    [House Hearing, 115 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                           HONORING OUR COMMITMENT TO
                          RECOVER AND PROTECT MISSING
                             AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN

    =======================================================================

                                    6HEARING

                                   before the

                             COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                               AND THE WORKFORCE
                         U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                         ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                 HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MARCH 16, 2017

                                   __________

                                Serial No. 115-9

                                   __________

      Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and the Workforce

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                    COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE

                   VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina, Chairwoman

    Joe Wilson, South Carolina           Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott,
    Duncan Hunter, California                Virginia
    David P. Roe, Tennessee              Ranking Member
    Glenn ``GT'' Thompson, Pennsylvania  Susan A. Davis, California
    Tim Walberg, Michigan                Raul M. Grijalva, Arizona
    Brett Guthrie, Kentucky              Joe Courtney, Connecticut
    Todd Rokita, Indiana                 Marcia L. Fudge, Ohio
    Lou Barletta, Pennsylvania           Jared Polis, Colorado
    Luke Messer, Indiana                 Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
    Bradley Byrne, Alabama                 Northern Mariana Islands
    David Brat, Virginia                 Frederica S. Wilson, Florida
    Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin            Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon
    Steve Russell, Oklahoma              Mark Takano, California
    Elise Stefanik, New York             Alma S. Adams, North Carolina
    Rick W. Allen, Georgia               Mark DeSaulnier, California
    Jason Lewis, Minnesota               Donald Norcross, New Jersey
    Francis Rooney, Florida              Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware
    Paul Mitchell, Michigan              Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
    Tom Garrett, Jr., Virginia           Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire
    Lloyd K. Smucker, Pennsylvania       Adriano Espaillat, New York
    A. Drew Ferguson, IV, Georgia

                          Brandon Renz, Staff Director
                     Denise Forte, Minority Staff Director
                                     ------

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

    Hearing held on March 16, 2017...................................     1

    Statement of Members:
        Bonamici, Hon. Suzanne, a Representative in Congress from the
          State of Oregon............................................     3
            Prepared statement of....................................     4
        Foxx, Hon. Virginia, Chairwoman, Committee on Education and
          the Workforce..............................................     1
            Prepared statement of....................................     2

    Statement of Witnesses:
        Clark, Mr. John F., President and Chief Executive Officer,
          The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.....     6
            Prepared statement of....................................     8

    Additional Submissions:
        Chairwoman Foxx:
            Slide: Protecting Vulnerable Children....................    35
        Scott, Hon. Robert C. ``Bobby'', Ranking Member, Committee on
          Education and the Workforce:
            Prepared statement of....................................    37
        Questions submitted for the record by:
            Polis, Hon. Jared, a Representative in Congress from the
              State of Colorado......................................    42
            Roe, Hon. David P., a Representative in Congress from the
              State of Tennessee.....................................    42
        Mr. Clark, response to questions submitted for the record....    43

                           HONORING OUR COMMITMENT TO

                          RECOVER AND PROTECT MISSING

                             AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN

                                  ----------

                            Thursday, March 16, 2017

                            House of Representatives

                    Committee on Education and the Workforce

                                Washington, D.C.

                                  ----------

        The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m., in Room
    2175, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Virginia Foxx
    [chairwoman of the committee] presiding.
        Present: Representatives Foxx, Roe, Thompson, Walberg,
    Guthrie, Messer, Stefanik, Allen, Mitchell, Garrett, Courtney,
    Sablan, Bonamici, Takano, Adams, Norcross, and Espaillat.
        Staff Present: Courtney Butcher, Director of Member
    Services and Coalitions; Amy Raaf Jones, Director of Education
    and Human Resources Policy; Nancy Locke, Chief Clerk; Dominique
    McKay, Deputy Press Secretary; James Mullen, Director of
    Information Technology; Krisann Pearce, General Counsel; Lauren
    Reddington, Deputy Press Secretary; Mandy Schaumburg, Education
    Deputy Director and Senior Counsel; Alissa Strawcutter, Deputy
    Clerk; Leslie Tatum, Professional Staff Member; Sheariah
    Yousefi, Legislative Assistant; Tylease Alli, Minority Clerk/
    Intern and Fellow Coordinator; Austin Barbera, Minority Press
    Assistant; Jacque Chevalier, Minority Deputy Education Policy
    Director; Mishawn Freeman, Minority Staff Assistant; and
    Alexander Payne, Minority Education Policy Advisor.
        Chairwoman Foxx. A quorum being present, the Committee on
    Education and the Workforce will come to order. Good morning,
    and welcome to today's hearing on the commitment we as a Nation
    have made to recover and protect missing and exploited
    children.
        So much of the work we do on this committee is about
    creating opportunities for individuals to learn, grow, and
    achieve success in their lives. Unfortunately, statistics and
    the nightly news continue to act as shocking reminders that too
    many children in this country are not thinking about the
    future. They are thinking about their survival. Last year
    alone, there were more than 465,000 reports of missing
    children.
        No child should live in fear of being taken from his or her
    family. No child should live in fear of abuse or exploitation.
    No child should live in fear of becoming the victim of a
    heinous crime. No child should live in fear, period.
        That is why protecting our most vulnerable children has
    long been a national priority. In 1984, the National Center for
    Missing and Exploited Children, or NCMEC, was created to play a
    role in that important effort.
        Since that time, NCMEC has coordinated and supported State
    and local efforts to recover children who are missing, and
    support youth who are victims of violent crimes. The
    organization works with law enforcement, families, schools,
    community leaders, and nonprofit organizations, with a shared
    goal: providing help to children who are in desperate need of
    protection.
        Through a number of initiatives and programs, NCMEC
    operates a 24-hour hotline and a CyberTipline, maintains a
    nationwide database on cases of missing children, and provides
    technical assistance to other recovery and prevention efforts.
        The organization also coordinates resources to victims,
    their families, and the professionals who help them, and it
    engages in public-private partnerships to assist State, local
    leaders, and community partners in their efforts.
        As President Ronald Reagan said when opening NCMEC in 1984,
    ``No single sector of our Nation can solve the problem of
    missing and exploited children alone, but by working together,
    pooling our resources, and building on our strengths, we can
    accomplish great things.''
        Today, NCMEC continues the mission articulated by President
    Reagan more than 30 years ago. In 2016, the Center assisted
    with approximately 21,000 cases of missing children. Of those
    cases, 90 percent were endangered runaways, and roughly one in
    six of those children was a likely victim of child sex
    trafficking.
        Over the years, Congress has worked closely with NCMEC to
    ensure it has the tools it needs to do its job effectively. We
    have also worked to ensure taxpayer dollars being used to
    support the Center's efforts are spent responsibly, and that is
    the purpose of this hearing; for an update from the
    organization itself.
        Today, we have with us John Clark, president and chief
    executive officer. Mr. Clark, we are pleased to hear from you
    about the work NCMEC is doing to help vulnerable children
    across the country, as well as the challenges you face and
    improvements that can be made to help NCMEC continue its work.
    As I stated earlier, your efforts play a critical role in a
    national commitment to help our most vulnerable children.
        In the words of President Reagan, ``Together, we can turn
    the tide on these hateful crimes.''
        I look forward to continuing to work with you, and my
    colleagues on both sides of the aisle, to do just that.
        I now yield to Ms. Bonamici as the ranking member for her
    opening remarks.
        [The statement of Chairwoman Foxx follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Hon. Virginia Foxx, Chairwoman, Committee on
                          Education and the Workforce

        Good morning, and welcome to today's hearing on the commitment we--
    as a nation--have made to recover and protect missing and exploited
    children.
        So much of the work we do on this committee is about creating
    opportunities for individuals to learn, grow, and achieve success in
    their lives. Unfortunately, statistics and the nightly news continue to
    act as shocking reminders that too many children in this country aren't
    thinking about the future. They're thinking about their survival. Last
    year alone, there were more than 465,000 reports of missing children.
        No child should live in fear of being taken from his or her family.
    No child should live in fear of abuse or exploitation. No child should
    live in fear of becoming the victim of a heinous crime.
        No child should live in fear. Period.
        That's why protecting our most vulnerable children has long been a
    national priority. In 1984, the National Center for Missing and
    Exploited Children, or NCMEC, was created to play a role in that
    important effort.
        Since that time, NCMEC has coordinated and supported state and
    local efforts to recover children who are missing and support youth who
    are victims of violent crimes. The organization works with law
    enforcement, families, schools, community leaders, and nonprofit
    organizations with a shared goal--providing help to children who are in
    desperate need of protection.
        Through a number of initiatives and programs, NCMEC operates a 24-
    hour hotline and a CyberTipline; maintains a nationwide database on
    cases of missing children; and provides technical assistance to other
    recovery and prevention efforts. The organization also coordinates
    resources to victims, their families, and the professionals who help
    them; and it engages in public-private partnerships to assist state,
    local leaders, and community partners in their efforts.
        As President Ronald Reagan said when opening NCMEC in 1984:
        ``No single sector of our nation can solve the problem of missing
    and exploited children alone. But by working together, pooling our
    resources, and building on our strengths, we can accomplish great
    things.''
        Today, NCMEC continues the mission articulated by President Reagan
    more than 30 years ago. In 2016, the center assisted with approximately
    21,000 cases of missing children. Of those cases, 90 percent were
    endangered runaways, and roughly one in six of those children was a
    likely victim of child sex trafficking.
        Over the years, Congress has worked closely with NCMEC to ensure it
    has the tools it needs to do its job effectively. We have also worked
    to ensure taxpayer dollars being used to support the center's efforts
    are spent responsibly. And that's the purpose of this hearing--for an
    update from the organization itself. Today, we have with us John Clark,
    president and chief executive officer of NCMEC.
        Mr. Clark, we are pleased to hear from you about the work NCMEC is
    doing to help vulnerable children across the country, as well as the
    challenges you face and improvements that can be made to help NCMEC
    continue its work. As I stated earlier, your efforts play a critical
    role in a national commitment to help our most vulnerable children.
        In the words of President Reagan, ``Together, we can turn the tide
    on these hateful crimes.'' I look forward to continuing to work with
    you--and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle--to do just that.I
    will now yield to Ranking Member Bonamici for her opening remarks.
                                     ______

        Ms. Bonamici. Thank you, Chair Foxx, for holding this
    hearing, and thank you, Mr. Clark, for your testimony and your
    expertise.
        Since it was established in 1984, the National Center for
    Missing and Exploited Children has been working to reunite
    missing children with their families and loved ones.
        In 2016, the National Center worked on more than 20,500
    missing children cases, and in Oregon, currently, there are 65
    active missing children cases on NCMEC's website, just in my
    own home State. These are children who are separated from their
    families, who have loved ones looking for them and who need to
    be found.
        In fact, just this week, a nine-year-old girl from Gresham,
    Oregon, went missing overnight. Thankfully, she was located and
    reunited with her mother after a concerned citizen, who had
    seen her picture on the local news, recognized her and called
    the police. The quick distribution of this girl's picture and
    fast thinking of a neighbor prevented tragedy from occurring.
    Unfortunately, many other families are not as lucky.
        The world can be a dangerous place for our children and our
    rapidly advancing technologies can make it even more
    challenging to protect our kids.
        Mr. Clark, I applaud the work you and NCMEC have done to
    not only keep up with technological advances, but to use those
    advances to better protect children.
        I am looking forward to hearing more from you about your
    CyberTipline initiative to receive tips about online sexual
    exploitation, the NetSmartz411 program to educate parents about
    online safety, and the KidSmartz program, to better prepare
    kids for online risks.
        I also want to make sure we address the particular dangers
    facing minority children and our LGBTQ youth. It is a tragic
    fact that abductions of minority children are grossly
    underreported in the media.
        In Washington, D.C., alone, 10 children of color have been
    reported missing since the beginning of March, and only 2 have
    been found so far. Ten missing children in 2 weeks is
    unspeakable. The media has been slow to report on these youths.
    As we know, media reports about missing children are often
    critical for reuniting kids and families.
        Additionally, LGBTQ youth are at an increased risk of
    homelessness if they do not feel welcome in their homes or
    their communities. A 2015 study from the Urban Institute told
    the heartbreaking stories of LGBTQ youth who run away from home
    and engage in survival sex, the practice of trading sex for
    money, food, or a place to stay.
        We must do everything we can to make sure that we are
    protecting all children, including our children of color and
    LGBTQ youth.
        I want to close by expressing my gratitude to Chair Foxx
    and the committee for the bipartisan commitment to extending
    the authorization of the National Center for Missing and
    Exploited Children, and maintaining the Center's independent
    status.
        I hope that we can continue to work together to protect all
    missing and exploited children and reunite them with their
    families.
        Thank you again, Chair Foxx, and I yield back the balance
    of my time.
        [The statement of Ms. Bonamici follows:]

       Prepared Statement of Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, a Representative in
                       Congress from the State of Oregon

        Thank you, Chair Foxx, for holding this hearing, and thank you, Mr.
    Clark, for your testimony and expertise.
        Since it was established in 1984, the National Center for Missing
    and Exploited Children has been working to reunite missing children
    with their families and loved ones.
        In 2016, NCMEC worked on more than 20,500 missing children cases,
    and in Oregon, currently there are 65 active missing children cases on
    NCMEC's website. These are children who are separated from their
    families, who have loved ones looking for them, and who need to be
    found.
        In fact, just this week, a 9 year old girl from Gresham, Oregon,
    went missing overnight. Thankfully, she was located and reunited with
    her mother after a concerned citizen, who had seen her picture on the
    local news, recognized her and called police.
        The quick distribution of the girl's picture and fast thinking of a
    neighbor prevented a tragedy from occurring.
        Unfortunately, many other families are not as lucky. The world can
    be a dangerous place for our children, and our rapidly-advancing
    technology can make it even more challenging to protect our kids.
        Mr. Clark, I applaud the work you and NCMEC have done to not only
    keep up with technological advances, but to use those advances to
    better protect children.
        I'm looking forward to hearing more from you about your
    CyberTipline initiative to receive tips about online sexual
    exploitation, the NetSmartz411 program to educate parents about online
    safety, and the KidSmartz program to better prepare kids for online
    risks.
        I also want to make sure we address the particular dangers facing
    minority children and LGBTQ youth.
        It is a tragic fact that abductions of minority children are
    grossly underreported in the media. In Washington, D.C., alone, 10
    children of color have been reported missing since the beginning of
    March, and only two have been found so far.
        Ten missing children in two weeks is unspeakable, and the media has
    been slow to report on these youth. As we know, media reports about
    missing children are often critical for reuniting kids and families.
        Additionally, LGBTQ youth are at an increased risk of homelessness
    if they do not feel welcome in their homes or communities. A 2015 study
    from the Urban Institute told the heartbreaking stories of LGBTQ youth
    who run away from home and engage in ``survival sex''--the practice of
    trading sex for money, food, or a place to stay.
        We must do everything we can to make sure that we are protecting
    all children--including our children of color and LGBTQ youth.
        I want to close by expressing my gratitude to Chair Foxx and the
    Committee for the bipartisan commitment to extending authorization of
    the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and maintaining
    the Center's independent status.
        I hope that we can continue to work together to protect missing and
    exploited children, and reunite families.
        Thank you again, Chair Foxx, and I yield the balance of my time.
                                     ______

        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Ms. Bonamici. Pursuant to
    Committee Rule 7(c), all members will be permitted to submit
    written statements to be included in the permanent hearing
    record. And without objection, the hearing record will remain
    open for 14 days to allow such statements and other extraneous
    material referenced during the hearing to be submitted for the
    official hearing record.
        We now turn to introduction of our distinguished witness.
    Mr. John Clark serves as the president and chief executive
    officer of the National Center for Missing and Exploited
    Children. Prior to this position,Mr. Clark's career spanned 28
    years with the U.S. Marshals Service.
        I now ask Mr. Clark to raise his right hand.
        Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are
    about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
    but the truth?
        Mr. Clark. I do.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Let the record reflect Mr. Clark answered
    in the affirmative. Before I recognize you to provide your
    testimony, let me briefly explain our lighting system. We allow
    5 minutes for the witness to provide testimony. When you begin,
    the light in front of you will turn green. When 1 minute is
    left, the light will turn yellow. At the 5-minute mark, the
    light will turn red, and you should wrap up your testimony.
    Members will each have 5 minutes to ask questions.
        Mr. Clark, you are recognized for your testimony.

       TESTIMONY OF JOHN F. CLARK, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE
    OFFICER, THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN

        Mr. Clark. Alright. Well, good morning, Chairwoman Foxx and
    Congresswoman Bonamici, and members of the committee. I have
    had the privilege and honor to serve as a president and CEO of
    the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children since
    December of 2015.
        Now, NCMEC, as we sometimes refer to it, was created in
    1984 by John and Reve Walsh and other child advocates as a
    private, nonprofit corporation to help find missing children,
    reduce child's sexual exploitation, and prevent child
    victimization.
        Like other large nonprofits, NCMEC receives Federal grant
    and private foundation funding, corporate donations, and
    private individual donations to enhance our work and engage in
    building and promoting a coordinated national response to the
    problem of missing and exploited children.
        I am pleased to be here to provide you with insights and
    updates on NCMEC and the work we have done in the following
    years since the last reauthorization in 2013.
        Many of you are familiar with such and much of the work
    that NCMEC does, so I thought I'd spend my time talking today
    about a few key emerging trends and issues that NCMEC has seen
    and has taken the lead on addressing since our last
    reauthorization.
        The committee has long played a leadership role on the
    issue of child sex trafficking, and I know it is of particular
    interest to many of you today. NCMEC works to combat child sex
    trafficking by assisting with cases of missing children and by
    operating our CyberTipline.
        And additionally, we provide significant support to victims
    and families by helping them locate community-based resources,
    and we assist victims' legal teams in their efforts to seek
    judicial intervention, including restitution.
        As you're aware, NCMEC's CyberTipline serves as a central
    mechanism where the public technology companies can report
    instances of child sexual exploitation, including reports
    related to child sex trafficking.
        In 2016, NCMEC assisted with approximately 9,000 reports
    related to child sex trafficking, but we know that represents
    only a fraction of suspected child sex trafficking victims in
    this country.
        Our handling of child sex trafficking cases has taught us
    that child sex trafficking is also a missing child issue. We
    have found that one in six endangered runaways reported to
    NCMEC in 2016 were likely sex trafficking victims, and of
    those, 86 percent were in the care of social services or foster
    care when they went missing.
        This group of children, who we refer to as ``children
    missing from care,'' is an especially vulnerable group, not
    only for the overwhelming number that can become victims of sex
    trafficking, but also for other dangers that they would face.
        A 2014 law required the States to begin reporting each
    missing or abducted child in State care to law enforcement and
    to NCMEC, and since that bill passed, we've spent a lot of time
    reaching out to social service agencies and local jurisdictions
    across the country to ensure that these vulnerable children are
    reported to NCMEC.
        From these reports, we continue to see a significant
    increase in the number of children missing from care. For
    example, in 2015 to 2016, the number of the cases increased by
    89 percent. Through this enhanced reporting, we have also been
    better able to assist and support the efforts of State and
    local jurisdictions to locate and return missing children to
    safe places.
        Now the issue of sextortion, you know, many of us are aware
    of what's called ``sexting,'' but we are seeing now is that
    sexting often turns out to be something called ``sextortion.''
    Sextortion is a relatively new form of sexual exploitation that
    occurs primarily online where nonphysical forms of coercion are
    utilized, such as blackmail, to acquire sexual content, such as
    photos or videos of a child, they may obtain money from the
    child, or engage in sexual acts with the child.
        So report to the CyberTipline is a key way to break the
    cycle of victimization. One of the largest extortion cases
    unraveled with one victim, Ashley Reynolds, who was 14 when she
    was victimized. The family became aware of her online abuse and
    reported her case to NCMEC, and we made that information
    available to the FBI.
        Investigators uncovered more than 350 additional child
    victims in 26 States, three Canadian provinces, and the United
    Kingdom. They identified 106 of the children, and a defendant
    was sentenced to prison.
        As you move towards updating our funding authorization, I
    would like to thank you for your leadership and ongoing support
    of our efforts to recover and protect missing and exploited
    children. We stand ready to provide you with our thoughts on
    how to better fund our key programs and streamline our work,
    and serve the public.
        Again, I thank you for this opportunity to appear here
    today. I look forward to your questions.
        [The statement of Mr. Clark follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you very much, Mr. Clark. Mr.
    Guthrie, I recognize you for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Guthrie. Thank you, Madam Chairman, for yielding, and
    particularly to the courtesy of my friends from Michigan and
    Tennessee for allowing me-to yielding this position to me. I
    appreciate it very much.
        I had a previous commitment, but I wanted to talk to you
    because I was the principal coauthor of the reauthorization of
    the Missing Children's Assistance Act, and have been to the
    NCMEC and seen your dedicated employees and the things that
    they do, and some of the miracles.
        One story, I remember, they said they had an age
    appropriate, someone into their teenage years, and this lady
    was in school. They had a picture up, and she looked at it and
    said ``that's me!'' and her father had abducted her from her
    mom and taken her. The story--
        It is just amazing stuff that you guys do, and how much we
    appreciate it.
        So I want to talk about the 2013 authorization. Would you
    discuss what specific changes NCMEC has implemented to comply
    with the changes made in the 2013 authorization?
        Mr. Clark. Sure. Much of the work that's happened since
    2013 has included many of our modernization efforts. We have
    collaborated a lot more with some of our other private
    partners, including in our technology updates right now. We're
    undergoing a total, I would call it, revitalization of how we
    are able to utilize technology, which is really the most,
    probably, capable tool we have to fight child sex trafficking.
        Updating our website, making our CyperTip capability and
    analysis go a whole lot faster through partnerships with
    organizations like Intel Corporation.
        We're doing a lot right now through rebuilding to the
    future and being a very forward leaning organization to be able
    to combat the scourge of child exploitation.
        Mr. Guthrie. Thank you. As the committee considers future
    reauthorizations of the act, will you discuss what changes to
    the law are needed to support vital work of identifying and
    recovering missing and exploited children?
        Mr. Clark. Well, the more effort and resources we can pour
    into this particular problem, for example, since the child
    exploitation issue has really, as you probably know by some of
    the statistics I just mentioned, have really doubled,
    quadrupled, and gotten to be really out of hand.
        I think all the efforts that Congress can do to help us
    combat the issue of child exploitation would be vitally
    important to us. It's been noted that practically everywhere I
    go to speak, that issue is really the number one priority.
        If you think back since 2013 to the present, and you just
    look at some of the statistics that we have seen, now at the
    Center in 2017, the volume in the pipeline is huge.
        Mr. Guthrie. Again, I appreciate all the work that you have
    done. Somewhere, after we had the meeting with you guys, we
    actually went home and did roundtables in different
    communities. And had people from the--we had judges, we had
    people from the different groups. We explained to people and
    tried to make people aware of how prevalent it is in South
    Central Kentucky. You know, we think it is just big cities, but
    it is not.
        And hotel owners, we had some name brand franchises, to
    make sure they were aware, and there were some things and tips
    we had from your group about let the hotel manager or does it
    seeming like different people coming in and out all the time,
    just what to look for, because you know, in a hotel are not
    seeing the same people every day, but sometimes when you start
    seeing that.
        I thought it was very helpful, and I think we were able to
    spread some of that information to our district, so I recommend
    my colleagues to do that.
        And again, I appreciate what you are doing, what your staff
    is doing. Appreciate you yielding, and I definitely appreciate
    the courtesy of my two friends here for letting me go out of
    order. I appreciate it very much, and I yield back my time.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Guthrie. Ms. Bonamici, you
    are recognized for 5 minutes.
        Ms. Bonamici. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you again,
    Mr. Clark, for your testimony. We are policymakers here, but
    those of us who are parents never really take off our parent
    hats. I really appreciate your work.
        And as I mentioned in my opening statement, I am concerned
    about children who run away from home. We have a lot of
    homeless youth in our school systems, and some of those
    students are emancipated. They do not have a family to go home
    to, so oftentimes they find themselves struggling to survive on
    the streets.
        Can you talk a little bit more about what NCMEC does to
    help protect these kids and actually prevent them from getting
    into sexual exploitation and trafficking?
        Mr. Clark. Well, you have hit on one of the critical areas
    of our work. We know that in 2016, for example, there were
    about 20,500 missing children cases. A far percentage of those
    missing children are what we would refer to as ``endangered
    runaways'' or ``critical care,'' often coming from broken
    homes, or being put into vulnerable circumstances and being
    very vulnerable to sex trafficking and other crimes, organized
    crime and their members who take advantage of them for.
        And so we look at this as really one of our top priorities.
    We have been working very closely with a lot of social service
    organizations. At our Center itself, we have trained numerous
    volunteers who work closely with us, who are coming from the
    social service field in their home States, in their home
    jurisdictions.
        And essentially, we are trying to equip them and have them
    help us, and we can help them be able to identify this very
    vulnerable and at-risk group.
        Ms. Bonamici. Thank you very much. You know, there is a
    group of the population that is especially hesitant to turn to
    law enforcement, or afraid, the immigrant and refugee
    population. In recent weeks, there have been increases across
    the country in ICE enforcement activities that have created
    some fear among not only our undocumented immigrant population,
    but also people who might be perceived as being an immigrant.
        We are hearing reports of domestic violence victims, for
    example, who are afraid to go to court to testify. We are
    hearing about families who are afraid to walk their children to
    the school bus. People who do not feel safe getting lifesaving
    services at shelters or food banks, and sadly, children who are
    afraid to go to school because they do not know if their
    parents will be home when they get home from school.
        So, what can NCMEC do to help families of missing and
    exploited children in these communities, families who are
    scared or afraid to turn to law enforcement, but still need to
    be protected from this type of exploitation?
        Mr. Clark. Certainly. Well, I'm pleased to report that at
    the National Center, we operate a 24/7 call center, handles
    about 500 calls a day. We are able to handle all the calls
    through all the languages. We have up to 190 different
    languages that we can have at our disposal to be able to
    interpret.
        I'm also pleased to say that I think in many instances, we
    are a first-stop call when there are circumstances involving
    missing or exploited children. We know that from our call
    center and the type of instances they have with taking calls.
        So, I think that from the Center's perspective, we have a
    longstanding track record of being very open, very receptive to
    whoever calls our hotline and wants to report to us.
        And similarly, we know from our capability to put that
    messaging out, if it's involving a missing child, through our
    social and digital media outlets, and our close relationship
    with the news media. We are very proud of our track record, and
    have numerous cases of recoveries of children from all
    demographics, so we are very proud of that record.
        Ms. Bonamici. Thank you. Of course, I mentioned prevention
    is ideal because then we prevent problems from happening at the
    outset. And as we know, technology really is a mixed blessing.
        Can you talk a little bit about what you can do and the
    work you are doing with families, so parents can educate their
    children about what to watch for, what to be aware of, with
    technology?
        Mr. Clark. Sure. We have a tremendous amount of resources
    that we're constantly improving upon. We have a NetSmartz411
    program, as we refer to it, that helps parents become aware and
    informed, which is a vital, I call them ``tools,'' that parents
    should be able to use when it comes to knowing more about what
    their children are doing online, and how to guide and protect
    them from a parental situation, to be safer when they are
    surfing the Net.
        We also have our NetSmartz program, which is age
    appropriate, for children to learn how to safely navigate on
    the Net, how to be careful, how to be safe, what to do if
    certain circumstances appear when they're surfing the Net. So
    that is another program.
        The KidSmartz program, another education and awareness
    program, teaches young children how to be safe when they're
    just out and about in the public or when they're at school.
    That might include things like bullying or what to do if
    someone approaches them to try to entice them to get into a car
    or go into a park, or in some other place where they shouldn't
    be.
        We are also interpreting--
        Ms. Bonamici. I see my time has expired. Thank you for your
    important work. I yield back. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Ms. Bonamici. Dr. Roe, you are
    recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Roe. Thank you, Mr. Clark, for what you do and your
    organization does. I cannot thank you enough. If NCMEC puts one
    child back in a safe environment, all the investments we have
    done has been worth it, in my opinion. Every bit of it. I
    cannot thank you enough for what you are doing.
        I heard--I think I heard you say that 86 or 80 something
    percent of children that actually ran away, were exploited or
    lost, were from foster care. Did I hear that correctly?
        Mr. Clark. Yes, children missing from a foster care type
    setting, where they are particularly vulnerable.
        Mr. Roe. It looks like that would be an area, if almost 9
    out 10 come from that environment, that's a way that we need to
    educate and certainly vet our foster parents better.
        My next-door neighbor is a school principal, elementary
    school principal, and she fostered some children from her
    school. It was amazing the education in Tennessee that they put
    them through--this family through--I wonder if that is being
    done around the country because it looks to me like that would
    be the first place I would focus.
        Mr. Clark. Yes, I can say that from the Center's
    perspective, we're very interested in how we can educate this
    particular cross section of our country on how to pay
    particular attention to those children who might be in their
    care.
        We do have and do provide training at the Center for a
    number of social service organizations and people who routinely
    come in contact or likely to come in contact with individuals
    of that nature on how to watch over that particular vulnerable
    group. That is a group that is also very vulnerable to sex
    trafficking.
        Mr. Roe. I have a constituent in my district who lost two
    of his children and his wife in the fire in Gatlinburg. His
    wife had been-- I am not going to mention his name now - but
    his wife had been abused basically, sexually abused as a child,
    and dealt with these demons her entire life.
        He has an idea, and I want to get together with you all and
    discuss this, about a child, and there could be abuse, there is
    no question about that, but many young people have a device, a
    PDA. Would it be feasible to have an app on the device where if
    a child is in a vulnerable or bad situation, they could punch
    that--that they could, right then, punch that device with this
    app, and then immediately contact somebody like you or
    whatever, let them know they might be in trouble?
        And I realize any time you do not let your child go to
    whatever, they might punch the app. I had three that I might
    have to punch if they did that. Basically, you see what I am
    saying, to make it easier with technology for children who are
    in an exploited situation to get out of it?
        Mr. Clark. Congressman, I'm far from a technology expert,
    so I'd probably be the last person to answer that question. We
    have added an app on-- that is available now, a child safety
    app, that has been developed in partnership with one of our
    supporters just in the recent year. And I don't know if that's
    something we might look at to add as a feature to that
    particular app. It is something we just developed and released
    about 6 or 8 months ago.
        That is relatively new, and that is the way of the future,
    you're right. So from a technology perspective, we'd be
    interested in looking at that.
        Mr. Roe. I will meet you or I will have my staff meet with
    you afterwards. Just, I am going to run through, I do not have
    a lot of time left but you mentioned NCMEC approaches each case
    of a missing child on an individual basis. Can you kind of walk
    us through the steps of how that works?
        Mr. Clark. Sure. When a child is reported missing to us,
    it's very critical that we get the information and word out
    into the hands of the law enforcement community quickly, if it
    hasn't already been done so. In certain cases, that is the
    case.
        So once that happens, we use a variety of social media,
    digital media capabilities to get that information in the area
    where the child is missing.
        So, for example, if a child is missing in Tennessee or
    somewhere locally, it may not make sense to have that
    information broadcast to Oregon. So, we're able to geo-fence
    that information, work quickly with the local media outlets to
    get them to get that information out. We have even worked with
    other law enforcement organizations to get that onto digital
    billboards and the like. So, getting the information out
    quickly is vital.
        If there's any data analytics or case analytics, we have
    the analysts on board that can work with that as well, to make
    sure that particular case is given as much priority and
    attention as there can be.
        Mr. Roe. You do not have time to answer this, but maybe at
    some point in time you can. My time has expired. What are your
    biggest needs that we could help you with? I will leave you
    with that thought.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Dr. Roe. Mr. Courtney, you are
    recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Courtney. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and thank you,
    Mr. Clark, for being here today. This is an issue where, again,
    I think you are going to have strong support from both sides of
    the aisle to make sure reauthorization moves forward in a
    timely fashion.
        I want to thank the Center for its work with my office and
    Congressman Erik Paulsen from Minnesota. Last year, we finally
    passed the Recovering Missing Children's Act, Public Law 184,
    that President Obama signed into law on June 30.
        Again, this was to address a problem that was actually kind
    of stunning in trying to get your head around it: the New York
    Times with the help of the Center published a report back in
    2010 that the Treasury Department was actually aware of the
    location of missing kids because of abducting adults having the
    gall to claim an exemption on their tax returns, but,
    unfortunately, the privacy provisions of the IRS Code prevented
    the IRS from sharing that information from investigating law
    enforcement.
        Again, it took 5 years for us to get this measure through,
    but, as I said, it has now opened up a pathway, so that law
    enforcement can apply for a waiver from the IRS privacy
    provisions to again investigate tax returns to see if a child--
    to locate a child because of the fact that data is sitting
    right there in the government's lap. And again, the Center was
    very instrumental in terms of helping us make that case over
    that time period.
        The question I wanted to ask, so it was June 30 it was
    signed into law, we have done some follow-up with the Justice
    Department and the IRS about, again, this tool is out there,
    making sure that, again, police departments, State and local,
    are aware of the fact that is there.
        And frankly, there has not been a lot of movement in terms
    of broadcasting it that we, at least certainly, have picked up.
    I do not know if you have anything you can shed light on or at
    least we can work together to again making sure this hard
    fought, you know, measure, which, again, the estimate is it is
    a couple thousand kids that have exemptions claimed by
    abducting adults based on the Treasury analysis that was done a
    number of years ago.
        Mr. Clark. Well, that law certainly makes sense to me, and
    I applaud the efforts to be able to look at some issue like
    that and be able to make some headway with it. I'm not deeply
    informed on where that particular issue stands at the moment.
        At the National Center, we sort of embrace the mindset that
    any tool or technique or capability that we can use to help
    find missing children, we should do it. That's in conjunction,
    of course, with all the legal remedies we can find and public
    policy issues we can employ.
        And so, that particular example, I think, is a good one,
    but I'm not deeply informed on where it currently stands.
        Mr. Courtney. Thank you, again. Hopefully, we can follow up
    after today. Again, it is kind of amazing that one arm of the
    government is aware of the location of a missing child and
    cannot share it with other arms of the government that are
    investigating it, so that was the whole point of this measure,
    is to create a bridge, so that flow of information can occur.
        So, thank you for being here today. I look forward to
    working with you on that.
        Mr. Clark. Would love to work on that.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Courtney. Mr. Walberg, you
    are recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Walberg. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and thank you, Mr.
    Clark, for being here, and as my colleagues have stated, and I
    echo it again, thanks for the work you do. It is work that many
    people could not do, and would not choose to do. Not because
    they do not care, but I am sure each day you are challenged
    with the stories that you hear, and frustrated at times with
    the things that stand in your way.
        In your testimony, you stated that more can be done to
    combat child sex trafficking, and I agree. That is why in the
    2013 Missing Children's Assistance Act reauthorization, I
    authored a provision to provide technical assistance to law
    enforcement and first responders in identifying, locating, and
    recovering victims of child sex trafficking.
        Could you, for us today, provide specific examples of the
    type of technical assistance NCMEC has provided in compliance
    with this provision to those first responders and law
    enforcement authorities?
        Mr. Clark. Sure and that's a wonderful question. At the
    Center, we have a whole section we refer to as our Case
    Analysis Division. They work very closely to help law
    enforcement and enable them to find missing or exploited
    children.
        In a recent case, for example, in fact, I believe it was
    part of my initial oral testimony, we were working with the FBI
    on something called ``Operation Cross Country,'' recovered
    numerous child sex trafficking victims. That was in direct
    relationship to a lot of work done at the National Center to be
    able to help locate, and help the law enforcement sources
    locate these individuals who are being trafficked.
        So that is part of, I think, a broader technical assistance
    that we are providing out there to the community. Additionally,
    we have done a lot more with our digital social media
    capabilities, to be able to let jurisdictions know,
    particularly in long-term missing cases or where there is
    exploitation, what can be done to combat it.
        So, we're very proud of the work our folks are doing.
        Mr. Walberg. Could you explain further how maintaining the
    public-private partnership model of NCMEC is vital to expanding
    and continuing the work that you do?
        Mr. Clark. I believe the way of the future is a public-
    private partnership in all forms of industry. At the National
    Center, we're very proud of our record of working across the
    lines with numerous industry partners. We have a lot of our
    technology giants who work closely with us, organizations like
    Google and Intel, or Microsoft.
        Then on the State and local level, we work very closely
    with the National Association of Attorney Generals, the
    National District Attorneys Association, law enforcement
    organizations of all types.
        Many of us and some on my staff that are with me today are
    here on the Hill regularly looking at various public policy
    issues and how we can join together to strengthen existing laws
    or consider new ones.
        All this is a public-private partnership, and it's
    critical, I'd say, to our success. We can't go this alone. This
    is not a single-hand fight. This is an all-hands fight.
    Everybody who can bring something to bear to this problem
    should.
        Mr. Walberg. Do you truly feel that entities like Google,
    Microsoft, heavily connected with the social media through the
    Internet and all of the rest, and some of the trolling places
    that go on there and the like, do they really get their part
    from both aspects in this issue?
        Mr. Clark. They do. In fact, a lot of the spike in the
    number of the CyberTipline reports we have seen in recent years
    is a direct correlation through the awareness and the reporting
    done through our electronic service providers, organizations
    that have something to do with the world wide web, so we have
    strong partnerships there.
        Mr. Walberg. Okay. We would certainly hope that continues
    and expands. That is a crucial area that impacts the
    trafficking in great ways.
        Mr. Clark. Absolutely is.
        Mr. Walberg. Thank you. I yield back.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you very much, Mr. Walberg. Mr.
    Sablan, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Sablan. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you for
    having this hearing. Mr. Clark, I have nothing to contribute. I
    am here to show my support for program you are doing with your
    organization. Obviously, not everything you do can be made
    applicable in the Northern Mariana's, but we do not have long
    highways and things but I am aware we do have these two child
    who were lost years ago on their way to school, and have not
    been located. I do not know them still missing or something
    worse.
        I am here to show support, and to also urge the committee
    and this Congress to authorize the program or at least where it
    is possibility.
        Madam Chair, thank you very much for holding today's
    hearing and I yield back.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you very much. Mr. Mitchell, you are
    recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Mitchell. Thank you, Madam Chairman. You referenced in
    your testimony as previous question that a significant
    component of missing children are children in foster care. Do
    you have any data or anecdotal information on what--it is great
    to try to find the children, but what causes more often than
    not foster children to end up running away, which is often the
    case? Can you share some insights on that?
        Mr. Clark. Well, only through some of the individuals that
    work closely with the Center, who are more--have level of
    expertise far beyond what I do--but we often find that there's
    elements of what might be commonly referred to as ``a broken
    home,'' children who might be vulnerable.
        There's also a group of young adults, young teens, who, for
    a variety of reasons, get into situations of substance abuse or
    other situations that might pull them from a home element that
    puts them into a vulnerable place. They end up in some type of
    an alternate care or foster care type situation where they
    become very vulnerable to traffickers and/or organized crime
    members. So, we work very closely with those types and groups
    of individuals who come in contact with them.
        Mr. Mitchell. You work-- do you work with the State
    agencies and some of those in terms of training and services to
    try to help them identify and prevent that? What services -what
    do you undertake to do that?
        Mr. Clark. Our training center operates training classes, I
    would say almost on a weekly basis. Since inception, we've
    trained about 330,000 individuals, some in law enforcement,
    some from organizations that would address this very issue of
    vulnerable youth at foster care type situations.
        So, that's an effort that we try to pay particular
    attention to and pour a lot of training resources into as a way
    to help educate and inform that part of the population.
        Mr. Mitchell. Thank you. You also noted and we are aware
    that children with autism and other special needs are
    particularly at-risk, particularly at-risk, in fact, of
    significantly bad outcomes. You folks have undertaken a variety
    of services for training law enforcement. Can you outline a
    couple of those, whether there are enough resources to meet the
    need in your opinion?
        Mr. Clark. We have been working very closely with
    organizations like Autism Speaks, I think probably a national
    leader on that. Now, we have a whole new protocol and training
    that we use to help law enforcement organizations, particularly
    when a child goes missing who has autism. We have what I would
    refer to as ``subject matter experts,'' who advise that local
    jurisdiction on how to search, where to search, what types of
    resources are available. That's all free of charge from the
    National Center.
        Sadly, we find cases where the outcome is not what we hoped
    it would be, but we have been partnering now with a lot of the
    groups that are involved in autism and how we can help when a
    child goes missing.
        Mr. Mitchell. Do you have enough resources putting in that
    to effectively disseminate that to law enforcement across the
    country at this point?
        Mr. Clark. Well, we could always use more help for that,
    for sure. I'm always hesitant to come to Congress asking for
    more, but there are times when we are spread thin.
    Organizationally, if you look at our workload measures compared
    to our employee population base today, the workload measures
    are going up, our employee population base is relatively
    stagnant.
        Mr. Mitchell. One last question, if I could hop back. Dr.
    Roe asked, and you did not have time, what the biggest need was
    you face. Could you-I will take the time to see if we can get
    an answer to his question-could you help us with that?
        Mr. Clark. Sure can, yeah. We always want to, I think, pour
    more resources into the technology capabilities that we can use
    at the Center, especially when it comes to combatting the
    issues of child exploitation. It's been our biggest area of
    growth, and that is in terms of crimes and situations that are
    happening.
        The individuals who are working day and night to try to
    find these at-risk people or people that are being victimized,
    pour a lot of time and effort into that, so funding and
    resources for that, I think, would be vital to us as part of
    our growth in the future.
        Mr. Mitchell. Thank you very much, and I will yield back.
    Thank you.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. Mr. Takano, you
    are recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Takano. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Clark, as you know,
    the Trafficking Victims Protection Act does focus on sex
    trafficking, but it also, I think, made mention of labor
    trafficking as well. Is there any mechanism in place to
    identify and ensure appropriate services that are provided to
    youth labor trafficking victims?
        Mr. Clark. Well, the primary focus of our work at the
    Center involves child sexual exploitation. From time to time,
    we are made aware of or come across cases that do involve a
    child labor issue, and we work very closely with law
    enforcement on those particular issues and making sure it's
    addressed.
        Although I don't have any particular data that is at my
    disposal that I could share with you on that, but when we do
    run across it, we do handle it.
        Mr. Takano. Well, perhaps, is there data available? What I
    am aware of is that child welfare agencies are required to
    identify and document sex trafficking but not labor
    trafficking. And I think that is kind of a critical gap in
    screening and services, don't you think?
        Mr. Clark. It would be, and Congressman, what I'd probably
    have to do is get back to you on that in terms of what the data
    would show. I'm not deeply informed on what that particular
    metric is.
        Mr. Takano. Yeah, I do salute the work that you are doing
    on sex trafficking, but I think we ought to maybe also not take
    our foot off the pedal on the work that you are focused on, but
    also at the same time I think expand the scope to also include
    labor trafficking.
        Can you tell me what services, outreach, and support, is
    being provided to prevent the trafficking of LGBTQ youth or to
    respond to their specific needs, what barriers are you
    encountering in meeting their needs?
        Mr. Clark. I'm not aware of any barriers or particular
    issues or problems that we have seen at the Center,
    particularly with our call center, both that handles the calls
    that are coming in from the public as well as our CyberTipline,
    that points to any dysfunction, and what we do, we tend to
    treat every case, every call, every parent, every person who
    calls in on equal footing, and do our best to help resolve
    their particular situation, but I'm not aware of any particular
    concerns or problems from the National Center's point of view.
        Mr. Takano. Is there any particular outreach because this
    target group, you know, in order to really be effective in
    preventing trafficking among members of this group, you might
    need to look at special efforts to try to reach them.
        Mr. Clark. We will certainly do that. I know that our
    training materials, education awareness materials, are broadly
    disseminated. I don't know if that's maybe part of what might,
    you might also seeking from me. But as I mentioned, I think, to
    one of the other questions, we work quite sufficiently in
    trying to train, educate, and inform all cross sections of our
    vulnerable youth on how to protect themselves.
        Mr. Takano. What is the relationship between juvenile
    status offenses and trafficking? How can juvenile offenses be
    handled in a manner that does not increase youth vulnerability
    to trafficking? For example, alternatives to arrest and
    incarceration?
        Mr. Clark. I'm not deeply informed in that particular
    topic, Congressman, only because most of our work as it relates
    to vulnerable youth is directed really in the area of sex
    trafficking, child sex trafficking, online enticement.
        I'm certain, though, at least I would believe there would
    be a correlation between those arrested and other juvenile-type
    crimes or circumstances that could relate to them being put
    into a certain area of vulnerability, much as we talked about
    with some of the endangered runaways or others who tend to end
    up in the criminal justice system more often.
        Mr. Takano. Well, so, juvenile status offenses in
    particular that relate to arrests and incarceration, there may
    be some relationship; we ought to investigate. My time is
    running out and I yield back, Madam Chair.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Takano. Mr. Garrett, you
    are recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Garrett. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I want to thank
    Mr. Clark for being here today, and tell him that I think it
    was 11 years ago when I first began working with NCMEC, and I
    will offer a little bit of introduction by way of essentially
    an offer to help where I may here.
        I started as an attorney in the Computer Crimes Unit of the
    Virginia Office of the Attorney General, primarily working on
    CP, and in so doing, getting to know the folks at NCMEC very
    well.
        Ultimately, became a local prosecutor, and started an ICAC
    Unit that was subordinate to Sheriff Mike Brown and Detective
    Mike Harmony, who I am sure you know. By the way, I have been
    texting a couple of those guys. They told me to ask you how
    Ernie Allen is doing.
        Mr. Clark. Yes.
        Mr. Garrett. Go ahead. They did not say ask rhetorically
    how Ernie is doing. What's Ernie up to these days?
        Mr. Clark. Yes, I would just say we encounter Ernie quite a
    bit, and he's doing quite well.
        Mr. Garrett. So, all this is by way of simply suggesting
    that, number one, the kudos and thanks you have gotten are all
    well-earned. I want to add my personal experience to this in
    thanking you.
        When we charged and arrested and convicted Joseph Okoh or
    Daniel Shelton or Michael Robinson, we never knew how many kids
    we saved because you do not stop this predation, whether it is
    CP or physical exploitation or sex trafficking. The thing that
    we learned and that NCMEC has been an advocate for teaching is
    that you do not wake up in the morning and think preying on a
    child is a good idea on Tuesday and not wake up feeling the
    same way on Wednesday. Something is just wrongly wired. So, you
    cannot ever quantify the good you do, and I think that needs to
    be noted.
        Having said that, there was an obscure ruling by an obscure
    judge named Gorsuch--I think you know where I am going with
    this--in the Tenth Circuit last year, I think in August. It was
    U.S. v. Ackerman, where they ruled that NCMEC, for the purposes
    of the Fourth Amendment circumstances, was a government actor,
    and essentially good data that was received through
    collaboration with a major Internet service provider would be
    thrown out because you all did not have a warrant as a
    government actor. With your experience as a marshal amongst
    other things, you understand the Fourth Amendment well.
        Is there anything being done by way of a workaround, would
    it be prudent to segregate the Tipline from the remainder of
    NCMEC, or is it simply a paperwork burden that we need to meet
    in order to respect people's constitutional rights? And I am a
    big advocate for the Fourth Amendment as well, but what is the
    procedural change that has been implemented in light of
    Gorsuch's ruling in Ackerman that will allow us to continue to
    save these kids and get the convictions on the back end?
        Mr. Clark. Sure. The Ackerman decision required us to take
    a look at some of our internal practices and policies. We've
    had to adjust some of that now, just in recent times, for
    example, making sure some of the law enforcement heads who had
    been previously on our board of directors are not on our board
    of directors, making proper separation of that.
        We're also looking at internal space needs, to make sure
    that there is truly separation of duties and responsibilities
    from the law enforcement components who have a work engagement
    with us, so that's another area we're working very closely on.
        And then addressing any of the other legal issues that
    might spill out of the Ackerman decision that we think could be
    helpful to us maintaining our independence, which we strive
    very, very much to do.
        I would like to say on behalf of the Center that we're an
    organization that likes to drive in the center of the road. We
    try our darndest to comply with all legal issues and make sure
    we are in full compliance.
        Mr. Garrett. So has there been a subsequent case to test
    your protocol changes as it relates to procedures post
    Ackerman? You understand where I am going with this?
        Mr. Clark. Sure.
        Mr. Garrett. You guys did good stuff as a private entity,
    the courts ruled you were a government actor, that brings into
    requirements, obviously, a lot of Fourth Amendment scrutiny,
    and you have told me you have changed your TTPs: your tactics,
    techniques, and procedures. Have we had a subsequent test? Do
    you feel good about where we are, that the information you
    might receive from the Tipline would be actionable without
    jeopardizing a conviction?
        Mr. Clark. Sure. And in fact, a few of the things--
    adjustments we made on the CyberTipline were done even prior to
    the final outcome of the Ackerman decision, but there have been
    subsequent cases that have been filed that have been, I guess,
    similar in nature. I don't know exactly how many, but I'd say a
    few, as is usually the custom when a case like this comes out.
        I can't say that any of them particularly tested our
    changes or our protocols yet, but I would imagine, in fact, a
    lot of the reason why we're trying to make some of these
    adjustments is to make sure we maintain that proper
    independence as it relates to the work we do.
        Mr. Garrett. I thank you immensely for what you do and for
    your time, and I would yield back.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Garrett. Ms. Adams, you are
    recognized for 5 minutes.
        Ms. Adams. Thank you, Chairwoman Foxx and Vice Ranking
    Member Bonamici, for bringing us together to discuss this
    important topic. Mr. Clark, I want to thank you for sharing
    some of the work that NCMEC does.
        One of the greatest responsibilities of adults in our
    society is to look out for the health and safety of our
    children within our communities. As a parent, grandparent,
    concerned member of my community, I am greatly disturbed by the
    frequency of children who go missing, are exploited, or
    victimized, and I am appreciative of the work that you are
    doing.
        In your testimony, you acknowledge that children with
    special needs go missing at high rates. Are there other
    demographics of children that are disproportionately reported
    missing or fall victim to exploitation or violence?
        Mr. Clark. I don't believe there is any other demographic
    that might address your particular question. You know, we kind
    of look at the groups that are vulnerable, and we know as we
    refer to them, endangered runaways, are particularly
    vulnerable.
        Thankfully, the other categories of individuals who have
    disappeared or run away, such as those that are involved in a
    family abduction or a nonfamily abduction, we're seeing a fair
    amount of those types of cases. The family abduction situation
    is one that also or could be somewhat troubling, depending on a
    parent, where they are going, where they're fleeing to,
    especially if they travel internationally.
        Ms. Adams. Okay. In D.C., over the last 2 weeks, social
    media has been a buzz because between 8 to 10 young black and
    Latino youth went missing, over the course of less than 2
    weeks, with very little media attention.
        Have you noticed which cases of missing children become
    visible and which cases do not? And what does NCMEC do to
    provide those less visible disappearances with resources and
    support, and what resources and support do you have available
    for making those more visible?
        Mr. Clark. We constantly make a plea to law enforcement
    that we are available to help them with resources, and we have
    a whole organization that we call ``Team Adam.'' It is free of
    charge, ready to be deployed in any situation where there is a
    missing child, but we only are involved in those cases which we
    know about.
        Now, simultaneously with this hearing, I think the
    Washington, D.C. Police Department is hosting a press
    conference. Some of our staff from the National Center have
    been invited to attend, and we are sending some people there.
        So, the awareness part is critical. We tell law enforcement
    quite frequently the resources that we can deploy and bring to
    bear are quite formidable, and they are for the most part free
    of charge. So, again, we are there at their disposal to help.
        I'm not sure which among those cases referred to from
    Washington, D.C., may have been ``intake,'' as we call it, into
    our system, so that would be something worth noting.
        Ms. Adams. Let me ask you a question about, because you
    mentioned the rise in sextortion, and with the wide spread of
    social media and digital platforms, it is not hard to imagine
    this is a growing problem, so what are some of the best
    practices that NCMEC has found while investigating this issue?
        Mr. Clark. Education and awareness is a key critical thing.
    We worked in conjunction with the Department of Justice over
    the last year to produce a public service announcement on this
    whole topic of sextortion.
        We've shared that particular training module with many,
    many law enforcement organizations, the National Association of
    Attorney Generals, the National District Attorneys Association,
    other child advocate groups.
        The more parents become aware of this issue, the more
    children become aware of the issue, I think it helps as a
    prevention tool.
        So, we've done significant work to educate and inform the
    public of this particular new issue that has popped up on child
    exploitation.
        Ms. Adams. Thank you. I am about out of time. Madam Chair,
    I yield back.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Ms. Adams. Ms. Stefanik, you
    are recognized for 5 minutes.
        Ms. Stefanik. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Mr.
    Clark, for your testimony today. I want to follow up on Ms.
    Adams' line of questioning. In your testimony, as she stated,
    you mentioned the disturbing emerging trend of sextortion,
    including a 150 percent increase in reports of sextortion since
    2014.
        My question is two parts. Other than the increase, what are
    additional factors that led to the Center to label this as an
    emerging trend? And my second question is, you talked about
    some of the additional steps NCMEC has taken through family
    support services and working with law enforcement, have you
    engaged schools and school districts on this important issue?
        Mr. Clark. Sure. If I may start with the last question you
    asked first? We are working closely now with private sector
    partners to try to get some of our training and education
    materials in all schools. We would love all school
    organizations to be able to bring our NetSmartz and KidSmartz
    programs into the school systems to educate particularly the
    vulnerable groups of youth as they enter their teenage years,
    which it seems to be the time when the sextortion issue starts
    to happen.
        Now, with the prevalence of super computers that everybody
    carries on their hip called an iPhone or, you know, that type
    of technology, it has become increasingly, and I think that is
    where it is an emerging trend or a vulnerability, increasingly
    easier for youth to get trapped in or involved in issues of
    sextortion.
        Those who purvey that crime know that, and they are able
    to, I think, capitalize on the various apps that are out there,
    the various ways and means and tricks to get young children to
    engage in something of a sextortion.
        Ms. Stefanik. Two sort of factual questions that I have.
    Given the emerging trend, can you quantify what percentage of
    cases of sextortion where the victim is a girl versus whether
    it is a female or male? What is the breakdown?
        Mr. Clark. I don't have the finite breakdown exactly, but
    we do see more of a prevalence with young girls. However, we've
    also seen an increase probably in the last 2 to 3 years of that
    involving also young boys, so the majority of the cases involve
    young women, but there is an increase in cases involving young
    men, young boys.
        Ms. Stefanik. And my second sort of factual follow-up
    question is how do you intend to measure the effectiveness of
    these outreach programs to law enforcement, to district
    attorneys 2 years from now when we are asking this question?
    How are you going to measure whether NCMEC's efforts have been
    effective at raising awareness and tackling this issue?
        Mr. Clark. Well, as the new CEO for the organization, I've
    noticed that perhaps one deficiency we've had in recent years
    is not doing a lot of good analytics on what we're seeing in
    metrics.
        We see emerging trends and some things that are part of the
    datasets that come in from a variety of our cases, and things
    we can easily measure, but it's important to me to be able to
    measure and perhaps deploy our resources into areas where we
    see there's an increased need.
        So, I believe we're doing that now. We're getting some help
    from some of our technology partners to be able to do that, to
    look at big data analytics, predictive analytics, to be able to
    see where emerging trends are going to happen, and how we can
    put resources there to help combat it.
        So, I would say at our next iteration or hearing, we should
    be able to point to more success in that area.
        Ms. Stefanik. Thank you, Mr. Clark. I yield back, Madam
    Chair.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Ms. Stefanik. Mr. Allen, you
    are recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Allen. Thank you, Chairwoman, and thank you, Mr. Clark,
    for being with us today and tackling this. Looks like this
    problem is becoming more of a problem rather than less of a
    problem, which is troubling, and although we know that in our
    society today, evil exists.
        And I guess my question is this, and it stems off what the
    Congressman--Congresswoman Stefanik was talking about is, what
    are the tools we need to fix this, to curb this, to--? Is there
    some way we could start on our education system, is there
    something from the standpoint of the culture, from--?
        I mean, what exactly, how do we put our finger on this
    thing and just tell people just how bad and wrong this is? I
    know, do we increase penalties, do we--? You know, are you
    studying ways that we can stop this terrible thing?
        Mr. Clark. Sure. We are always looking at ways we can stop
    it, but I think some of the increase and some of the concerns
    that we see with the capabilities of technology today, where we
    truly are a world without borders, vulnerability of children is
    spreading essentially worldwide. In fact, a great majority of
    our CyberTip reports have an international connection, so, you
    see the whole world is affected by the situation of child
    exploitation.
        Education and awareness from the parents' level, I think,
    is very, very key. The more informed and educated a parent is
    about what their children are doing, who they are with, what is
    on their iPhones, what app they have, and who they are
    communicating with, there is a level of vulnerability there
    that many parents may recognize, but not actually take action
    to do.
        Now, how do you get parents to do that? I'm not in every
    house in America to be able to tell them what to do but, I
    believe that, sometimes I tell parents ``it's okay to be a
    little paranoid and ask questions about what your children are
    doing,'' and that's just a fact of the matter. So, a number of
    things like that are what are contributing to this.
        Mr. Allen. Are we getting the word out about how serious
    this problem is? I mean, a lot of parents, I mean, really do
    not hear, you do not hear a lot about this on the media or
    other sources. How do we get that message out so that parents
    do what is right as far as the warning their children about
    these predators that exist out there?
        Mr. Clark. Congressman, I think one area where we are
    trying to do more of is we have a program called NetSmartz411
    that is primarily aimed at the parents. We would love to be
    able to get that out in more available formats, make it
    available, easily available. It's part of a training curriculum
    we're trying to do with our new website, which we are in the
    process of overhauling.
        Being able to put those tools in every home in America, so
    that parents can have a resource to know what to do. I've ran
    into many, many parents who, for a variety of reasons, maybe
    they're just not technology savvy, aren't quite sure how to
    keep an eye on things or watch what's going on with their
    youngsters.
        Mr. Allen. Well, obviously, young people are notoriously
    curious, which is not a bad thing, but at the same time when
    you have evil lurking like this out there, you have to deal
    with it. So, just let us know whatever we can do to curb this
    and it would really be great if we could put a stop to this
    cause it is tragic.
        Mr. Clark. Fantastic, yes.
        Mr. Allen. Thank you, sir. I yield back.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Allen. Mr. Clark, I will
    yield to myself now 5 minutes. We very much appreciate your
    testimony today, and the great work that the Center is doing.
        You have mentioned shifting resources into electronic cyber
    security and those kinds of areas, which certainly makes sense
    but could you provide us some examples of how program
    evaluation has led to shifting resources to change the way you
    are operating? Because we are very much concerned about
    accountability and what is being done to evaluate at every
    level and every program that we fund.
        Mr. Clark. Certainly and that is testimony to the committee
    in making sure not only that you are appropriating money
    wisely, but also supporting the great work we're doing.
        One of the things I've been doing as CEO is examining all
    areas of our operations, particularly with an eye toward
    putting the financial resources and the employee resources
    where they're most needed, and because of the circumstances, as
    we have talked about a lot in this hearing, involving child
    exploitation, that is a key area where we want to see some much
    needed resource growth.
        On the missing children side as well, we continue to see a
    number of vulnerabilities there. I think when you look back on
    the recent years, last few years, we continue to see a lot of
    efforts poured into the long-term missing cases, a topic that's
    not often talked about too much. But there is, sadly, many
    cases in the country still, long-term missing cases, where the
    effort to continue to look for them has not been as vibrant as
    it should be.
        At the National Center, however, we pride ourselves in
    never closing a case, and making sure we are directing those
    resources there to help find long-term missing children.
        In a recent case, as you may have heard in the news,
    involving a young boy named Jacob Wetterling--his mother serves
    on our board--sadly, after 27 years, he was found deceased, had
    been murdered, and had been sexually assaulted.
        That particular case reminds us all of the importance of
    deploying our resources and spending the money wisely.
        I want to be able to give an account for every penny and
    every dollar that we're spending and where it's going, both to
    the Congress, members of Congress, and our private partners as
    well.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you. I would like to know also how
    you are working with the various partner organizations, but
    mainly the States, to improve what the States are doing, both
    to prevent children from becoming missing and to help find
    missing children because this is an not area where the Federal
    Government is going to be able to solve the problem. This has
    got to be solved at the local and State level, so please tell
    us what is happening through the partner organizations and
    perhaps, if you cannot answer everything, give us some examples
    of States that are doing a better job than others. You can put
    that in writing later, if you need to.
        Mr. Clark. Certainly. There is much of our effort to do on
    the prevention side as well as training and educating law
    enforcement. Barely a week goes by that we don't have law
    enforcement organizations from State organizations, county
    sheriffs, all coming to the National Center to receive training
    and insight on how to not only look for missing children, but
    to solve the issue of exploitation.
        We also have long-term missing child case studies that go
    on pretty much on a monthly basis. Every month, we have at
    least one of those cases that we do, and we bring in all the
    law enforcement organizations that have some particular touch
    in that case, and we review every single lead to see if we can
    revitalize that.
        A third example is something being done in the State of
    Texas, where they have developed a particular interdiction
    program where they are now looking for exploited children or
    even missing children when they make vehicle stops with the
    State Police.
        We have helped with some of that training, and continue to
    want to help with that training because now we've seen some
    actual child sex trafficking victims rescued by this particular
    program. That training is now spreading to other States. There
    is a pretty significant call for that training to be done. In
    fact, I believe it's going to be done in the State of Oregon
    very, very soon as well.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you very much. Mr. Thompson, you are
    recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Thompson. Madam Chairwoman, thank you. Thank you so
    much for hosting this, and my apologies for getting here late,
    but I wanted to come and just first of all thank you, Mr.
    Clark, for your leadership with this. The Center does such
    great work.
        This past year, I had the privilege and opportunity to
    spend some time on just one of the days of the 2016 10th
    Anniversary Fireball Run. And these amazing teams that come
    together, spend a lot of resources for 8 days, 2,000 miles,
    each one of them essentially adopt one of these children that
    are listed as missing, distributing thousands of flyers in all
    the communities where they go.
        I think last I looked, this annual event was credited with
    recovering 44 children, which is very much appreciated. It is
    just a righteous volunteer effort that goes on.
        So, I want to thank you for your leadership and service,
    and just your commitment to recover and protect missing and
    exploited children.
        Just a quick question. Can you talk about the Child Victim
    Identification Program and how does it operate and what impact
    has it had and why is it so important?
        Mr. Clark. That's one of our more vital and critical
    programs. The Child Victim Identification Program has a bunch
    of our employees that have somewhat of what I would say is a
    terrible duty, a horrible duty, of looking at all the images,
    the videos, all the garbage, I might say, that comes in
    involving exploited children, sexually abused children.
        What they look for is particular clues in those images that
    might help identify where in the world that particular child
    is. So, they go about that duty, a terrible duty, with a great
    deal of expertise, and I'm pleased to report that they have
    made numerous child recoveries by examining videos and
    pictures, and being able to try to spot clues in those pictures
    and get that in the hands of law enforcement.
        I would say not a week goes by that I don't get information
    on a case or a situation where they have done that particular
    good work, but it is very, very difficult work.
        Mr. Thompson. Well, thank you again to you and your staff.
    I cannot imagine how difficult that would be to have that,
    important as it is, to be able to have to review those images
    in terms of their investigation work but I--you know, the
    recovery of one child is so important it is done, just
    appreciate you and your staff taking that on.
        Thank you, Madam Chair, and I yield back the balance of my
    time.
        Mr. Clark. There are, If I may, there are earthly angels
    among us. And--
        Mr. Thompson. Sure.
        Mr. Clark. That is part of the group that's there.
        Mr. Thompson. Yeah, thank you.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you. I want to say thank you, again,
    to Mr. Clark for taking the time to testify before the
    committee today and I want to recognize Ms. Bonamici for her
    closing remarks.
        Ms. Bonamici. Thank you very much, Madam Chairwoman, and
    briefly, again, thank you so much, Mr. Clark, for your
    important work, and Chair Foxx, for holding this hearing. It is
    refreshingly bipartisan when we can come together and all agree
    that we need to work on this important issue.
        Just a follow-up on Mr. Garrett's comment about the
    independence. I know there is bipartisan support for making
    sure that we can, as Mr. Garrett said, protect people's Fourth
    Amendment rights, but still maintain the independence of the
    Center, so I wanted to mention that.
        And I did notice that a significant majority of the missing
    children fall within that endangered runaway category, so I
    know we have a lot of potential on this committee to address
    the root causes that go into that, why do children run away
    from home, and our work on the Every Student Succeeds Act, for
    example, with the school safety provisions, career and
    technical education that provides engaging hands-on education.
        We have a lot of potential to really address the needs of
    our students, and I hope that we can work on making sure those
    programs are funded and schools can have counselors and places
    where students can go at school, and hopefully keep them
    engaged and out of the dangerous situations where they are
    targeted.
        So, again, thank you so much, Chair Foxx and Mr. Clark for
    this important hearing, and I yield back. Thank you.
        Chairwoman Foxx. Thank you very much, Ms. Bonamici. And I
    agree with Ms. Bonamici on the fact that this really is a
    bipartisan issue. We are all concerned with protecting
    children, especially the vulnerable children in our society.
        And it is an issue that I think all levels of government
    need to be concerned about, but we all know that the government
    closest to the people is generally able to solve these
    problems, so I am very interested in the work that the Center
    does with local communities, the police forces, the State
    governments, particularly when we see these staggering numbers
    of children who run away from foster care.
        And we know there are some bad situations with foster care,
    but for the most part, the people who are willing to foster
    children are there because they care and love the children, and
    I admire them so much.
        But my understanding from reading a long, long time ago in
    child development is even children who are in bad situations at
    home yearn to be with their families. And I think that is a
    critical element here where we need to do more some way or
    another to help dysfunctional families, and having worked with
    facilities that worked with abused children, we know we cannot
    just fix children, we have to fix families, and that is where
    the problems lie but again, it is an issue that needs to be
    solved at all the levels of our government.
        So, I appreciate, again, what you and your staff do, and we
    appreciate part of your staff at least being here with us
    today, and I want to give them our appreciation, and as you
    said, all of the people who work closely with you who are not
    paid staff, but come in because they care about children in our
    country and do everything they can and I think they are unsung
    heroes, and all that we can do to acknowledge their work, we
    should do.
        So, thank you all very much. There being no further
    business, the committee stands adjourned.
        [Additional submission by Chairwoman Foxx follows:]

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        [Additional submission by Mr. Scott follows:]

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        [Questions submitted for the record and their responses
    follow:]

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     [Whereupon, at 11:22 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]