[110th Congress Public Law 240]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[DOCID: f:publ240.110]
[[Page 1559]]
PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN COMES FIRST ACT OF 2007
[[Page 122 STAT. 1560]]
Public Law 110-240
110th Congress
An Act
To amend the Missing Children's Assistance Act to authorize
appropriations; and for other purposes. <<NOTE: June 3, 2008 - [H.R.
2517]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress <<NOTE: Protecting Our Children
Comes First Act of 2007. 42 USC 5601 note.>> 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;
[[Page 122 STAT. 1561]]
``(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 <<NOTE: Grants.>> 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
[[Page 122 STAT. 1562]]
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;
[[Page 122 STAT. 1563]]
``(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''.
[[Page 122 STAT. 1564]]
SEC. 5. REPEALER.
The Missing Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5771 et seq.) is
amended--
(1) by striking section 407; <<NOTE: 42 USC 5776a.>> and
(2) by redesignating section 408 <<NOTE: 42 USC 5777.>> as
section 407.
Approved June 3, 2008.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 2517 (S. 1829):
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 153 (2007):
Dec. 5, considered and passed House.
Vol. 154 (2008):
May 20, considered and passed
Senate.
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