Protecting Our Children Comes First Act of 2007
PL 110-240 (H.R.2517), enacted 06/03/2008

122 STAT. 1560 
PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 
Public Law 110–240 
110th Congress 
An Act 
To amend the Missing Children’s Assistance Act to authorize appropriations; and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Our Children Comes 
First Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Section 402 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5771) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 402. FINDINGS. 
‘‘The Congress finds that— 
‘‘(1) each year thousands of children are abducted or 
removed from the control of a parent having legal custody 
without such parent’s consent, under circumstances which 
immediately place the child in grave danger; 
‘‘(2) many missing children are at great risk of both physical 
harm and sexual exploitation; 
‘‘(3) in many cases, parents and local law enforcement 
officials have neither the resources nor the expertise to mount 
expanded search efforts; 
‘‘(4) abducted children are frequently moved from one 
locality to another, requiring the cooperation and coordination 
of local, State, and Federal law enforcement efforts; 
‘‘(5) growing numbers of children are the victims of child 
sexual exploitation, increasingly involving the use of new tech-
nology to access the Internet; 
‘‘(6) children may be separated from their parents or legal 
guardians as a result of national disasters such as hurricanes 
and floods; 
‘‘(7) sex offenders pose a threat to children; 
‘‘(8) the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preven-
tion administers programs under this Act through the Child 
Protection Division, including programs which prevent or 
address offenses committed against vulnerable children and 
which support missing children’s organizations; and 
‘‘(9) a key component of such programs is the National 
Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which— 
‘‘(A) serves as a national resource center and clearing-
house; 
Protecting Our 
Children Comes 
First Act of 2007. 
42 USC 5601 
note. 
June 3, 2008 
[H.R. 2517] 
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122 STAT. 1561 
PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 
‘‘(B) works in partnership with the Department of Jus-
tice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States 
Marshals Service, the Department of the Treasury, the 
Department of State, the Bureau of Immigration and Cus-
toms Enforcement, the United States Secret Service, the 
United States Postal Inspection Service, and many other 
agencies in the effort to find missing children and prevent 
child victimization; and 
‘‘(C) operates a national network, linking the Center 
online with each of the missing children clearinghouses 
operated by the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 
Puerto Rico, as well as with international organizations, 
including Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom, the Royal 
Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL headquarters in 
Lyon, France, and others, which enable the Center to 
transmit images and information regarding missing and 
exploited children to law enforcement across the United 
States and around the world instantly.’’. 
SEC. 3. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATOR. 
Section 404(b) of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5773(b)) is amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall annually make 
a grant to the Center, which shall be used to— 
‘‘(A)(i) operate a national 24-hour toll-free telephone 
line by which individuals may report information regarding 
the location of any missing child, and request information 
pertaining to procedures necessary to reunite such child 
with such child’s legal custodian; and 
‘‘(ii) coordinate the operation of such telephone line 
with the operation of the national communications system 
referred to in part C of the Runaway and Homeless Youth 
Act (42 U.S.C. 5714–11); 
‘‘(B) operate the official national resource center and 
information clearinghouse for missing and exploited chil-
dren; 
‘‘(C) provide to State and local governments, and public 
and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals, informa-
tion regarding— 
‘‘(i) free or low-cost legal, restaurant, lodging, and 
transportation services that are available for the ben-
efit of missing and exploited children and their fami-
lies; and 
‘‘(ii) the existence and nature of programs being 
carried out by Federal agencies to assist missing and 
exploited children and their families; 
‘‘(D) coordinate public and private programs that 
locate, recover, or reunite missing children with their fami-
lies; 
‘‘(E) disseminate, on a national basis, information 
relating to innovative and model programs, services, and 
legislation that benefit missing and exploited children; 
‘‘(F) based solely on reports received by the National 
Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and 
not involving any data collection by NCMEC other than 
Grants. 
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122 STAT. 1562 
PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 
the receipt of those reports, annually provide to the Depart-
ment of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 
Prevention— 
‘‘(i) the number of children nationwide who are 
reported to NCMEC as missing; 
‘‘(ii) the number of children nationwide who are 
reported to NCMEC as victims of non-family abduc-
tions; 
‘‘(iii) the number of children nationwide who are 
reported to NCMEC as victims of parental kidnappings; 
and 
‘‘(iv) the number of children recovered nationwide 
whose recovery was reported to NCMEC; 
‘‘(G) provide, at the request of State and local govern-
ments, and public and private nonprofit agencies, guidance 
on how to facilitate the lawful use of school records and 
birth certificates to identify and locate missing children; 
‘‘(H) provide technical assistance and training to law 
enforcement agencies, State and local governments, ele-
ments of the criminal justice system, public and private 
nonprofit agencies, and individuals in the prevention, inves-
tigation, prosecution, and treatment of cases involving 
missing and exploited children; 
‘‘(I) provide assistance to families and law enforcement 
agencies in locating and recovering missing and exploited 
children, both nationally and, in cooperation with the 
Department of State, internationally; 
‘‘(J) provide analytical support and technical assistance 
to law enforcement agencies through searching public 
records databases in locating and recovering missing and 
exploited children and helping to locate and identify abduc-
tors; 
‘‘(K) provide direct on-site technical assistance and con-
sultation to law enforcement agencies in child abduction 
and exploitation cases; 
‘‘(L) provide forensic technical assistance and consulta-
tion to law enforcement and other agencies in the identifica-
tion of unidentified deceased children through facial 
reconstruction of skeletal remains and similar techniques; 
‘‘(M) track the incidence of attempted child abductions 
in order to identify links and patterns, and provide such 
information to law enforcement agencies; 
‘‘(N) provide training and assistance to law enforcement 
agencies in identifying and locating non-compliant sex 
offenders; 
‘‘(O) facilitate the deployment of the National Emer-
gency Child Locator Center to assist in reuniting missing 
children with their families during periods of national 
disasters; 
‘‘(P) operate a cyber tipline to provide online users 
and electronic service providers an effective means of 
reporting Internet-related child sexual exploitation in the 
areas of— 
‘‘(i) possession, manufacture, and distribution of 
child pornography; 
‘‘(ii) online enticement of children for sexual acts; 
‘‘(iii) child prostitution; 
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122 STAT. 1563 
PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 
‘‘(iv) sex tourism involving children; 
‘‘(v) extrafamilial child sexual molestation; 
‘‘(vi) unsolicited obscene material sent to a child; 
‘‘(vii) misleading domain names; and 
‘‘(viii) misleading words or digital images on the 
Internet, 
and subsequently to transmit such reports, including rel-
evant images and information, to the appropriate inter-
national, Federal, State or local law enforcement agency 
for investigation; 
‘‘(Q) work with law enforcement, Internet service pro-
viders, electronic payment service providers, and others 
on methods to reduce the distribution on the Internet of 
images and videos of sexually exploited children; 
‘‘(R) operate a child victim identification program in 
order to assist the efforts of law enforcement agencies 
in identifying victims of child pornography and other sexual 
crimes; and 
‘‘(S) develop and disseminate programs and information 
to the general public, schools, public officials, youth-serving 
organizations, and nonprofit organizations, directly or 
through grants or contracts with public agencies and public 
and private nonprofit organizations, on— 
‘‘(i) the prevention of child abduction and sexual 
exploitation; and 
‘‘(ii) internet safety.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘$20,000,000’’ and all that 
follows through ‘‘2008’’, and inserting ‘‘$40,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 
2009 through 2013’’. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 408(a) of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5777(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘2007 through 2008’’ and 
inserting ‘‘2008 through 2013’’. 
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122 STAT. 1564 
PUBLIC LAW 110–240—JUNE 3, 2008 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2517 (S. 1829): 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 
Vol. 153 (2007): Dec. 5, considered and passed House. 
Vol. 154 (2008): May 20, considered and passed Senate. 
SEC. 5. REPEALER. 
The Missing Children’s Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5771 et seq.) 
is amended— 
(1) by striking section 407; and 
(2) by redesignating section 408 as section 407. 
Approved June 3, 2008. 
42 USC 5777. 
42 USC 5776a. 
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