I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1808 
To amend and improve the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 30, 2017 
Mr. GUTHRIE (for himself and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend and improve the Missing Children’s Assistance 
Act, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Support for 
Missing and Exploited Children Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Section 402 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5771) is amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol-
lows: to read as follows: 
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‘‘(1) each year tens of thousands of children 
run away, or are abducted or removed, from the con-
trol of a parent having legal custody without such 
parent’s consent, under circumstances which imme-
diately place the child in grave danger;’’, 
(2) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5), 
(3) in paragraph (6) by inserting ‘‘, including 
child sex trafficking and sextortion’’ after ‘‘exploi-
tation’’, 
(4) in paragraph (8) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 
end, 
(5) by striking paragraph (9), 
(6) by amending paragraph (10) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(10) a key component of such programs is the 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children 
that— 
‘‘(A) serves as a nonprofit, national re-
source center and clearinghouse to provide as-
sistance to victims, families, child-serving pro-
fessionals, and the general public; 
‘‘(B) works with the Department of Jus-
tice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the 
United States Marshals Service, the Depart-
ment of the Treasury, the Department of State, 
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the United States Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement, the United States Secret Service, 
the United States Postal Inspection Service, 
other agencies, and nongovernmental organiza-
tions in the effort to find missing children and 
to prevent child victimization; and 
‘‘(C) coordinates with each of the missing 
children clearinghouses operated by the 50 
States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 
and international organizations to transmit im-
ages and information regarding missing and ex-
ploited children to law enforcement, nongovern-
mental organizations, and corporate partners 
across the United States and around the world 
instantly.’’, and 
(7) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), (8), 
and (10) as paragraphs (4), (5), (6), and (7), re-
spectively. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 403 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5772) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘legal custodian’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘parent’’, 
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(B) in subparagraph (A) by striking 
‘‘custodian’s’’ and inserting ‘‘parent’s’’, and 
(C) in subparagraph (C) by striking the 
period at the end and inserting a semicolon, 
(2) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end and inserting a semicolon, 
(3) in paragraph (3) by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) the term ‘parent’ includes a legal guardian 
or other individual standing in loco parentis (such as 
a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child 
lives, or an individual who is legally responsible for 
the child’s welfare).’’. 
SEC. 4. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATOR. 
Section 404 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5773(b)) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘tele-
phone line’’ and inserting ‘‘hotline’’, and 
(B) in paragraph (6)(E)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘telephone line’’ and 
inserting ‘‘hotline’’, 
(ii) by striking ‘‘(b)(1)(A) and’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(b)(1)(A),’’, and 
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(iii) by inserting ‘‘, and the number 
and types of reports to the tipline estab-
lished under subsection (b)(1)(K)(i)’’ be-
fore the semicolon at the end, and 
(2) in subsection (b)(1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘telephone line’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘hotline’’, 
and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘legal custodian’’ and 
inserting ‘‘parent’’, 
(B) in subparagraph (C)— 
(i) in clause (i)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘restaurant’’ and 
inserting ‘‘food’’, and 
(II) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end, 
(ii) in clause (ii) by adding ‘‘and’’ at 
the end, and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iii) innovative and model programs, 
services, and legislation that benefit miss-
ing and exploited children;’’, 
(C) by striking subparagraphs (E), (F), 
and (G), 
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(D) by amending subparagraph (H) to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(H) provide technical assistance and 
training to families, law enforcement agencies, 
State and local governments, elements of the 
criminal justice system, nongovernmental agen-
cies, local educational agencies, and the general 
public— 
‘‘(i) in the prevention, investigation, 
prosecution, and treatment of cases involv-
ing missing and exploited children; 
‘‘(ii) to respond to foster children 
missing from the State child welfare sys-
tem in coordination with child welfare 
agencies and courts handling juvenile jus-
tice and dependency matters; and 
‘‘(iii) in the identification, location, 
and recovery of victims of, and children at 
risk for, child sex trafficking;’’, 
(E) by amending subparagraphs (I), (J), 
and (K) to read as follows: 
‘‘(I) provide assistance to families, law en-
forcement agencies, State and local govern-
ments, nongovernmental agencies, child-serving 
professionals, and other individuals involved in 
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the location and recovery of missing and ab-
ducted children, both nationally, and in co-
operation with the Department of State, inter-
nationally; 
‘‘(J) provide support and technical assist-
ance to child-serving professionals involved in 
helping to recover missing and exploited chil-
dren by searching public records databases to 
help in the identification, location, and recovery 
of such children, and help in the location and 
identification of potential abductors and offend-
ers; 
‘‘(K) provide forensic and direct on-site 
technical assistance and consultation to fami-
lies, law enforcement agencies, child-serving 
professionals, and nongovernmental organiza-
tions in child abduction and exploitation cases, 
including facial reconstruction of skeletal re-
mains and similar techniques to assist in the 
identification of unidentified deceased chil-
dren;’’, 
(F) by striking subparagraphs (L) and 
(M), 
(G) by amending subparagraph (N) to 
read as follows: 
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‘‘(N) provide training, technical assistance, 
and information to nongovernmental organiza-
tions relating to non-compliant sex offenders 
and to law enforcement agencies in identifying 
and locating such individuals;’’, 
(H) by striking subparagraph (P), 
(I) by amending subparagraph (Q) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(Q) work with families, law enforcement 
agencies, Internet service providers, electronic 
payment service providers, technology compa-
nies, nongovernmental organizations, and others 
on methods to reduce the existence and dis-
tribution of online images and videos of sexually 
exploited children— 
‘‘(i) by operating a tipline to provide 
to individuals and electronic service pro-
viders an effective means of reporting 
Internet-related and other instances of 
child sexual exploitation in the areas of— 
‘‘(I) 
possession, 
manufacture, 
and distribution of child pornography; 
‘‘(II) online enticement of chil-
dren for sexual acts; 
‘‘(III) child sex trafficking; 
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‘‘(IV) sex tourism involving chil-
dren; 
‘‘(V) extra familial child sexual 
molestation; 
‘‘(VI) unsolicited obscene mate-
rial sent to a child; 
‘‘(VII) misleading domain names; 
and 
‘‘(VIII) misleading words or dig-
ital images on the Internet, 
and subsequently to make such reports 
available to the appropriate law enforce-
ment agency for its review and potential 
investigation; 
‘‘(ii) by operating a child victim iden-
tification program to assist law enforce-
ment agencies in identifying victims of 
child pornography and other sexual crimes 
to support the recovery of children from 
sexually exploitative situations; and 
‘‘(iii) by utilizing emerging tech-
nologies to provide additional outreach and 
educational materials to parents and fami-
lies;’’, 
(J) by striking subparagraph (R), 
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(K) by amending subparagraphs (S) and 
(T) to read as follows: 
‘‘(S) develop and disseminate programs 
and information to families, child-serving pro-
fessionals, law enforcement agencies, State and 
local governments, nongovernmental organiza-
tions, schools, local educational agencies, child- 
serving organizations, and the general public 
on— 
‘‘(i) the prevention of child abduction 
and sexual exploitation; 
‘‘(ii) internet safety, including tips for 
social media and cyberbullying; and 
‘‘(iii) sexting and sextortion; and 
‘‘(T) provide technical assistance and 
training to local educational agencies, schools, 
State and local law enforcement agencies, indi-
viduals, and other nongovernmental organiza-
tions that assist with finding missing and ab-
ducted children in identifying and recovering 
such children.’’, and 
(L) by redesignating subparagraphs (G), 
(H), (I), (J), (K), (O), (Q), (S), and (T) as 
subparagraphs (E) through (M), respectively. 
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SEC. 5. GRANTS. 
Section 405 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5775) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘(as de-
fined in section 403(1)(A))’’, and 
(B) in paragraph (8)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘legal custodians’’ and 
inserting ‘‘parents’’, and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘custodians’ ’’ and in-
serting ‘‘parents’ ’’, and 
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by striking ‘‘legal 
custodians’’ and inserting ‘‘parents’’. 
SEC. 6. REPORTING. 
The Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5771 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 407 and 408 as 
sections 408 and 409, respectively, and 
(2) by inserting after section 406 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 407. REPORTING. 
‘‘(a) REQUIRED REPORTING.—As a condition of re-
ceiving funds under section 404(b), the grant recipient 
shall, based solely on reports received by the grantee and 
not involving any data collection by the grantee other than 
those reports, annually provide to the Administrator and 
make available to the general public, as appropriate— 
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‘‘(1) the number of children nationwide who are 
reported to the grantee as missing; 
‘‘(2) the number of children nationwide who are 
reported to the grantee as victims of non-family ab-
ductions; 
‘‘(3) the number of children nationwide who are 
reported to the grantee as victims of family abduc-
tions; and 
‘‘(4) the number of missing and abducted chil-
dren recovered nationwide whose recovery was re-
ported to the grantee. 
‘‘(b) INCIDENCE
OF ATTEMPTED CHILD ABDUC-
TIONS.—As a condition of receiving funds under section 
404(b), the grant recipient shall— 
‘‘(1) track the incidence of attempted child ab-
ductions in order to identify links and patterns; 
‘‘(2) provide such information to law enforce-
ment agencies; and 
‘‘(3) make such information available to the 
general public, as appropriate.’’. 
Æ 
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