[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 111 (Thursday, July 24, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9906-S9907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. Leahy):
  S. 1451. A bill to reauthorize programs under the Runaway and 
Homeless Youth Act and the Missing Children's Assistance Act, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce ``the Runaway, 
Homeless and Missing Children Protection Act of 2003.'' This bill would 
reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act as well as the National 
Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
  The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act enables public and private 
entities to establish and operate centers for runaway and homeless 
youth. These centers--which provide, among other things, shelter, 
counseling, drug and sexual abuse education and treatment for youth--
serve as alternatives for youths who are in the child welfare or 
juvenile justice systems. These alternatives have proven successful in 
keeping children off of our streets and from returning to our juvenile 
justice system.
  The Runaway, Homeless and Missing Children Protection Act amends the 
original Act in the following ways: 1. It includes testing youth for 
sexually transmitted diseases; 2. It allows an exception to the 20 
person maximum capacity to comply with States laws which may allow 
higher capacities; 3. It allows youths to go to maternity group homes, 
adds the homes to the list of eligible groups; 4. It increases the 
maximum amount of time a youth may spend in a home; 5. It requires the 
centers/groups to inform school districts of the status of youths, and 
it requires the centers/groups to inform youths of post-secondary 
education and training opportunities; and 6. It authorizes the Act 
through fiscal year 2008.
  In addition, the Act reauthorizes the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children through Fiscal Year 2008. The Center 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 online child pornography, which the 
Center forwards to appropriate law enforcement officials and the new 
pilot program to study the feasibility of instituting a national 
background check for volunteers who work with children. In these, 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.
  I urge my colleagues to support this Act and these important 
programs.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today with Senator Hatch to 
introduce legislation to reauthorize and improve the Runaway and 
Homeless Youth Act, and to extend the authorization of the Missing 
Children's Assistance Act. We would extend both laws through 2008. This 
bill follows in the footsteps of the recently enacted PROTECT Act 
legislation, and presents another milestone in our efforts to safeguard 
all of our children.
  In the 29 years since it became law, the Runaway and Homeless Youth 
Act has helped some of the most vulnerable children in our country. A 
Justice Department report released last year estimated that 1.7 million 
young people either ran away from home or were thrown out of their home 
in 1999. Other studies have suggested an even higher number. This law 
and the programs it funds provide a safety net that helps give these 
young people a chance to build lives for themselves. It is slated to 
expire at the end of this fiscal year, and Congress should not allow 
that to happen.

[[Page S9907]]

  Under the Act, ever State receives a Basic Center grant of at least 
$100,000 to provide housing and crisis services for runaway and 
homeless youth and their families. Community-based groups around the 
country can also apply for funding through the Transitional Living 
Program, TLP, and the Sexual Abuse Prevention/Street Outreach grant 
program. TLP grants are used to provide longer-term housing to homeless 
youth between the ages of 16 and 21, and to help them become self-
sufficient. The Outreach grants are used to target youth who have 
engaged in or are at risk of engaging in high-risk behaviors while 
living on the street.
  In my State, the Vermont Coalition for Runaway and Homeless Youth and 
Spectrum Youth and Family Services in Burlington receive grants under 
these programs and have provided excellent services both to young 
people trying to build lives on their own and to those who are 
struggling on the streets. Reauthorizing this law will allow them to 
continue their enormously important work.
  This bill would improve the TLP by extending the period during which 
older homeless youth can receive services, to ensure that all homeless 
youth can take advantage of TLP services at least until they turn 18. 
It would also amend the grant allocation formula to allow between 45 
and 55 percent of funding to be used for TLP services, an increase from 
the current statutory maximum of 30 percent. In practice, TLP services 
have proven so critical that the appropriations committees already 
allocate 45 percent of the fund to TLPs, and this change will bring the 
authorizing statute in line with reality.
  The bill would also make permanent the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services' authority to make grants explicitly to help rural areas meet 
the unique stresses of providing services to runaway and homeless 
youth. Programs serving runaway and homeless youth have found that 
those in rural areas are particularly difficult to reach and serve 
effectively, and this bill recognizes that fact.
  In addition, we take steps in this bill to ensure that runaway and 
homeless youth are aware of the educational opportunities available to 
them, and to increase coordination between HHS and the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development.
  The improvements proposed in this bill to the Missing Children's 
Assistance Act build on provisions included in the PROTECT Act 
legislation that we enacted earlier this year. In that bill, we 
authorized National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 
``NCMEC'', activities through 2005 and authorized the Center to 
strengthen its CyberTipline to provide online users an effective means 
of reporting Internet-related child sexual exploitation in distribution 
of child pornography, online enticement of children for sexual acts, 
and child prostitution. The legislation we introduce today would extend 
NCMEC through 2008. Now more than ever, it is critical for Congress to 
give the Center the resources it needs in order to pursue its important 
work. A missing or abducted child is the worst nightmare of any parent 
or grandparent, and NCMEC has proved to be an invaluable resource in 
Federal, State, and local efforts to recover children who have 
disappeared.
  Although this is a very good bill on the whole, I am disappointed 
that Senator Hatch did not agree to remove a provision that was 
included in the House bill that prohibits grantees from using any funds 
provided under this program for needle distribution programs. This is a 
superfluous provision that simply repeats what is already law. In 
addition, it is unnecessary because no grantee under this program 
operates needle exchange programs or has expressed interest in doing 
so. The inclusion of this needless provision, however, does not change 
the fact that this is still a good bill.
  These programs have received tremendous bipartisan support over the 
years, and the House has already passed this bill by a vote of 404-14. 
The Senate should consider this bill as promptly as possible.
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