Grassley, Feinstein, Hatch, Klobuchar, Portman Introduce Bill to Reauthorize the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
WASHINGTON
– Senators
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Rob
Portman (R-Ohio) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have introduced the bipartisan Missing
Children’s Assistance Act of 2018. The bill would reauthorize the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and continue the
fight against child abduction and exploitation.
“Every instance of a missing child is a tragedy and
we cannot let up on our fight against child abduction and exploitation,” Grassley said. “The National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children works every day to help families,
caregivers, schools and communities prevent the exploitation of children and
aid in their recovery. This is an important bill to support and modernize that
work. I look forward to helping it become law very soon.”
“The National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children does critical work to protect children from abuse, exploitation and
abduction and to help with their recovery. This bill will improve the group’s
efforts and deserves to be passed as soon as possible,” Feinstein said.
“For more than 30 years, the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children has played a critical role in the fight to
protect our children. Over those years, NCMEC has kept pace with
evolving threats ranging from online enticement of children to child
pornography and sex tourism. I am proud to support this legislation to
modernize NCMEC’s authorities and ensure that the organization has
the resources it needs to continue this important work,” Hatch said.
“As a former prosecutor, I know how important it is
to protect children from kidnapping, exploitation, and abuse. This bipartisan
bill will ensure that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
has the resources and support necessary to track down missing children and
prevent future abductions,” Klobuchar
Said.
“The National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children is on the frontlines protecting the most vulnerable children in our
country. NCMEC brings expertise and resources to local communities across
the country and is committed to children who are missing, trafficking, abused,
or exploited. I am proud to support this legislation to reauthorize the
national hotline and to prioritize funding so that NCMEC can continue its
important work,” Portman
said.
The
legislation updates terms that are used in the Missing Children’s Assistance
Act to reflect the latest research and trends. It extends funding for five
more years, at the current level of $40 million, for the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children and other organizations that help prevent and
respond to offenses committed against vulnerable children. It also
ensures continued federal support of efforts by state and local entities to
recover missing and exploited children—including children who are the victim of
kidnapping and child pornography crimes. And the bill includes measures to
ensure that school personnel, law enforcement, individuals and other
non-governmental organizations can receive technical assistance and training on
how to prevent, recover, and help missing, abducted, or exploited children.
The
legislation will be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside related
measures in the coming weeks.
In
a letter
to the bill sponsors, the current president and CEO of NCMEC offered
his strong support for the bipartisan legislation and thanked the senators for
their continued work fighting child exploitation and their efforts to modernize
the law to combat new and emerging issues like sextortion.
Full text of the bill can be
found HERE.
-30-
