II 

Calendar No. 544 

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, Mr. SHELBY, and Mr. 

SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

DECEMBER 13, 2007 

Reported by Mr. LEAHY, with an amendment 

[Omit the part struck through] 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO FINDINGS. 

2 Section 402 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 5771) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 402. FINDINGS. 

5 ‘‘Congress finds that— 

6 ‘‘(1) each year thousands of children are ab7 ducted or removed from the control of a parent hav8 ing legal custody without such parent’s consent, 

9 under circumstances which immediately place the 

10 child in grave danger; 

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

12 both physical harm and sexual exploitation; 

13 ‘‘(3) in many cases, parents and local law en14 forcement officials have neither the resources nor 

15 the expertise to mount expanded search efforts; 

16 ‘‘(4) abducted children are frequently moved 

17 from one locality to another, requiring the coopera18 tion and coordination of local, State, and Federal 

19 law enforcement efforts; 

20 ‘‘(5) growing numbers of children are the vic21 tims of child sexual exploitation, increasingly involv22 ing the use of new technology to access the Internet; 

23 ‘‘(6) children may be displaced from their par24 ents or legal guardians as a result of national disas25 ters such as hurricanes and floods; 


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

2 and 

3 ‘‘(8) the National Center for Missing and Ex4 ploited Children— 

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

6 and clearinghouse; 

7 ‘‘(B) works in partnership with the De8 partment of Justice, the Federal Bureau of In9 vestigation, the United States Marshals Service, 

10 the Department of the Treasury, the Depart11 ment of State, the Department of Homeland 

12 Security’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs 

13 Enforcement, the United States Secret Service, 

14 and many other agencies in the effort to find 

15 missing children and prevent child victimiza16 tion; and 

17 ‘‘(C) operates a national and increasingly 

18 worldwide network, linking the Center online 

19 with each of the missing children clearinghouses 

20 operated by the 50 States, the District of Co21 lumbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as with Scot22 land Yard in the United Kingdom, the Royal 

23 Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL head24 quarters in Lyon, France, and others, which en25 able the Center to transmit images and inforVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:46 Dec 14, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1829.RS S1829

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1 mation regarding missing and exploited children 

2 to law enforcement across the United States 

3 and around the world instantly.’’. 

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

5 ADMINISTRATOR. 

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

7 Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5773(b)) is amend8 ed— 

9 (1) striking paragraph (3); and 

10 (2) redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph 

11 (3). 

12 (b) ANNUAL GRANT TO THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR

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

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

15 5773(b)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 

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

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

18 used to— 

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

20 telephone line by which individuals may report 

21 information regarding the location of any miss22 ing child, and request information pertaining to 

23 procedures necessary to reunite such child with 

24 such child’s legal custodian; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) coordinate the operation of such tele2 phone line with the operation of the national 

3 communications system referred to in part C of 

4 the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 5714–11); 

6 ‘‘(B) operate the official national resource 

7 center and information clearinghouse for miss8 ing and exploited children; 

9 ‘‘(C) provide to State and local govern10 ments, public and private nonprofit agencies, 

11 and individuals, information regarding— 

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

13 lodging, and transportation services that 

14 are available for the benefit of missing and 

15 exploited children and their families; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the existence and nature of pro17 grams being carried out by Federal agen18 cies to assist missing and exploited chil19 dren and their families; 

20 ‘‘(D) coordinate public and private pro21 grams that locate, recover, or reunite missing 

22 children with their families; 

23 ‘‘(E) disseminate, on a national basis, in24 formation relating to innovative and model proVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:46 Dec 14, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1829.RS S1829

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1 grams, services, and legislation that benefit 

2 missing and exploited children; 

3 ‘‘(F) in cooperation with the Department 

4 of Justice and the Department of State and 

5 local law enforcement, develop and present an 

6 annual report on the actual number of children 

7 nationwide who are reported missing each year, 

8 the number of children who are victims of non9 family abductions, the number of children who 

10 are the victims of parental kidnappings, and the 

11 number of children who are recovered each 

12 year; 

13 ‘‘(G) provide technical assistance and 

14 training to law enforcement agencies, State and 

15 local governments, elements of the criminal jus16 tice system, public and private nonprofit agen17 cies, and individuals in the prevention, inves18 tigation, prosecution, and treatment of cases in19 volving missing and exploited children; 

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

21 enforcement agencies in locating and recovering 

22 missing and exploited children, both nationally 

23 and internationally; 

24 ‘‘(I) provide analytical support and tech25 nical assistance to law enforcement agencies 


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1 through searching public records databases in 

2 locating and recovering missing and exploited 

3 children and helping to locate and identify ab4 ductors; 

5 ‘‘(J) provide direct on-site technical assist6 ance and consultation to law enforcement agen7 cies in child abduction and exploitation cases; 

8 ‘‘(K) provide forensic technical assistance 

9 and consultation to law enforcement and other 

10 agencies in the identification of unidentified de11 ceased children through facial reconstruction of 

12 skeletal remains and similar techniques; 

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

14 abductions in order to identify links and pat15 terns, and provide such information to law en16 forcement agencies; 

17 ‘‘(M) facilitate the deployment of the Na18 tional Emergency Child Locator Center to as19 sist in reuniting missing children with their 

20 families during periods of national disasters; 

21 ‘‘(N) operate a cyber tipline to provide on22 line users and electronic service providers an ef23 fective means of reporting Internet-related child 

24 sexual exploitation in the areas of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) possession, manufacture and dis2 tribution of child pornography; 

3 ‘‘(ii) online enticement of children for 

4 sexual acts; 

5 ‘‘(iii) child prostitution; 

6 ‘‘(iv) sex tourism involving children; 

7 ‘‘(v) extrafamilial child sexual moles8 tation; and 

9 ‘‘(vi) unsolicited obscene material sent 

10 to a child; 

11 and subsequently to transmit such reports, in12 cluding relevant images and information, to the 

13 appropriate international, Federal, State or 

14 local law enforcement agency for investigation; 

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

16 service providers, electronic payment service 

17 providers, and others on methods to reduce the 

18 distribution on the Internet of images and vid19 eos of sexually exploited children; 

20 ‘‘(P) operate the Child Victim Identifica21 tion Program in order to assist the efforts of 

22 law enforcement agencies in identifying victims 

23 of child pornography and other sexual crimes; 

24 ‘‘(Q) develop and disseminate programs 

25 and information for the general public to eduVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:46 Dec 14, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1829.RS S1829

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1 cate families and children regarding the preven2 tion of child abduction and sexual exploitation; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(R) develop and disseminate programs 

5 and information to local communities, schools, 

6 public officials, nonprofit organizations, and 

7 youth-serving organizations to help parents and 

8 children use the Internet safely.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 (a) ANNUAL GRANT TO THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR

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

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

13 5773(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘$20,000,000 for each 

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

15 ‘‘$20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as are 

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

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

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

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

20 through 2013.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL. 

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

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

24 the following: 


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

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

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

4 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) may authorize staff to assist the 

5 National Center for Missing and Exploited Children— 

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

7 to develop recommendations for further investiga8 tions; and 

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

10 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

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

12 permit staff to engage in activities described in sub13 section (a) if such activities will interfere with the 

14 duties of the Inspector General under the Inspector 

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

16 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—No additional funds are au17 thorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec18 tion.’’. 


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Calendar No. 544 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1829 

A BILL 

To reauthorize programs under the Missing 

Children’s Assistance Act. 

DECEMBER 13, 2007 

Reported with an amendment 


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