[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 18, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5610-S5611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. Grassley):
  S. 2435. A bill to permit Inspectors General to authorize staff to 
provide assistance to 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 Missing 
Child Cold Case Review Act of 2004,'' which will allow an Inspector 
General to authorize his or her staff to provide assistance on and 
conduct reviews of the inactive case files, or ``cold cases,'' 
involving children stored at the National Center for Missing & 
Exploited Children (NCMEC) and to develop recommendations for further 
investigations.
  I am pleased that Senator Grassley joins me as the lead cosponsor of 
this bipartisan legislation. I thank him for his leadership in this 
area.
  Speed is everything in homicide investigations. As a former 
prosecutor in Vermont, I know firsthand that speed is of the essence 
when trying to solve a homicide. This focus on speed, however, has led 
the law enforcement community to generally believe that any case not 
solved within the first 72 hours or lacking significant leads and 
witness participation has little likelihood of being solved, regardless 
of the expertise and resources deployed. With time, such unsolved cases 
become ``cold,'' and these are among the most difficult and frustrating 
cases detectives face because they are, in effect, cases that other 
investigators, for whatever reason, failed to solve.
  Our Nation's law enforcement agencies, regardless of size, are not 
immune to rising crime rates, staff shortages and budget restrictions. 
Such obstacles have strained the investigative and administrative 
resources of all agencies.

[[Page S5611]]

More crime often means that fewer cases are vigorously pursued, fewer 
opportunities arise for follow-up and individual caseloads increase for 
already overworked detectives.
  All the obstacles that hamper homicide investigations in their early 
phases contribute to cold cases. The National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children--our Nation's top resource center for child 
protection--presently retains a backlog of cold cases involving 
children that law enforcement departments nationwide have stopped 
investigating primarily due to all these obstacles. NCMEC serves as a 
clearinghouse for all cold cases in which a child has not been found 
and/or the suspect has not been identified.
  The bill that Senator Grassley and I introduce today would allow an 
Inspector General to provide staff support to NCMEC for the purpose of 
conducting reviews of inactive case files to develop recommendations 
for further investigation and similar activities. The Inspector General 
community has one of the most diverse and talented criminal 
investigative cadres in the Federal government. A vast majority of 
these special agents have come from traditional law enforcement 
agencies, and are highly-trained and extremely capable of dealing with 
complex, criminal cases.
  Under current law, an Inspector General's duties are limited to 
activities related to the programs and operations of an agency. Our 
bill would allow an Inspector General to permit criminal investigators 
under his or her supervision to review cold case files, so long as 
doing so would not interfere with normal duties. An Inspector General 
would not conduct actual investigations, and any Inspector General 
would only commit staff when the office's mission-related workloads 
permitted. At no time would these activities be allowed to conflict 
with or delay the stated missions of an Inspector General.

  From time to time a criminal investigator employed by an Inspector 
General may be between investigations or otherwise available for brief 
periods of time. This act would also allow those resources to be 
provided to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. 
Commitment of resources would be at a minimum and would not materially 
affect the budget of any office.
  We have before us the type of bipartisan legislation that should be 
moved easily through the Senate and House. It is supported by the 
Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. I applaud the 
ongoing work of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 
and hope both the Senate and the House will promptly pass this bill to 
provide NCMEC with the resources it requires to solve cold cases 
involving missing children.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the Missing Child Cold Case 
Review Act of 2004 be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2435

       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 ``Missing Child Cold Case 
     Review Act of 2004''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL.

       Title XXXVII of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
     5779 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 3701 the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 3701A. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL.

       ``(a) In General.--An Inspector General appointed under 
     section 3 or 8G of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 
     U.S.C. App.) may authorize staff to assist the National 
     Center for Missing and Exploited Children--
       ``(1) by conducting reviews of inactive case files to 
     develop recommendations for further investigations; and
       ``(2) by engaging in similar activities.
       ``(b) Limitations.--
       ``(1) Priority.--An Inspector General may not permit staff 
     to engage in activities described in subsection (a) if such 
     activities will interfere with the duties of the Inspector 
     General under the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 
     App.).
       ``(2) Funding.--No additional funds are authorized to be 
     appropriated to carry out this section.''.
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