[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2103 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2103

 To authorize the Attorney General to provide grants for organizations 
                        to find missing adults.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2005

   Mrs. Myrick (for herself, Mr. Pastor, and Mr. Green of Wisconsin) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Attorney General to provide grants for organizations 
                        to find missing adults.

    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 ``Kristen's Act Reauthorization of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Every year thousands of adults become missing due to 
        advanced age, diminished mental capacity, or foul play. Often 
        there is no information regarding the whereabouts of these 
        adults and many of them are never reunited with their families.
            (2) Missing adults are at great risk of both physical harm 
        and sexual exploitation.
            (3) In most cases, families and local law enforcement 
        officials have neither the resources nor the expertise to 
        undertake appropriate search efforts for a missing adult.
            (4) The search for a missing adult requires cooperation and 
        coordination among Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
        agencies and assistance from distant communities where the 
        adult may be located.
            (5) Federal assistance is urgently needed to help with 
        coordination among such agencies.
            (6) Since 2001, following the enactment of Kristen's Act 
        (Public Law 106-468), the National Center for Missing Adults 
        has--
                    (A) served as a national resource center and 
                information clearinghouse for missing adults;
                    (B) provided training to investigative law 
                enforcement officers to prepare such officers to 
                appropriately respond to missing adult cases; and
                    (C) worked in cooperation with the Bureau of 
                Justice Assistance and the Office for Victims of Crime 
                of the Department of Justice, the International 
                Homicide Investigators Association, and many other 
                agencies in the effort to find missing adults and 
                prevent victimization.
            (7) The National Center for Missing Adults is working to 
        provide policy training to police chiefs and sheriffs regarding 
        the issues of missing adults.
            (8) The demand for the services of the National Center for 
        Missing Adults is growing substantially.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR THE ASSISTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONS TO FIND MISSING 
              ADULTS.

    (a) Grants.--The Attorney General, acting through the Director of 
the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the Department of Justice, shall 
make grants to public agencies or nonprofit private organizations, or 
combinations thereof, to--
            (1) maintain a national resource center and information 
        clearinghouse for missing and unidentified adults;
            (2) maintain a national, interconnected database for the 
        purpose of tracking missing adults who are determined by law 
        enforcement to be endangered due to age, diminished mental 
        capacity, or the circumstances of disappearance, when foul play 
        is suspected or circumstances are unknown;
            (3) coordinate public and private programs that locate or 
        recover missing adults or reunite missing adults with their 
        families;
            (4) provide assistance and training to law enforcement 
        agencies, State and local governments, elements of the criminal 
        justice system, nonprofit organizations, and individuals in the 
        prevention, investigation, prosecution, and treatment of cases 
        involving missing adults;
            (5) provide assistance to families in locating and 
        recovering missing adults; and
            (6) assist in public notification and victim advocacy 
        related to missing adults.
    (b) Other Duties.--The Attorney General, acting through the 
Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the Department of 
Justice, shall--
            (1) coordinate programs relating to missing adults that are 
        funded by the Federal Government;
            (2) provide access to the National Crime Information Center 
        of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the public agencies 
        or nonprofit private organizations receiving a grant pursuant 
        to subsection (a)(1).

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, 
$4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2016.
                                 <all>