[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 185 (Wednesday, December 5, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H14185-H14190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN COMES FIRST ACT OF 2007
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules
and pass the bill (H.R. 2517) to amend the Missing Children's
Assistance Act to authorize appropriations; and for other purposes, as
amended.
[[Page H14186]]
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2517
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 2007''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Section 402 of the Missing Children's Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5771) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 402. FINDINGS.
``The Congress finds that--
``(1) each year thousands of children are abducted or
removed from the control of a parent having legal custody
without such parent's consent, under circumstances which
immediately place the child in grave danger;
``(2) many missing children are at great risk of both
physical harm and sexual exploitation;
``(3) in many cases, parents and local law enforcement
officials have neither the resources nor the expertise to
mount expanded search efforts;
``(4) abducted children are frequently moved from one
locality to another, requiring the cooperation and
coordination of local, State, and Federal law enforcement
efforts;
``(5) growing numbers of children are the victims of child
sexual exploitation, increasingly involving the use of new
technology to access the Internet;
``(6) children may be separated from their parents or legal
guardians as a result of national disasters such as
hurricanes and floods;
``(7) sex offenders pose a threat to children;
``(8) the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention administers programs under this Act through the
Child Protection Division, including programs which prevent
or address offenses committed against vulnerable children and
which support missing children's organizations; and
``(9) a key component of such programs is the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which--
``(A) serves as a national resource center and
clearinghouse;
``(B) works in partnership with the Department of Justice,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States
Marshals Service, the Department of the Treasury, the
Department of State, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, the United States Secret Service, the United
States Postal Inspection Service, and many other agencies in
the effort to find missing children and prevent child
victimization; and
``(C) operates a national network, linking the Center
online with each of the missing children clearinghouses
operated by the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and
Puerto Rico, as well as with international organizations,
including Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom, the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon,
France, and others, which enable the Center to transmit
images and information regarding missing and exploited
children to law enforcement across the United States and
around the world instantly.''.
SEC. 3. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.
Section 404(b) of the Missing Children's Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5773(b)) is amended--
(1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall annually make a
grant to the Center, which shall be used to--
``(A)(i) operate a national 24-hour toll-free telephone
line by which individuals may report information regarding
the location of any missing child, and request information
pertaining to procedures necessary to reunite such child with
such child's legal custodian; and
``(ii) coordinate the operation of such telephone line with
the operation of the national communications system referred
to in part C of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C.
5714-11);
``(B) operate the official national resource center and
information clearinghouse for missing and exploited children;
``(C) provide to State and local governments, and public
and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals, information
regarding--
``(i) free or low-cost legal, restaurant, lodging, and
transportation services that are available for the benefit of
missing and exploited children and their families; and
``(ii) the existence and nature of programs being carried
out by Federal agencies to assist missing and exploited
children and their families;
``(D) coordinate public and private programs that locate,
recover, or reunite missing children with their families;
``(E) disseminate, on a national basis, information
relating to innovative and model programs, services, and
legislation that benefit missing and exploited children;
``(F) based solely on reports received by the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and not
involving any data collection by NCMEC other than the receipt
of those reports, annually provide to the Department of
Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention--
``(i) the number of children nationwide who are reported to
NCMEC as missing;
``(ii) the number of children nationwide who are reported
to NCMEC as victims of non-family abductions;
``(iii) the number of children nationwide who are reported
to NCMEC as victims of parental kidnappings; and
``(iv) the number of children recovered nationwide whose
recovery was reported to NCMEC;
``(G) provide, at the request of State and local
governments, and public and private nonprofit agencies,
guidance on how to facilitate the lawful use of school
records and birth certificates to identify and locate missing
children;
``(H) provide technical assistance and training to law
enforcement agencies, State and local governments, elements
of the criminal justice system, public and private nonprofit
agencies, and individuals in the prevention, investigation,
prosecution, and treatment of cases involving missing and
exploited children;
``(I) provide assistance to families and law enforcement
agencies in locating and recovering missing and exploited
children, both nationally and, in cooperation with the
Department of State, internationally;
``(J) provide analytical support and technical assistance
to law enforcement agencies through searching public records
databases in locating and recovering missing and exploited
children and helping to locate and identify abductors;
``(K) provide direct on-site technical assistance and
consultation to law enforcement agencies in child abduction
and exploitation cases;
``(L) provide forensic technical assistance and
consultation to law enforcement and other agencies in the
identification of unidentified deceased children through
facial reconstruction of skeletal remains and similar
techniques;
``(M) track the incidence of attempted child abductions in
order to identify links and patterns, and provide such
information to law enforcement agencies;
``(N) provide training and assistance to law enforcement
agencies in identifying and locating non-compliant sex
offenders;
``(O) facilitate the deployment of the National Emergency
Child Locator Center to assist in reuniting missing children
with their families during periods of national disasters;
``(P) operate a cyber tipline to provide online users and
electronic service providers an effective means of reporting
Internet-related child sexual exploitation in the areas of--
``(i) possession, manufacture, and distribution of child
pornography;
``(ii) online enticement of children for sexual acts;
``(iii) child prostitution;
``(iv) sex tourism involving children;
``(v) extrafamilial child sexual molestation;
``(vi) unsolicited obscene material sent to a child;
``(vii) misleading domain names; and
``(viii) misleading words or digital images on the
Internet;
and subsequently to transmit such reports, including relevant
images and information, to the appropriate international,
Federal, State or local law enforcement agency for
investigation;
``(Q) work with law enforcement, Internet service
providers, electronic payment service providers, and others
on methods to reduce the distribution on the Internet of
images and videos of sexually exploited children;
``(R) operate a child victim identification program in
order to assist the efforts of law enforcement agencies in
identifying victims of child pornography and other sexual
crimes; and
``(S) develop and disseminate programs and information to
the general public, schools, public officials, youth-serving
organizations, and nonprofit organizations, directly or
through grants or contracts with public agencies and public
and private nonprofit organizations, on--
``(i) the prevention of child abduction and sexual
exploitation; and
``(ii) internet safety.'', and
(2) in paragraph (2) by striking ``$20,000,000'' and all
that follows through ``2008'', and inserting ``$40,000,000
for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for
fiscal years 2009 through 2013''.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 408(a) of the Missing Children's Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5777(a)) is amended by striking ``2007 through 2008''
and inserting ``2008 through 2013''.
SEC. 5. REPEALER.
The Missing Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5771 et
seq.) is amended--
(1) by striking section 407, and
(2) by redesignating section 408 as section 407.
SEC. 6. REPORT.
The Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention shall, not later than 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, in consultation with
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and in
coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, submit
to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report that includes--
(1) a plan to scale the pilot program described in section
108 of the PROTECT Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-21), to serve
youth-serving organizations nationwide, including but not
limited to, the cost of such a program and the youth-serving
organizations expected to participate in such program,
[[Page H14187]]
(2) the suggested manner of program implementation,
(3) the estimated number of organizations to be served,
(4) the estimated cost to the proposed organizations
served, and
(5) any other information the Administrator considers
necessary.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
New York (Mrs. McCarthy) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Platts) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.
General Leave
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days
during which Members may insert material relevant to H.R. 2517 into the
Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
(Mrs. McCARTHY of New York asked and was given permission to revise
and extend her remarks.)
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, today I rise with my
colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson), the sponsor of H.R.
2517, the Protecting Our Children Comes First Act, and urge my
colleagues to support the reauthorization of the Missing Children's
Assistance Act.
I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Lampson, for his continued
leadership on this issue. Mr. Lampson is founder of the Missing
Children's Caucus and has worked tirelessly to support the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children. His passion for protecting
our Nation's children inspires others to get involved and work to
create safe places for our young people, including on the Internet.
This bipartisan reauthorization continues the work of the Department
of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Child
Protection Division's missing and exploited children's programs,
including funding for the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children.
Furthermore, this legislation continues the authorization for
National Incidence Studies, known as ``NISMART.'' According to CRS, the
first NISMART study ``provided the first nationally representative,
comprehensive data on the incidence of missing children.'' The second
NISMART study resolved some methodological challenges of the first
study, and included runaway or throwaway children as well.
These studies have helped law enforcement, Federal agencies, and
nonprofits in their work to prevent children from going missing or to
help children get home. Missing children are some of our most
vulnerable young people, and this work is critical in protecting this
population.
This legislation works to help protect not only children who go
missing, but it also works to protect our children who are sexually
exploited, a horrendous thought for any of us to consider, and yet it
is part of our reality.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children serves not
only as a national clearinghouse and resource center on missing
children but also serves that same purpose for exploited children.
Among multiple programs, NCMEC operates as a CyberTipline for tips and
leads on child sexual exploitation.
The CyberTipline allows for citizens and electronic communication
providers to report incidents of various types of child exploitation,
including online enticement of children for sexual acts, child
prostitution, and child pornography. This reauthorization expands the
reach of the CyberTipline to include categories of exploitation that
connect with new technologies or activities.
I want to share a success story from the Child Victim Identification
Program at NCMEC. This program reviews child pornography to gain clues
that will lead to the identification of a child.
In this particular case in 2005, those reviewing these horrendous
images also found images of a young boy partially clothed, including a
photo of him in his Boy Scout uniform. They were able to read the
patches on his uniform and discovered he was in the Nassau County Boy
Scout Council, which I represent here in this Congress. The program has
set procedure which led them to contacting law enforcement, who
identified this child and later arrested a suspect.
From this story, there are two points I want to make. First, this
program does wonderful, and yet very difficult, work to protect and
save children who are being exploited. Secondly, these crimes happen
everywhere.
Since its inception in 1984, NCMEC has received 173 reports of
missing children in Nassau County, New York, and 4,319 for New York
State. Of those 4,319 children who went missing, 4,146 were recovered.
H.R. 2517 strengthens the ability of the Department of Justice Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and its programs,
including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, to
work to eradicate child pornography, guide efforts for online safety
for children and unite families. These programs also support the work
of law enforcement, including training law enforcement on multiple
issues around missing, runaway, throwaway and sexually exploited
children.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals, the
United States Postal Inspectors, and the Bureau of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement all have detainees at the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children.
Until all children are safe from predators in our society, this work
must continue and we must reauthorize the Missing Children's Assistance
Act.
Before I close, I want to thank the staff who worked on this
reauthorization: Abby Shannon in Mr. Lampson's office, Deborah
Kookbeck, Ruth Friedman, Denise Forte of the majority staff of the
Committee on Education and Labor, and Kirsten Duncan and Susan Ross on
the minority staff of the Committee on Education and Labor.
H.R. 2517 is bipartisan effort and I urge my colleagues to support
the passage of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2517, the Protecting Our
Children Comes First Act of 2007, which will amend the Missing
Children's Assistance Act to authorize appropriations and for other
purposes, and I want to commend both the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Lampson) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy), the
chairwoman, for their leadership on this issue at the committee level
and with the sponsorship of the legislation. And also on my side of the
aisle, I commend the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) who will
be speaking shortly for her leadership on this very important issue.
{time} 1345
Every year, thousands of children are abducted or go missing. In
1984, Congress recognized the need for greater coordination of local,
State, and Federal efforts to recover these children, and established
the Missing and Exploited Children's Program under the Missing
Children's Assistance Act. This act addresses the needs of missing,
abducted, and sexually exploited children. The program was created to
coordinate and support various Federal missing children's programs
through the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, OJJDP, and includes the authorization for the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The National Center is a not-for-profit corporation mandated by
Congress which works in partnership with the Department of Justice. The
center is funded in part by Congress and in part by the private sector
and serves as the national resource center and clearinghouse for
information on missing and exploited children. The National Center
carries out many of the objectives of the Missing Children's Assistance
Act in collaboration with the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention. The National Center provides assistance to
families and law enforcement agencies in locating and recovering
missing and exploited children, both nationally and internationally.
While the National Center receives leads on abducted, runaway, and
sexually exploited youth and disseminates this information to various
investigative law enforcement units, the center
[[Page H14188]]
itself does not conduct the investigation of these cases.
The National Center's Federal funding supports specific operational
functions mandated by Congress, including a national 24-hour toll-free
hot line; a distribution system for missing child photos; a system of
case management and technical assistance to law enforcement and
families; training programs for Federal, State and local law
enforcement; and programs designed to help stop the sexual exploitation
of children.
Today, more missing children come home safely than ever before;
however, there is still important work to be done. Hundreds of children
still do not make it home each year, and many more continue to be
victimized by acts of violence. In fact, children are the most
victimized segment of our society and crimes committed against children
of all ages are the most underreported of any victim category.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has worked
with law enforcement on more than 133,000 missing child cases, and has
played a role in reuniting more than 115,000 children with their
families. With a 96.2 percent recovery rate, up from 62 percent in
1990, the National Center has analyzed more than 500,000 reports of
crimes against children on the Internet and referred them to law
enforcement, resulting in hundreds of arrests and successful
prosecutions.
Today, law enforcement is responding more swiftly and effectively to
reports of missing children. There is a national network in place, and
parents are more alert, more aware, and talking to their children about
their safety. With the changes made through this legislation, the
Missing Children's Assistance Act and the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children will continue their important efforts focused on
protecting our vulnerable missing children.
Again, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson) for his
sponsorship of this bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield
such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson)
who has been certainly at the forefront on trying to protect our
children. I thank him for his work.
Mr. LAMPSON. I thank Chairwoman McCarthy for the good work that she
has done and for allowing me the time to participate in this
legislation and to bring it to the floor of the House of
Representatives. It is critically important.
My colleagues, I rise today to ask you all to join me in voting for
H.R. 2517, the Protecting Our Children Comes First Act of 2007. This
bill amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to reauthorize the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Department
of Justice's missing and exploited children's program from 2008 to
2013.
Each year, thousands of children are abducted or removed from the
control of a parent having legal custody without that parent's consent,
under circumstances which immediately place the child in grave danger.
Recent video surfaced in Nevada, for example, of a young girl being
molested time and time again. Our attention has also been captured by
the mystery surrounding Baby Grace, another child who was murdered and
put in a plastic box and dumped in Galveston, Texas, near my district.
These gruesome acts remind us that we must do everything in our power
to catch these creeps and protect our children.
Many missing children are at great risk of both physical harm and
sexual exploitation, and in many cases parents and local law
enforcement officials have neither the resources nor the expertise to
mount expanded search efforts. Abducted children are frequently moved
from one locality to another, requiring the cooperation and
coordination of local, State, and Federal law enforcement efforts.
Growing numbers of children are the victims of child sexual
exploitation increasingly involving new technology to access the
Internet. Sex offenders pose a threat to children that increases as
more offenders are released into the Nation's communities each year.
On May 24, I, along with my cochairs of the Congressional Missing and
Exploited Children's Caucus, introduced H.R. 2517. Since its
establishment in 1984, the National Center has assisted law enforcement
with more than 137,600 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery
of more than 120,300 children. The National Center's congressionally
mandated CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for child sexual
exploitation, has handled more than 540,000 phone calls and leads.
We are fortunate that this Nation has a national resource center and
clearinghouse such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children which works in partnership with the Department of Defense, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service,
the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State, the Department
of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
the United States Secret Service, and many other agencies in the effort
to find missing children and prevent child victimization. The National
Center operates a national and increasingly worldwide network and
serves as a model for many other nations which are creating similar
nonprofits.
The National Center provides activities and services concerning
missing children, including those abducted to or from the United
States; exploited children; training and technical assistance; families
of missing children; and partnerships with State clearinghouses, the
private sector, as well as children's organizations. It is a primary
component of the Department of Justice's missing and exploited
children's program and employs over 300 people at its Alexandria,
Virginia headquarters and its regional offices in California, Florida,
Kansas, New York, and South Carolina. These regional offices provide
case management and technical support in their geographic areas. And
the Austin, Texas office is scheduled to open in the very near future.
I would at this time like to recognize those staffers who have worked
so diligently in bringing this legislation to fruition: Committee on
Education and Labor staffers Denise Forte, Deborah Koolbeck, and Ruth
Friedman; Congresswoman Judy Biggert's staffperson Brian Colgan; and my
staffers, Dan Easley and Abby Shannon. I would also like to extend a
thank you to my very strong Republican colleague and fellow caucus
cochair, Judy Biggert, for championing this legislation and so much
other similar legislation on her side of the aisle and for being such a
tremendous benefit to America's children. I want to especially thank
Chairwoman McCarthy. She herself is the victim of family violence. She
lost her husband in a violent crime. And Chairman Miller for moving
this legislation out of committee, and for their commitment and
leadership to provide safety and security to America's children on
playgrounds and on the Internet. And Mr. Ernie Allen, the president and
CEO of the National Center; and Robbie Callaway, the president and CEO
of the Boys and Girls Clubs. And John and Reve Walsh, who have been
with me all day today working on this legislation. They cofounded the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and they have been
fighting the good fight since the tragic abduction and murder of their
son Adam in July of 1981. Their courage and their strength, which has
done so much to help millions of children throughout the world, is
extraordinary. Speaking on behalf of other parents and grandparents, we
owe them our gratitude, and we thank you.
Again, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this much-needed
legislation. It is time that we all step up to protect our children by
authorizing resources for the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children so children are safer on and off the Internet, where they are
free to learn and grow. Thank you all. I look forward to the support
for this legislation.
Mr. PLATTS. I yield 4 minutes to the gentlelady from Illinois (Mrs.
Biggert), who as has been referenced has been a true champion for
protecting our Nation's children.
Mrs. BIGGERT. I thank the gentleman for yielding. And, Mr. Speaker, I
rise today to express my strong support for H.R. 2517, the Protecting
Our Children Comes First Act of 2007. I was very pleased to be a
cosponsor of this important bill which reauthorizes the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children through fiscal year 2013.
[[Page H14189]]
I would like to take a moment to thank my fellow cochair of the
Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus and sponsor of
the bill, Representative Lampson, for his hard work on child protection
issues, and Chairwoman McCarthy for her work in leading this bill
through the committee.
It seems like every time I open the newspaper, I read another story
of a child that has been abducted or has been sexually abused by a
sexual predator. Naperville, Illinois, in my district, a city that has
twice been voted by Money Magazine as the top city in the nation to
raise children, has alone experienced over 30 cases in the last 4 years
involving online sexual solicitation of a child. Clearly, more can and
must be done on this issue. This problem is not regional. It is not
isolated to big cities. It is not isolated to rural communities. This
is a real national problem that will not go away until we give
organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children the tools and the resources they need to fulfill their mission
and protect our children from current and emerging threats.
Since authorized by Congress in 1984, NCMEC has been extremely
successful in this mission. In fact, NCMEC has received nearly 2.3
million telephone calls, printed and distributed nearly 43 million
publications, trained 231,000 law enforcement, criminal justice, and
health professionals, worked more than 136,000 missing children cases,
and, perhaps most importantly, played a role in reuniting more than
118,700 children with their families. In fact, the National Center's
child recovery rate is an impressive 96.3 percent.
For generations, the message was simple. Parents told their children
that they should never talk to strangers. My parents told me and I told
my children. But times have changed. There are more threats to our
children today, and our message must change with technology. Similarly
the role of the National Center has changed.
This is why we need this bill passed on the floor today, to expand
the National Center's congressionally mandated mission to include
recent enhancements in technology and give them the resources to
address these and other protective issues.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite).
Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2517, the Protecting Our
Children Comes First Act of 2007.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children does
invaluable work for our Nation, and I was proud to cosponsor this bill
reauthorizing the funding. We should commend Representative Lampson for
sponsoring this very important bill.
When a child is missing, the center is often the only source of hope
to families. This hope is rooted in the incredible success that the
center has had in fulfilling its mission, which is to help prevent
child abduction and sexual exploitation as well as finding missing
children.
Since 1984, the center has helped law enforcement with more than
135,800 cases, resulting in recovery of more than 118,700 children. The
services provided by the center never shined more brightly than during
one of our country's darkest hours, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Amidst the chaos and destruction in New Orleans and the gulf coast, the
center played a critical role in helping children return to their
families. If you take a moment to look at the center's Web site, you
will see success story after success story about children being
reunited with parents and loved ones after harrowing experiences in the
storm. For those who had already been through so much, the work of the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was truly a godsend.
{time} 1400
I only regret that this bill did not go through committee so that
valuable amendments could have been offered. If this bill had been
marked up, I would have taken that chance to insert language from the
Audrey Nerenberg Act, H.R. 271, which I introduced.
The Audrey Nerenberg Act would expand the center's mission to aid in
the recovery of missing adults who have been certified with a mental
capacity of less than 18 years of age. That bill is named after Audrey
Lynn Nerenberg, who went for a walk on July 15, 1977, and never came
back. She was just 10 months past her 18th birthday and has been
missing for 30 years without a trace. Audrey suffered from mental
illness, and although she was ill, the 18-year-old was not searched for
in a way that a missing 8-year-old would have been.
While I'm disappointed that this amendment could not be offered, I
certainly continue to support the bill that's before us and the fine
work of the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children.
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. I have the right to close.
Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers. I will just urge a
``yes'' vote and again commend the Members and staff who have worked
diligently on bringing this legislation to the floor, and look forward
to its passage.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to thank
Mr. Lampson again for his leadership on this important reauthorization
which works to keep our Nation's children safe. And I want to also
thank my ranking member of the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and
Communities, Mr. Platts, for his continued dedication to our work on
the subcommittee.
I chair the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities for the
Committee on Education and Labor, and each member of this subcommittee
is committed to helping the children of this Nation.
Our jurisdiction has led us to dealing with some of the most
upsetting and challenging issues around the welfare of our Nation's
children. And this reauthorization is no exception.
None of us would like to even think about any children in our lives,
whether it's our own children, our grandchildren, our nieces or our
nephews, any child in our lives going through missing or being sexually
exploited. This is why this reauthorization is so critical and why this
reauthorization is a bipartisan endeavor.
Through cooperation with the municipal Federal agencies, the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children takes in an average of 258
calls per day to national hotlines. It has received 5,422 tips through
the CyberTipline, and has worked with countless families and
organizations to raise awareness and bring children to safety. This
work would not have been possible without our work here today in
reauthorizing the Missing Children's Assistance Act through H.R. 2517
sponsored by my colleague from Texas, Mr. Lampson.
I urge each Member to support this reauthorization. We, as a Nation,
can do better to protect our children. And with that, I hope all of my
colleagues will certainly vote for this.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support
of H.R. 2517, the Protecting Our Children Comes First Act of 2007,
introduced by my good friend and colleague Congressman Lampson. I would
like to thank him for his ongoing commitment to the extremely important
issue of protecting our children, and I would also like to thank
Chairman Miller for his leadership in guiding this legislation through
the Committee on the Education and Labor. I am extremely proud to join
over 90 of my colleagues in cosponsoring this crucial, bipartisan
legislation.
Mr. Speaker, the Protecting our Children Comes First Act of 2007
reauthorizes the Missing Children's Assistance Act through FY 2013, and
it will increase federal resources for protecting and assisting missing
children and their families. This legislation will provide the
resources to ensure that the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children can continue its important work to combat child abduction and
exploitation.
As Chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus, I have been an
outspoken advocate for the protection of our children against all
predators, be it disease, natural disasters, or sexual deviants. While
we may not be able to avoid natural disasters, there is nothing but a
lack of political will and Congressional action that prevents us from
protecting our children from known sexual predators. I am appalled that
while the Department of Justice knows
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the location of hundreds of thousands of sexual predators that prey on
our Nation's children within the U.S. at this very moment, the
Department of Justice has consistently refused to take action or ask
Congress for help despite the fact that law enforcement is
investigating less than 2 percent of this criminal activity. I applaud
this important piece of legislation for the accountability it will
create by building the largest law enforcement army ever created for
the protection of children.
While the child exploitation industry is global in scale, the
majority of both supply and demand is based right here, within the
United States. Due to the lack of attention to this issue by the
Department of Justice, it is hard to quantify the number of child
pornography traffickers that are involved in this gross violation of
our children's rights; the best estimates are that this practice
involves 485,000 perpetrators in the United States alone. A 2005
Justice Department study found that:
80 percent of child pornography possessors have images and videos
depicting sexual penetration.
Twenty percent of child pornography possessors have images of
bondage, sadistic abuse, and torture.
Eighty-three percent of child pornography possessors have images of
children aged 6-12.
Nineteen percent of child pornography possessors have images of
infants or toddlers.
Only 1 percent of child pornography possessors restricted their
``collecting'' to images of nude children.
Law enforcement reports of websites providing live ``pay-per-view''
rape of very young children.
Mr. Speaker, we must act now to protect our children from these
atrocities and this legislation is an important first step in doing so.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's'
(NCMEC) mission is to help prevent child abduction and sexual
exploitation; help find missing children; and assist victims of child
abduction and sexual exploitation, their families, and the
professionals who serve them. Established in 1984, NCMEC is a nonprofit
organization that provides crucial services nationwide for families and
professionals in the prevention of abducted, endangered, and sexually
exploited children.
Mr. Speaker, as technology continues to evolve, there are
continuously a new range of tools available to NCMEC to employ in its
important work. In recent years, the Center's workload has expanded
exponentially, largely due to the growth of the Internet. Ernie Allen,
president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, stated that it anticipates in excess of 110,000 reports
through the CyberTipline, which the public may use to report Internet-
related child sexual exploitation, and provides technical assistance to
individuals and law-enforcement agencies in the prevention,
investigation, prosecution, and treatment of cases involving missing
and exploited children, among other tasks. This is an increase of
around 3,500 from last year.
Mr. Speaker, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
has proven a crucial tool in combating the exploitation and abduction
of our Nation's children. It is vital that we continue to ensure that
it continues to receive the funding that it needs to carry out its
mission. This Congress has taken a firm stance on supporting
legislation that protects our children, as can be seen by the passage
of numerous pieces of legislation that binds our government to take
meaningful action towards the protection of our children. I was a proud
cosponsor of the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2007, introduced by my
distinguished colleague from Florida, Representative Wasserman-Schultz,
which passed the House 415-2 last month. Our children are this Nation's
most valuable asset and this legislation ensures that we will invest
all the necessary resources to provide them the protection they
deserve.
This legislation is imperative to ensuring the protecting our
Nation's children by providing funding to those agencies with our
children's best interest at heart. As the Chair of the Congressional
Children's Caucus, a Representative of the people of the United States,
and a mother of two, I am proud to support this legislation and I urge
my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2517, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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