[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 2, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4712-S4715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. DeWine, 
        Mr. Biden, Mr. Shelby, and Mrs. Lincoln):
  S. 773. A bill to reauthorize funding for the National Center for 
Missing and Exploited Children, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the ``Protecting 
Our Children Comes First Act of 2003,'' which will double funding for 
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC, 
reauthorize the Center through fiscal year 2007, and increase Federal 
support to help NCMEC programs to find missing children across the 
Nation.
  I am pleased that Senators Hatch, Kennedy, DeWine, Biden, Shelby and 
Lincoln join me as the original cosponsors of this bipartisan 
legislation. Today, Senators DeWine, Lincoln and Shelby launched the 
new Senate Caucus on Missing, Exploited and Runaway Children. I am 
honored to join the Caucus co-chairs as a founding member of the 
Caucus, and thank them for their leadership in this area.
  It pains us all to see on TV, in the newspapers or milk cartons photo 
after photo of missing children from every corner of the Nation. As a 
father and grandfather, I know that an abducted child is the worst 
nightmare. Unfortunately, it is a nightmare that happens all too often. 
Indeed, the Justice Department estimates that 2,200 children are 
reported missing each day. There are approximately 114,600 attempted 
stranger abductions every year, with 3,000 to 5,000 of those attempts 
succeeding. Experts estimate that children and youth comprise between 
85 and 90 percent of missing person reports. These families deserve the 
assistance of the American people and helping hand of the Congress.
  As the Nation's top resource center for child protection, the 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children spearheads national 
efforts to locate and recover missing children and raises public 
awareness about ways to prevent child abduction, molestation, and 
sexual exploitation.
  NCMEC works to make our children safer by being a national voice and 
advocate for those too young to vote or speak up for their own rights. 
The Center operates under a Congressional mandate and works in 
cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of 
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to coordinate the efforts 
of law enforcement officers, social service agencies, elected 
officials, judges, prosecutors, educators, and the public and private 
sectors to break the cycle of violence that historically has 
perpetuated these needless crimes against children.
  The Center's professionals have disturbingly busy jobs--they have 
worked on more than 90,000 cases of missing and exploited children 
since its 1984 founding, helping to recover more than 70,000 children, 
and raised its recovery rate from 60 percent in the 1980s to 94 percent 
today. The Center has set up a nationwide, toll free, 24-hour telephone 
hotline to take reports about missing children and clues that might 
lead to their recovery, a National Child Pornography Tipline to handle 
calls from individuals reporting the sexual exploitation of children 
through the production and distribution of pornography, and a 
CyberTipline to process online leads from individuals reporting the 
sexual exploitation of children. It has taken the lead in circulating 
millions of photographs of missing children, and serves as a vital 
resource for the 17,000 law enforcement agencies located throughout the 
U.S. in the search for missing children and the quest for child 
protection.

  NCMEC is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia and operates branch 
offices in five other locations throughout the country to provide 
hands-on assistance to families of missing children, advocating 
legislative changes to better protect children, conducting an array of 
prevention and awareness programs, and motivating individuals to become 
personally involved in child-protection issues. It has also grown into 
an international organization, establishing the International Division 
of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which has 
been working to fulfill the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of 
International child Abduction. The International Division provides 
assistance to parents, law enforcement, attorneys, nonprofit 
organizations, and other concerned individuals who are seeking 
assistance in preventing or resolving international child abductions.
  NCMEC manages to do all of this good work with a $10 million annual 
DOJ grant, which expires after fiscal year 2003. We must act now both 
to extend its authorization and increase the Center's funding to $20 
million each year through fiscal year 2007 so that it can continue to 
help keep children safe and families intact around the Nation. There is 
so much more to be done to ensure the safety of our children, and the 
bipartisan legislation we introduce today will help the Center in its 
efforts to prevent crimes that are committed against them.
  The Protecting Our children Comes First Act also increases Federal 
support for NCMEC programs to find missing children by allowing the 
U.S. Secret Service to provide forensic and investigating assistance to 
the NCMEC, as well as any State or local law enforcement agency, in any 
investigation involving missing or exploited children.
  The bill also amends of the Missing Children's assistance Act to 
coordinate the operation of the Center's CyberTipline to provide all 
online users an effective means of reporting Internet-related child 
sexual exploitation, including the distribution of child pornography, 
online enticement of children for sexual acts, and child prostitution. 
Since its creation in 1998, the CyberTipline has fielded almost 100,000 
reports, which has allowed Internet users to quickly and easily report 
suspicious activities linked to the Internet.
  We have before us the type of bipartisan legislation that should be 
moved easily through the Senate and House. Efforts to protect our 
children do not deserve to be used as pawns by groups who play politics 
by attaching it to more controversial measures. I applaud the ongoing 
work of the Center and hope both the Senate and the House will promptly 
pass this bill to provide more Federal supply for the NCMEC to continue 
to find missing children and protect exploited children across the 
country.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 773

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Our Children 
     Comes First Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. FORENSIC AND INVESTIGATIVE SUPPORT OF MISSING AND 
                   EXPLOITED CHILDREN.

       Section 3056 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(f) Under the direction of the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security, officers and agents of the Secret Service are 
     authorized, at the request of any State or local law 
     enforcement agency or the National Center for Missing and 
     Exploited Children, to provide forensic and investigative 
     assistance in support of any investigation involving missing 
     or exploited children.''.

     SEC. 3. CREATION OF CYBER TIPLINE.

       Section 404(b)(1) of the Missing Children's Assistance Act 
     (42 U.S.C. 5773(b)(1)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (F), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting ``; and''; and

[[Page S4715]]

       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(H) coordinate the operation of a cyber tipline to 
     provide online users an effective means of reporting 
     Internet-related child sexual exploitation in the areas of--
       ``(i) distribution of child pornography;
       ``(ii) online enticement of children for sexual acts; and
       ``(iii) child prostitution.''.

     SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       (a) In General.--Section 408(a) of the Missing Children's 
     Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5777(a)) is amended by striking 
     ``fiscal years 2000 through 2003'' and inserting ``fiscal 
     years 2004 through 2007.''.
       (b) Annual Grant to National Center For Missing and 
     Exploited Children.--Section 404(b)(2) of the Missing 
     Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5773(b)(2)) is amended 
     by striking ``$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000, 
     2001, 2002, and 2003'' and inserting ``$20,000,000 for each 
     of the fiscal years 2004 through 2007''.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children is a critical component of our Nation's battle 
against child pornography and child exploitation. It is absolutely 
dedicated to eradicating these evils, and its members work tirelessly 
towards this end. The Center deserves more than just kind words for 
these heroic efforts; Federal funding is necessary for it to continue 
this good work. Indeed, Congress has tasked the Center with many 
missions, including maintaining the cyber-tipline that receives reports 
of on-line child pornography, which the Center forwards to appropriate 
law enforcement officials. In this, as well as many other areas, the 
Center forms a valuable partnership with both Federal and State law 
enforcement officials and prosecutors in redressing a host of crimes 
against children.
  The Center's cause is just and its history of performance is 
excellent. I am pleased to be the lead cosponsor of legislation that 
will continue to authorize funding for the National Center for Missing 
and Exploited Children for the next four years. Senator Leahy and I 
introduced this legislation in the 107th Congress, and our bipartisan 
effort continues in this new Congress. Our bill again authorizes 
funding at $20 million per year--twice the previous authorization--in 
recognition of the severity of the problem and the increased duties the 
Center has taken on.
  As the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I am confident that this 
bill will become law very soon. I hope all of my colleagues will join 
Senator Leahy and me in supporting this bill.

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