[Pages S4824-S4825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. DeWine, and Mr. Allard):
S. 2073. A bill to authorize appropriations for the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
the national center for missing and exploited children
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, today I am proud to introduce the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children Authorization Act of 1998.
This bill recognizes the outstanding record of achievements of this
outstanding organization and will enable NCMEC to provide even greater
protection of our Nation's children in the future.
As part of the Missing Children's Assistance Act, the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has selected and given
grants to the Center for the last 14 years to operate a national
resource center located in Arlington, Virginia and a national 24-hour
toll-free telephone line. The Center provides invaluable assistance and
training to law enforcement around the country in cases of missing and
exploited children. The Center's record is quite impressive, and its
efforts have led directly to a significant increase in the percentage
of missing children who are recovered safely.
In fiscal year 1998, the Center received an earmark of $6.9 million
in the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State Appropriations
conference report. In addition, the Center's Jimmy Ryce Training Center
received 1.185M in this report.
This legislation directs OJJDP to make a grant to the Center and
authorizes appropriations up to $10 million in fiscal years 1999
through 2003. The authorization would, of course, be subject to
appropriations. The bill thus continues and formalizes NCMEC's long
partnership with the Justice Department and OJJDP.
NCMEC's exemplary record of performance and success, as demonstrated
by the fact that NCMEC's recovery rate has climbed from 62% to 91%,
justifies action by Congress to formally recognize it as the nation's
official missing and exploited children's center, and to authorize a
line-item appropriation. This bill will enable the Center to focus
completely on its missions, without expending the annual effort to
obtain authority and grants from OJJDP. It also will allow the Center
to expand its longer-term arrangements with domestic and foreign law
enforcement entities. By providing an authorization, the bill also will
allow for better congressional oversight of the Center.
The record of the Center, described briefly below, demonstrates the
appropriateness of this authorization.
For fourteen years the Center has served as the national resource
center and clearinghouse mandated by the Missing Children's Assistance
Act. The Center has worked in partnership with the Department of
Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of
Treasury, the State Department, and many other federal and state
agencies in the effort to find missing children and prevent child
victimization.
The trust the federal government has placed in NCMEC, a private, non-
profit corporation, is evidenced by its unique access to the FBI's
National Crime Information Center, and the National Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System (NLETS).
NCMEC has utilized the latest in technology, such as operating the
National Child Pornography Tipline, establishing its new Internet
website, www.missingkids.com, which is linked with hundreds of other
websites to provide real-time images of breaking cases of missing
children, and, beginning this year, establishing a new CyberTipline on
child exploitation.
NCMEC has established a national and increasingly worldwide network,
linking NCMEC online with each of the missing children clearinghouses
operated by the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In
addition, NCMEC works constantly with international law enforcement
authorities such as Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom, the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France, and
others. This network enables NCMEC to transmit images and information
regarding missing children to law enforcement across America and around
the world instantly. NCMEC also serves as the U.S. State Department's
representative at child abduction cases under the Hague Convention.
The record of NCMEC is demonstrated by the 1,203,974 calls received
at its 24-hour toll-free hotline, 1(800)THE LOST, the 146,284 law
enforcement, criminal/juvenile justice, and healthcare professionals
trained, the 15,491,344 free publications distributed, and, most
importantly, by its work on 59,481 cases of missing children, which has
resulted in the recovery of 40,180 children.
NCMEC is a shining example of the type of public-private partnership
the Congress should encourage and recognize. I urge my colleagues to
support this legislation, which would help improve the performance of
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and thus the
safety of our Nation's children.
I ask for unanimous consent that a copy of the legislation be printed
in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 2073
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) For 14 years, the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children (referred to in this section as the
``Center'') has--
(A) served as the national resource center and
clearinghouse congressionally mandated under the provisions
of the Missing Children's Assistance Act of 1984; and
(B) worked in partnership with the Department of Justice,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of the
Treasury, the Department of State, and many other agencies in
the effort to find missing children and prevent child
victimization.
(2) Congress has given the Center, which is a private non-
profit corporation, unique powers and resources, such as
having access to the National Crime Information Center of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Law
Enforcement Telecommunications System.
(3) Since 1987, the Center has operated the National Child
Pornography Tipline, in conjunction with the United States
Customs Service and the United States Postal Inspection
Service and, beginning this year, the Center established a
new CyberTipline on child exploitation, thus becoming ``the
911 for the Internet''.
(4) In light of statistics that time is of the essence in
cases of child abduction, the Director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation in February of 1997 created a new NCIC child
abduction (``CA'') flag to provide the Center immediate
notification in the most serious cases, resulting in 642
``CA'' notifications to the Center and helping the Center to
have its highest recovery rate in history.
(5) The Center has established a national and increasingly
worldwide 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
Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom, the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police, INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France, and
others, which has enabled the Center to transmit images and
information regarding missing children to law enforcement
across the United States and around the world instantly.
(6) From its inception in 1984 through March 31, 1998, the
Center has--
(A) handled 1,203,974 calls through its 24-hour toll-free
hotline (1-800-THE-LOST) and currently averages 700 calls per
day;
(B) trained 146,284 law enforcement, criminal and juvenile
justice, and healthcare professionals in child sexual
exploitation and missing child case detection,
identification, investigation, and prevention;
(C) disseminated 15,491,344 free publications to citizens
and professionals; and
(D) worked with law enforcement on the cases of 59,481
missing children, resulting in the recovery of 40,180
children.
[[Page S4825]]
(7) The demand for the services of the Center is growing
dramatically, as evidenced by the fact that in 1997, the
Center handled 129,100 calls, an all-time record, and by the
fact that its new Internet website (www.missingkids.com)
receives 1,500,000 ``hits'' every day, and is linked with
hundreds of other websites to provide real-time images of
breaking cases of missing children, helping to cause such
results as a police officer in Puerto Rico searching the
Center's website and working with the Center to identify and
recover a child abducted as an infant from her home in San
Diego, California, 7 years earlier.
(8) In 1997, the Center provided policy training to 256
police chiefs and sheriffs from 50 States and Guam at its new
Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center.
(9) The programs of the Center have had a remarkable
impact, such as in the fight against infant abductions in
partnership with the healthcare industry, during which the
Center has performed 668 onsite hospital walk-throughs and
inspections, and trained 45,065 hospital administrators,
nurses, and security personnel, and thereby helped to reduce
infant abductions in the United States by 82 percent.
(10) The Center is now playing a leading role in
international child abduction cases, serving as a
representative of the Department of State at cases under The
Hague Convention, and successfully resolving the cases of 343
international child abductions, and providing greater support
to parents in the United States.
(11) The Center is a model of public/private partnership,
raising private sector funds to match congressional
appropriations and receiving extensive private in-kind
support, including advanced technology provided by the
computer industry such as imaging technology used to age the
photographs of long-term missing children and to reconstruct
facial images of unidentified deceased children.
(12) The Center was 1 of only 10 of 300 major national
charities given an A+ grade in 1997 by the American Institute
of Philanthropy.
(13) In light of its impressive history, the Center has
been redesignated as the Nation's missing children
clearinghouse and resource center once every 3 years through
a competitive selection process conducted by the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the Department
of Justice, and has received grants from that Office to
conduct the crucial purposes of the Center.
(14) An official congressional authorization will increase
the level of scrutiny and oversight by Congress and continue
the Center's long partnership with the Department of Justice
and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
of the Department of Justice.
(15) The exemplary record of performance and success of the
Center, as exemplified by the fact that the Center's recovery
rate has climbed from 62 to 91 percent, justifies action by
Congress to formally recognize the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children as the Nation's official
missing and exploited children's center, and to authorize a
line-item appropriation for the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children in the Federal budget.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN.
(a) Grants.--The Administrator of the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the Department of
Justice shall annually make a grant to the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children, which shall be used to--
(1) operate the official national resource center and
information clearinghouse for missing and exploited children;
(2) provide to State and local governments, public and
private nonprofit agencies, and individuals, information
regarding--
(A) 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
(B) the existence and nature of programs being carried out
by Federal agencies to assist missing and exploited children
and their families;
(3) coordinate public and private programs that locate,
recover, or reunite missing children with their families;
(4) disseminate, on a national basis, information relating
to innovative and model programs, services, and legislation
that benefit missing and exploited children;
(5) 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; and
(6) provide assistance to families and law enforcement
agencies in locating and recovering missing and exploited
children, both nationally and internationally.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this
section, $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1999, 2000,
2001, 2002, and 2003.
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