ‘‘(C) operates a national and increasingly 

14 worldwide network, linking the Center online 

15 with each of the missing children clearinghouses 

16 operated by the 50 States, the District of Co17 lumbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as with Scot18 land Yard in the United Kingdom, the Royal 

19 Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL head20 quarters in Lyon, France, and others, which en21 able the Center to transmit images and infor22 mation regarding missing and exploited children 

23 to law enforcement across the United States 

24 and around the world instantly.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE 

2 ADMINISTRATOR. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404(b) of the Missing 

4 Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5773(b)) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) striking paragraph (3); and 

7 (2) redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph 

8 (3). 

9 (b) ANNUAL GRANT TO THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR

10 MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN.—Section 404(b)(1) 

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

12 5773(b)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

14 annually make a grant to the Center, which shall be 

15 used to— 

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

17 telephone line by which individuals may report 

18 information regarding the location of any miss19 ing child, and request information pertaining to 

20 procedures necessary to reunite such child with 

21 such child’s legal custodian; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) coordinate the operation of such tele23 phone line with the operation of the national 

24 communications system referred to in part C of 

25 the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 

26 U.S.C. 5714–11); 


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1 ‘‘(B) operate the official national resource 

2 center and information clearinghouse for miss3 ing and exploited children; 

4 ‘‘(C) provide to State and local govern5 ments, public and private nonprofit agencies, 

6 and individuals, information regarding— 

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

8 lodging, and transportation services that 

9 are available for the benefit of missing and 

10 exploited children and their families; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the existence and nature of pro12 grams being carried out by Federal agen13 cies to assist missing and exploited chil14 dren and their families; 

15 ‘‘(D) coordinate public and private pro16 grams that locate, recover, or reunite missing 

17 children with their families; 

18 ‘‘(E) disseminate, on a national basis, in19 formation relating to innovative and model pro20 grams, services, and legislation that benefit 

21 missing and exploited children; 

22 ‘‘(F) in cooperation with the Department 

23 of Justice and the Department of State and 

24 local law enforcement, develop and present an 

25 annual report on the actual number of children 


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1 nationwide who are reported missing each year, 

2 the number of children who are victims of non3 family abductions, the number of children who 

4 are the victims of parental kidnappings, and the 

5 number of children who are recovered each 

6 year; 

7 ‘‘(G) provide technical assistance and 

8 training to law enforcement agencies, State and 

9 local governments, elements of the criminal jus10 tice system, public and private nonprofit agen11 cies, and individuals in the prevention, inves12 tigation, prosecution, and treatment of cases in13 volving missing and exploited children; 

14 ‘‘(H) provide assistance to families and law 

15 enforcement agencies in locating and recovering 

16 missing and exploited children, both nationally 

17 and internationally; 

18 ‘‘(I) provide analytical support and tech19 nical assistance to law enforcement agencies 

20 through searching public records databases in 

21 locating and recovering missing and exploited 

22 children and helping to locate and identify ab23 ductors; 


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1 ‘‘(J) provide direct on-site technical assist2 ance and consultation to law enforcement agen3 cies in child abduction and exploitation cases; 

4 ‘‘(K) provide forensic technical assistance 

5 and consultation to law enforcement and other 

6 agencies in the identification of unidentified de7 ceased children through facial reconstruction of 

8 skeletal remains and similar techniques; 

9 ‘‘(L) track the incidence of attempted child 

10 abductions in order to identify links and pat11 terns, and provide such information to law en12 forcement agencies; 

13 ‘‘(M) facilitate the deployment of the Na14 tional Emergency Child Locator Center to as15 sist in reuniting missing children with their 

16 families during periods of national disasters; 

17 ‘‘(N) operate a cyber tipline to provide on18 line users and electronic service providers an ef19 fective means of reporting Internet-related child 

20 sexual exploitation in the areas of— 

21 ‘‘(i) possession, manufacture and dis22 tribution of child pornography; 

23 ‘‘(ii) online enticement of children for 

24 sexual acts; 

25 ‘‘(iii) child prostitution; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) sex tourism involving children; 

2 ‘‘(v) extrafamilial child sexual moles3 tation; and 

4 ‘‘(vi) unsolicited obscene material sent 

5 to a child; 

6 and subsequently to transmit such reports, in7 cluding relevant images and information, to the 

8 appropriate international, Federal, State or 

9 local law enforcement agency for investigation; 

10 ‘‘(O) work with law enforcement, electronic 

11 service providers, electronic payment service 

12 providers, and others on methods to reduce the 

13 distribution on the Internet of images and vid14 eos of sexually exploited children; 

15 ‘‘(P) operate the Child Victim Identifica16 tion Program in order to assist the efforts of 

17 law enforcement agencies in identifying victims 

18 of child pornography and other sexual crimes; 

19 ‘‘(Q) develop and disseminate programs 

20 and information for the general public to edu21 cate families and children regarding the preven22 tion of child abduction and sexual exploitation; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(R) develop and disseminate programs 

25 and information to local communities, schools, 


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1 public officials, nonprofit organizations, and 

2 youth-serving organizations to help parents and 

3 children use the Internet safely.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 (a) ANNUAL GRANT TO THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR

6 MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN.—Section 404(b)(2) 

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

8 5773(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘$20,000,000 for each 

9 of the fiscal years 2004 through 2008’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘$20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as are 

11 necessary for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2013’’. 

12 (b) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(a) of the Missing 

13 Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5777(a)) is amended 

14 by striking ‘‘2004 through 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘2008 

15 through 2013.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL. 

17 Title XXXVII of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 

18 U.S.C. 5779 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 3703. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An Inspector General appointed 

22 under section 3 or 8G of the Inspector General Act of 

23 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) may authorize staff to assist the 

24 National Center for Missing and Exploited Children— 


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1 ‘‘(1) by conducting reviews of inactive case files 

2 to develop recommendations for further investiga3 tions; and 

4 ‘‘(2) by engaging in similar activities. 

5 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PRIORITY.—An Inspector General may not 

7 permit staff to engage in activities described in sub8 section (a) if such activities will interfere with the 

9 duties of the Inspector General under the Inspector 

10 General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

11 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—No additional funds are au12 thorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec13 tion.’’. 

Æ 


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