[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 73 (Tuesday, May 10, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H2189-H2192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOVERING MISSING CHILDREN ACT
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3209) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit
the disclosure of certain tax return information for the purpose of
missing or exploited children investigations, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3209
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 ``Recovering Missing Children
Act''.
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN RETURN INFORMATION RELATING TO
MISSING OR EXPLOITED CHILDREN INVESTIGATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 6103(i)(1) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended--
(1) by inserting ``or pertaining to the case of a missing
or exploited child,'' after ``may be a party,'' in
subparagraph (A)(i),
(2) by inserting ``or to such a case of a missing or
exploited child,'' after ``may be a party,'' in subparagraph
(A)(iii), and
(3) by inserting ``(or any criminal investigation or
proceeding, in the case of a matter relating to a missing or
exploited child)'' after ``concerning such act'' in
subparagraph (B)(iii).
(b) Disclosure to State and Local Law Enforcement
Agencies.--
(1) In general.--Section 6103(i)(1) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following
new subparagraph:
``(C) Disclosure to state and local law enforcement
agencies in the case of matters pertaining to a missing or
exploited child.--
``(i) In general.--In the case of an investigation
pertaining to a missing or exploited child, the head of any
Federal agency, or his designee, may disclose any return or
return information obtained under subparagraph (A) to
officers and employees of any State or local law enforcement
agency, but only if--
``(I) such State or local law enforcement agency is part of
a team with the Federal agency in such investigation, and
``(II) such information is disclosed only to such officers
and employees who are personally and directly engaged in such
investigation.
``(ii) Limitation on use of information.--Information
disclosed under this subparagraph shall be solely for the use
of such officers and employees in locating the missing child,
in a grand jury proceeding, or in any preparation for, or
investigation which may result in, a judicial or
administrative proceeding.
``(iii) Missing child.--For purposes of this subparagraph,
the term `missing child' shall have the meaning given such
term by section 403 of the Missing Children's Assistance Act
(42 U.S.C. 5772).
``(iv) Exploited child.--For purposes of this subparagraph,
the term `exploited child' means a minor with respect to whom
there is reason to believe that a specified offense against a
minor (as defined by section 111(7) of the Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 16911(7))) has
or is occurring.''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--
(A) Section 6103(a)(2) of such Code is amended by striking
``subsection (i)(7)(A)'' and inserting ``subsection (i)(1)(C)
or (7)(A)''.
(B) Section 6103(p)(4) of such Code is amended by striking
``(i)(3)(B)(i)'' in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and
inserting ``(i)(1)(C), (3)(B)(i),''.
(C) Section 7213(a)(2) of such Code is amended by striking
``(i)(3)(B)(i)'' and inserting ``(i)(1)(C), (3)(B)(i),''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to disclosures made after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Pascrell) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.
General Leave
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous material on H.R. 3209, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Minnesota?
There was no objection.
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker and Members, this week we have thousands of members of
the law enforcement community here in Washington to celebrate Police
Week.
Every day police officers throughout our country wear the uniform
with pride, and they understand the tremendous responsibility that
comes with it, putting the safety of others before the safety of
themselves.
They protect us, they protect our families, and they protect our
neighborhoods. We owe it to these police officers to give them every
reasonable
[[Page H2190]]
tool possible to solve crimes and keep our communities safe.
Unfortunately, police officers are currently being denied a critical
resource when it comes to solving child abduction and missing children
cases. While many may picture the perpetrators of these crimes as
strangers, the reality is actually very difficult to fathom, and that
is because every year there are more than 200,000 cases of children
that are abducted by a parent or a relative.
The psychological and emotional damage inflicted on a child in these
cases can be devastating. Abducted children often are moved from city
to city and prohibited from going to school or participating in youth
activities due to a fear by the perpetrator of being caught. Many of
these children are told that the parent that they are separated from is
dead or no longer wants them.
Statistics show that an abducted child is at a higher risk for
physical abuse, and some psychologists believe that family abduction is
one of the most devastating forms of child abuse.
Here is the opportunity, Mr. Speaker. Research shows that, in a
significant number of child abductions, the perpetrator will file a tax
return using this child's Social Security number, providing a current
address, and a potential case-breaking discovery.
One report found that as many as 46 percent of these cases could be
solved if law enforcement had access to this information. While this
type of critical tax information can be accessed to solve other serious
crimes, current law does not allow police officers to access Federal
tax records to help them find an abducted child. Without such a
valuable tool, it could be very difficult for law enforcement to solve
these cases when the suspect has left the area and has taken action to
conceal their new location.
The bipartisan Recovering Missing Children Act will allow
investigators to access this critical information and reunite families.
This is a commonsense fix that fills the information gap, potentially
solving thousands of cases and saving lives.
It is endorsed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Sergeants Benevolent
Association, the National Association of Police Officers, the Major
County Sheriffs' Association, and the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record two letters in support of H.R.
3209.
April 7, 2016.
Hon. Kevin Brady,
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC.
Hon. Sander Levin,
Ranking Member, Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman & Representative Levin: On behalf of the
undersigned organizations, we write to advise you of our
strong support for H.R. 3209, the ``Recovering Missing
Children Act,'' and to request that the Committee consider
and mark up this legislation at the earliest possible
opportunity.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
reports that more than 200,000 children are abducted by their
parents or other close relatives every year. According to
findings from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration, however, new addresses for these missing
children can be identified as often as 46 percent of the time
through analysis of taxes subsequently filed using either the
suspected perpetrator's or the missing child's Social
Security Number. Unfortunately, despite the value that this
evidence would have in combating child abductions, the IRS is
currently constrained from providing the relevant tax
information to law enforcement.
To the extent that law enforcement needs access to every
available tool to aid in the swift recovery of missing
children, H.R. 3209 would solve this problem by filling the
information gap. Specifically, the bill would amend current
law to add the case of a missing child to the list of
exceptions that allow the IRS to release tax return
information to law enforcement. Given the sensitivity of
taxpayer data, the bill would limit the disclosure of
relevant tax information solely to those law enforcement
officers who are engaged in the recovery of a missing child
or the subsequent investigation and prosecution of the
alleged abductor. As a result, we believe the ``Recovering
Missing Children Act'' strikes the proper balance between
protecting taxpayer privacy and facilitating the ability of
law enforcement to reunite missing children with their
families.
H.R. 3209 represents a commonsense solution to the
unintended consequences of laws protecting taxpayer
information that is limited to specific scenarios of child
abduction. On behalf of our organizations and the men and
women of law enforcement that we are proud to represent, we
therefore stand ready to work with you and the other Members
of the Committee to advance the ``Recovering Missing Children
Act'' as expeditiously as possible.
Sincerely,
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association;
Fraternal Order of Police;
International Association of Chiefs of Police;
Major Cities Chiefs Association;
Major County Sheriffs' Association;
National Association of Police Organizations;
National Narcotic Officers' Associations' Coalition;
Sergeants Benevolent Association NYPD.
____
National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children,
Alexandria, VA, January 12, 2016.
Hon. Erik Paulsen,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Paulsen: On behalf of the National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the
families and children we serve, I am writing to express our
support for your legislation, the Recovering Missing Children
Act (H.R. 3209). This bill provides law enforcement with an
additional tool in their search for missing and exploited
children.
As you know, NCMEC was created as a private, non-profit
organization in 1984 and designated by Congress to serve as
the national clearinghouse on issues related to missing and
exploited children. NCMEC provides services to families,
private industry, law enforcement, victims, and the general
public to assist in the prevention of child abductions, the
recovery of missing children, and the provision of services
to combat child sexual exploitation. NCMEC performs 22
functions, including those related to assisting law
enforcement, families, and others regarding family
abductions.
Child abduction by a parent is a crime under both federal
and state law. These children suffer emotional abuse,
including lack of identity and grief over the loss of a
parent. The abductor may give the child a false explanation
for the abduction and/or indicate that the searching parent
no longer wants the child. Abductors who move the child
between cities, or between countries, make it difficult for
law enforcement and the searching parent to locate and
recover the child.
In order to ensure that law enforcement has access to
information that could lead to the recovery of a missing or
exploited child, we believe the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) database is one resource that could provide key
information to help law enforcement. A 2007 study by the
Department of Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration (TIGTA) confirmed that the IRS database
contains information that could help law enforcement
investigating these cases. For example, according to the
study, addresses that were different from those where the
children and/or alleged abductors lived at the time of the
abductions were found for 46% of the missing children (237
out of 520) and 34% of the alleged abductors (104 out of
305). Thus, making it apparent that IRS information could
help law enforcement investigating cases involving missing
and exploited children.
The current framework of the Internal Revenue Code makes it
very difficult, and often impossible, for federal law
enforcement investigating missing child cases to use the
exceptions from Section 6103 to access IRS information.
A clarification in the law is necessary to ensure the
disclosure of IRS data that could lead to the recovery of a
missing or exploited child. As such, we believe the
legislation you have sponsored--the Recovering Missing
Children Act--could enhance law enforcement's ability to
locate missing and exploited children.
NCMEC is proud to lend our support to this important
legislation and we are grateful for your dedication to the
safety of our nation's children.
Sincerely,
John F. Clark,
President and CEO.
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Representative Joe
Courtney, for his leadership and bipartisan advocacy on this issue.
I also thank my friend, Mr. Pascrell, who is on the Ways and Means
Committee, for his leadership, along with Congressman Reichert, who is
a member of the Law Enforcement Caucus, for getting behind this
legislation, showing again that both parties can work together on
meaningful legislation that improves the lives of American families.
As we prepare for the National Missing Children's Day coming up on
May 25, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill today so we can
give investigators the tools that they need to crack the case and bring
a missing child home.
[[Page H2191]]
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 3209, the Recovering Missing
Children Act. I thank my friend, Representative Erik Paulsen, for
introducing it. It is strong, it is reasonable, and it is the right
thing to do. Representative Joe Courtney has waited and worked for this
legislation for a long time.
As a father and a grandfather, I can't even begin to imagine what
parents go through in the event their child goes missing. I can't
imagine it. I really can't. And I certainly can't imagine hearing that
law enforcement is handicapped in its ability to do everything possible
to help bring their child back.
Mr. Speaker, there are 200,000 kids that are abducted by a family
member every year. That is something for another day perhaps, but it is
part of this problem here.
In 2007, a study by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration, TIGTA--we use that term a lot in the Ways and Means
Committee--found that tax return information could be helpful in many
cases involving missing children.
TIGTA reviewed whether IRS data would show addresses for persons
claiming tax benefits with respect to those missing children after the
time of the abduction or their suspected abductors. That sounds pretty
bizarre, but that is happening.
TIGTA looked at 520 missing children's cases and found that the IRS
data showed new addresses for 46 percent of the cases. Similarly, IRS
data showed new addresses for 34 percent of suspected abductors.
Federal law rightly prohibits the IRS from disclosing confidential
taxpayer information except in a limited number of exceptions. For
example, this information may be released to Federal Government
employees if ordered by a Federal judge in preparation for a nontax-
related criminal prosecution.
H.R. 3209 would add criminal investigations related to missing or
exploited children as one of these exceptions. We should be thankful to
the author of this legislation because this is a critical exception
that should have been done a long time ago.
The bill would also allow this information to be released to State
and local law enforcement officials who are working with the Federal
agency in its missing or exploited child investigation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Reichert), who has long been an advocate for law
enforcement and has always been on the front lines helping law
enforcement with their initiatives and helping victims.
Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank both Mr. Paulsen and Mr. Pascrell
for their support and for the energy and the effort they put behind
this legislation.
As I was sitting here waiting for my turn to speak, I was thinking to
myself that I will be 66 years old here in a few weeks. So half of my
life, 33 years, was in law enforcement. It kind of stunned me for a
second.
{time} 1815
I have been in Congress now 11\1/2\ years. I have found that there
are some very, very good friends here in Congress who support law
enforcement. This is not a partisan issue. Mr. Pascrell and I have been
great partners as co-chairs of the Law Enforcement Caucus, and he is a
valiant fighter for law enforcement, firefighters, all first
responders. We make a great team. As you can see, there are others who
have joined us here today.
In my 33 years, Mr. Speaker, I have had the opportunity to work on
patrol, to search for kids in that moment in time where you get a call
to a shopping mall and a mother has turned her head for a minute or a
father has just let go of the hand of the child for a second and turned
around and the child is gone. You can just see the panic in their eyes
and the fear in their face. But a few minutes later, they are found
wandering around in a toy shop or hiding somewhere, playing hide-and-
seek, and they have their child back within minutes.
But, Mr. Speaker, there are other families that aren't so fortunate,
that I have had the honor of meeting, where their child had been
missing for years. Some are fortunate enough, Mr. Speaker, to get their
child back. I have been at the other end of that, where you search and
you find. I found a young man up in the mountains of Alaska who had
been taken by his father and whisked away in an old camper and hidden
in the mountains of Alaska. We found him safe and returned him to his
mom.
Mr. Speaker, I have also had the sad experience of finding a missing
child dead. I have had to be the one who went to the home and notified
the mom and dad: We found Cindy, but she is not alive. Someone killed
her.
These are tough cases. When I was working these cases, I would say to
the family: We are going to get your child back, and we will find the
person responsible for taking your child. When I was a detective, I
said the same thing: We are going to be tough, and we will find them.
Today, with this Federal legislation, we are even saying it in
stronger words. Now the local law enforcement agencies have the power
of the Federal Government. That information that we needed back in the
day when I was an officer on the street or a detective on the street, I
didn't have. But today we are going to give them that power and
authority.
The message today is: those who take children from their homes, those
who take children off the streets, we will find you--we will find you--
because I don't want police officers knocking on a door and telling a
parent that their child won't be coming home.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 2 minutes to the
gentleman.
Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, when I was a detective on the Green River
Task Force, we solved over 2,000 cases of missing women, young women,
and girls over that period of time. We solved 51 murders, and we worked
closely with the families. Those detectives who went home every night
did not go home and stop thinking about these cases. I know that every
one of those detectives and every one of the families involved in that
investigation today appreciate the action of Mr. Paulsen, Mr. Pascrell,
and all those who support this bill.
I know families that actually kept their child's bedroom exactly the
way it was the day they went missing, for 5 or 6 years. They didn't
change a thing because they always have hope. They always have hope
that their daughter or their son will be coming home, until the day
that door gets a knock and the officer arrives and says: We found
little Johnny, or, Little Johnny won't be coming home.
Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to support this legislation. I
appreciate so much the action by everyone involved in bringing this
forward.
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney). He has worked very hard on this issue for a
very, very long time.
Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Pascrell for yielding time,
and I thank my good friend and colleague Erik Paulsen for his great
work in getting us to this point today where finally we are going to
move this measure forward.
It is almost 5 years to the day that Mr. Paulsen and I introduced
this legislation, along with a number of others, in 2011, to deal with
this really, just almost inexplicable anomaly in the law which
basically says that one arm of the government--the IRS--can actually
know the whereabouts of a missing child but can't share that
information with another arm of government--namely, State and local law
enforcement--which, in most cases, almost 100 percent of cases
involving missing children, is the level of government that actually
deals with the investigation and attempts to recover children.
So you have a situation where you have got all these resources and
efforts happening at the State and local level scurrying around, trying
to find leads for abducted children, yet the government is sitting on
information in terms of tax returns that were filed with the Social
Security number of the child who is missing or the suspected abductor,
and the two levels of government can't talk to each other.
[[Page H2192]]
This legislation will break down that barrier and allow, again,
timely information to be shared for the thousands of children, which we
know from data that the missing children foundation and other law
enforcement groups have been sharing with Congress over a number of
years.
So again, as was said earlier, the data is astonishing: 200,000
abductions are reported each year; 12,000 tend to last longer than 6
months. In 2007, the Treasury Department looked at 1,700 Social
Security numbers of missing kids and found that, as Mr. Pascrell said,
over a third had been used in returns after the abduction.
For some it is really kind of hard to imagine how an abducting
relative or even stranger could have the nerve to file a tax return and
claim the Social Security and child exemption for the child that they
have in their possession, but the data shows that, in fact, that
happens. It may be because they are anxious to get the refund; it may
be because they don't want to be violating a second set of laws in
terms of not filing a tax return. But the fact of the matter is that
there are thousands of children that the government knows their
whereabouts, and this law will allow that information to be shared. For
every family that will benefit from it, it really is just an amazing
opportunity for us to really relieve the stress and pain that these
horrible cases inflict year in and year out.
As I said, it took 5 years. We have a great coalition of outside
groups that are supporting it. As Calvin Coolidge once said: ``Nothing
in the world can take the place of persistence . . . The slogan `Press
On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.''
This, I think, is an example of it. It took 5 long years, but the House
is now poised to move forward on H.R. 3209, Recovering Missing Children
Act, and again we want to get swift passage and move this through the
Senate and to the President's desk so that we can, again, provide a lot
of relief and solace to families that are anxiously looking for their
loved ones.
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, having no other speakers, I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to
close.
When Mr. Reichert said before that we will track you down and find
you, he meant it, because he was on many a chase in his 33 years in law
enforcement, and he always gave special attention to those that
involved children.
I want to congratulate Representative Paulsen. Most of the time,
almost all the time, he always provides a reasonable resolution to
problems. I mean that.
I know that we simply cannot have information at our fingertips that
can help bring an abducted child home and not allow law enforcement to
use it. Allowing law enforcement to use information that can help
locate missing and abducted children is a no-brainer. We need to
establish a system that protects taxpayers' privacy but also allows law
enforcement to do its job. This bill does just that.
I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation. It has
been a good, bipartisan few hours.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I won't go on too much longer. We have had great
testimony and offerings today by folks who have been working in a very
bipartisan way on a very key component that has been around for 5 years
but will absolutely make a difference in solving missing child
abduction cases. It is common sense, it is bipartisan, and most
importantly, it will help reunite families with missing children.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 3209, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________