[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1808 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1808
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 24, 2017
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend and improve the Missing Children's Assistance Act, and for
other purposes.
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 ``Improving Support for Missing and
Exploited Children Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Section 402 of the Missing Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5771) is amended--
(1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
``(1) each year tens of thousands of children run away, or
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) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5);
(3) in paragraph (6) by inserting ``, including child sex
trafficking and sextortion'' after ``exploitation'';
(4) in paragraph (8) by adding ``and'' at the end;
(5) by striking paragraph (9);
(6) by amending paragraph (10) to read as follows:
``(10) a key component of such programs is the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children that--
``(A) serves as a nonprofit, national resource
center and clearinghouse to provide assistance to
victims, families, child-serving professionals, and the
general public;
``(B) works 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 United States Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, the United States Secret Service,
the United States Postal Inspection Service, other
agencies, and nongovernmental organizations in the
effort to find missing children and to prevent child
victimization; and
``(C) coordinates with each of the missing children
clearinghouses operated by the 50 States, the District
of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and international
organizations to transmit images and information
regarding missing and exploited children to law
enforcement, nongovernmental organizations, and
corporate partners across the United States and around
the world instantly.''; and
(7) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), (8), and (10) as
paragraphs (4), (5), (6), and (7), respectively.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
Section 403 of the Missing Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5772) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``legal custodian'' each place it
appears and inserting ``parent'';
(B) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``custodian's''
and inserting ``parent's''; and
(C) in subparagraph (C) by striking the period and
the end and inserting a semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (2) by striking ``and'' at the end;
(3) in paragraph (3) by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) the term `parent' includes a legal guardian or other
individual standing in loco parentis (such as a grandparent or
stepparent with whom the child lives, or an individual who is
legally responsible for the child's welfare).''.
SEC. 4. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.
Section 404 of the Missing Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5773) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (3) by striking ``telephone line''
and inserting ``hotline''; and
(B) in paragraph (6)(E)--
(i) by striking ``telephone line'' and
inserting ``hotline'';
(ii) by striking ``(b)(1)(A) and'' and
inserting ``(b)(1)(A),''; and
(iii) by inserting ``, and the number and
types of reports to the tipline established
under subsection (b)(1)(K)(i)'' before the
semicolon at the end;
(2) in subsection (b)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) by striking ``telephone line'' each
place it appears and inserting ``hotline''; and
(ii) by striking ``legal custodian'' and
inserting ``parent'';
(B) in subparagraph (C)--
(i) in clause (i)--
(I) by striking ``restaurant'' and
inserting ``food''; and
(II) by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(ii) in clause (ii) by adding ``and'' at
the end; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) innovative and model programs,
services, and legislation that benefit missing
and exploited children;'';
(C) by striking subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G);
(D) by amending subparagraph (H) to read as
follows:
``(H) provide technical assistance and training to
families, law enforcement agencies, State and local
governments, elements of the criminal justice system,
nongovernmental agencies, local educational agencies,
and the general public--
``(i) in the prevention, investigation,
prosecution, and treatment of cases involving
missing and exploited children;
``(ii) to respond to foster children
missing from the State child welfare system in
coordination with child welfare agencies and
courts handling juvenile justice and dependency
matters; and
``(iii) in the identification, location,
and recovery of victims of, and children at
risk for, child sex trafficking;'';
(E) by amending subparagraphs (I), (J), and (K) to
read as follows:
``(I) provide assistance to families, law
enforcement agencies, State and local governments,
nongovernmental agencies, child-serving professionals,
and other individuals involved in the location and
recovery of missing and abducted children, both
nationally, and in cooperation with the Department of
State, internationally;
``(J) provide support and technical assistance to
child-serving professionals involved in helping to
recover missing and exploited children by searching
public records databases to help in the identification,
location, and recovery of such children, and help in
the location and identification of potential abductors
and offenders;
``(K) provide forensic and direct on-site technical
assistance and consultation to families, law
enforcement agencies, child-serving professionals, and
nongovernmental organizations in child abduction and
exploitation cases, including facial reconstruction of
skeletal remains and similar techniques to assist in
the identification of unidentified deceased
children;'';
(F) by striking subparagraphs (L) and (M);
(G) by amending subparagraph (N) to read as
follows:
``(N) provide training, technical assistance, and
information to nongovernmental organizations relating
to non-compliant sex offenders and to law enforcement
agencies in identifying and locating such
individuals;'';
(H) by striking subparagraph (P);
(I) by amending subparagraph (Q) to read as
follows:
``(Q) work with families, law enforcement agencies,
electronic service providers, electronic payment
service providers, technology companies,
nongovernmental organizations, and others on methods to
reduce the existence and distribution of online images
and videos of sexually exploited children--
``(i) by operating a tipline to provide to
individuals and electronic service providers an
effective means of reporting Internet-related
and other instances of 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 sex trafficking;
``(IV) sex tourism involving
children;
``(V) extra familial 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 make such reports available
to the appropriate law enforcement agency for
its review and potential investigation;
``(ii) by operating a child victim
identification program to assist law
enforcement agencies in identifying victims of
child pornography and other sexual crimes to
support the recovery of children from sexually
exploitative situations; and
``(iii) by utilizing emerging technologies
to provide additional outreach and educational
materials to parents and families;'';
(J) by striking subparagraph (R);
(K) by amending subparagraphs (S) and (T) to read
as follows:
``(S) develop and disseminate programs and
information to families, child-serving professionals,
law enforcement agencies, State and local governments,
nongovernmental organizations, schools, local
educational agencies, child-serving organizations, and
the general public on--
``(i) the prevention of child abduction and
sexual exploitation;
``(ii) Internet safety, including tips for
social media and cyberbullying; and
``(iii) sexting and sextortion; and
``(T) provide technical assistance and training to
local educational agencies, schools, State and local
law enforcement agencies, individuals, and other
nongovernmental organizations that assist with finding
missing and abducted children in identifying and
recovering such children.''; and
(L) by redesignating subparagraphs (H), (I), (J),
(K), (N), (O), (Q), (S), (T), (U), and (V) as
subparagraphs (E) through (O), respectively.
SEC. 5. GRANTS.
Section 405 of the Missing Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5775) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (7) by striking ``(as defined in
section 403(1)(A))''; and
(B) in paragraph (8)--
(i) by striking ``legal custodians'' and
inserting ``parents''; and
(ii) by striking ``custodians''' and
inserting ``parents'''; and
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by striking ``legal
custodians'' and inserting ``parents''.
SEC. 6. REPORTING.
The Missing Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5771 et seq.) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating sections 407 and 408 as section 408
and 409, respectively; and
(2) by inserting after section 406 the following:
``SEC. 407. REPORTING.
``(a) Required Reporting.--As a condition of receiving funds under
section 404(b), the grant recipient shall, based solely on reports
received by the grantee and not involving any data collection by the
grantee other than those reports, annually provide to the Administrator
and make available to the general public, as appropriate--
``(1) the number of children nationwide who are reported to
the grantee as missing;
``(2) the number of children nationwide who are reported to
the grantee as victims of non-family abductions;
``(3) the number of children nationwide who are reported to
the grantee as victims of family abductions; and
``(4) the number of missing children recovered nationwide
whose recovery was reported to the grantee.
``(b) Incidence of Attempted Child Abductions.--As a condition of
receiving funds under section 404(b), the grant recipient shall--
``(1) track the incidence of attempted child abductions in
order to identify links and patterns;
``(2) provide such information to law enforcement agencies;
and
``(3) make such information available to the general
public, as appropriate.''.
Passed the House of Representatives May 23, 2017.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.