[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[House]
[Pages 32207-32212]
[From the U.S. 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.
  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

[[Page 32208]]

     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.

  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.
  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

[[Page 32209]]

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 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.

[[Page 32210]]

  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.
  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

[[Page 32211]]

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 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

[[Page 32212]]

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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