[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 136 (Tuesday, September 30, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S12206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RUNAWAY, HOMELESS, AND MISSING CHILDREN PROTECTION ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 
1925 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will state the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 1925) to reauthorize programs under the 
     Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and Missing Children's 
     Assistance Act, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. LEAHY. I urge the Senate to take up and pass H.R. 1925, the 
Runaway, Homeless, and Missing Children Protection Act. The Senate 
version of this bill--which was identical--passed unanimously in the 
Judiciary Committee last Thursday, and this bill deserves the support 
of every Senator. I joined with Senator Hatch in introducing the Senate 
legislation to reauthorize and improve the Runaway and Homeless Youth 
Act, and to extend the authorization of the Missing Children's 
Assistance Act. 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. I 
have worked in the past to extend the program, most recently in the 
106th Congress, when I cosponsored S. 249, the Missing, Exploited, and 
Runaway Children Protection Act, which extended the Act through this 
year. I am pleased to help extend it once again.
  A Justice Department report released last year estimated that 1.7 
million young people either ran away from or were thrown out of their 
homes in 1999 alone. 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 we should 
not allow that to happen.
  In my State, both the Vermont Coalition for Runaway and Homeless 
Youth and Spectrum Youth and Family Services in Burlington receive 
grants under this law, and they 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 law by extending the period during which 
older homeless youth can receive services under the Transitional Living 
Program, to ensure that all homeless youth can take advantage of 
services at least until they turn 18. The bill would also make 
permanent the Secretary of Health and Human Services' authority to make 
grants explicitly to help rural areas met 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.
  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. This bill 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 good bill on the whole, I am disappointed that it 
includes a provision 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. I ask Senator Hatch to leave it out of the Senate version of this 
bill, and was disappointed when he refused. The inclusion of this 
needless provision, however, does not change the fact that this is 
still a very good bill.
  The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act programs have received tremendous 
bipartisan support over the years. The House passed this bill by a vote 
of 404-14, and the Senate bill passed by unanimous consent last Friday. 
I urge the Senate to pass H.R. 1925 and send it to the President today.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill 
be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed 
in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 1925) was read the third time and passed.

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