[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14349-14350]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   MISSING CHILDREN'S ASSISTANCE ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the House of Representatives passed a 
bipartisan reauthorization of the Missing Children's Assistance Act 
that ensures the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children can 
continue.
  We cleared it a week ago here on the Democratic side. I understand 
that now it has cleared the Republican side.
  I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of 
H.R. 3092, which was received from the House and is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3902) to amend the Missing Children's 
     Assistance Act, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last week, the House of Representatives 
overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan reauthorization of the Missing 
Children's Assistance Act. This important measure will ensure that the 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) can continue 
its critical and lifesaving work on behalf of some of the most 
vulnerable children in our communities. I thank Ranking Member 
Grassley, as well as the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House 
Education and the Workforce Committee for working with me to develop 
this bipartisan legislation. The current authorization for NCMEC will 
expire at the end of the month, so the Senate must take action without 
delay.
  While I would have preferred a straightforward reauthorization of 
NCMEC and its programs, I agreed to Ranking Member Grassley's request 
to include several additional auditing provisions, which I had hoped 
would facilitate the bill's swift passage and enactment. I also agreed 
to several changes suggested by the House, working in a bipartisan 
fashion on this bill which overwhelmingly passed the House of 
Representatives and which is pending before the Senate. Despite working 
in a bipartisan way, it has already been more than a week since the 
House sent us the reauthorization bill. The Senate has been unable to 
pass this measure because of an objection on the Republican side. The 
Democratic side approved this bill for passage last week.
  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has served as 
a vital national resource for law enforcement and families for nearly 
30 years, and has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 
188,000 missing children. Of the cases reported to NCMEC from 1990-
2012, 97.8 percent have been resolved. If any Senator has a problem or 
concern with the reauthorization of this important work, then that 
Senator should come to the floor and voice those concerns publicly. I 
have heard of no such concerns.
  So if there are no substantive concerns with reauthorizing the work 
of

[[Page 14350]]

NCMEC, what are we waiting for? I hope that this reauthorization bill 
is not falling victim to the same political tantrums thrown by some in 
an effort to remove funding for our citizens' healthcare. Instead of 
playing politics, the Senate should renew its obligation to do 
everything we can to quickly locate a missing child and to protect all 
our children from being victimized by predators by passing this 
important legislation.
  For nearly 30 years, NCMEC has spearheaded efforts to locate and 
recover missing children and raise public awareness about how to 
prevent child abduction, molestation, and sexual exploitation. The 
Senate should pass this legislation immediately and not allow the good 
work of the National Center to be jeopardized.
  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children addresses the 
painful reality that hundreds of thousands of people go missing or are 
abducted each year. Sadly, children account for more than 40 percent of 
the FBI's active missing persons cases. The exploitation of children is 
also a growing problem, particularly in the internet age. Between 2004 
and 2008, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces reported a 
230 percent increase in the number of documented complaints of online 
enticement of children. Perpetrators utilize new technologies to 
target, contact, manipulate, and entice children so the dangers facing 
children and their families are greater than ever.
  In passing the Missing Children's Assistance Act in 1984, Congress 
recognized the need for national leadership to help address the problem 
of missing and exploited children, and to assist the families of these 
victims. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was 
created shortly after passage of that legislation, and has led a number 
of efforts to combat child exploitation.
  NCMEC has created a nationwide, toll free, 24-hour hotline to take 
reports about missing children and clues that might lead to their 
recovery; a National Child Pornography Tipline to gather reports on the 
sexual exploitation of children through the production and distribution 
of child pornography; and a CyberTipline to process online leads from 
individuals reporting the sexual exploitation of children. In addition, 
NCMEC has circulated millions of photographs of missing children, and 
serves as a vital resource for law enforcement agencies throughout the 
Nation in the search for missing children and in the pursuit of 
adequate child protection.
  This legislation before us will allow the National Center for Missing 
and Exploited Children to continue its important role in protecting our 
children. We should continue to do everything we can to protect our 
children. I am proud to support this bill, which will enable NCMEC to 
continue its critical work. I thank my friends on both sides of the 
aisle for joining me in this effort, and urge the Senate to take 
immediate action to pass H.R. 3092, the Missing Children's Assistance 
Reauthorization Act.
  I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed; and 
the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening 
action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 3092) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I appreciate the fact that it now has 
passed.
  I thank the Republican leader and others.

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