Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2517, the Protecting Our Children Comes First Act of 2007, which will amend the Missing Children's Assistance Act to authorize appropriations and for other purposes, and I want to commend both the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy), the chairwoman, for their leadership on this issue at the committee level and with the sponsorship of the legislation. And also on my side of the aisle, I commend the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) who will be speaking shortly for her leadership on this very important issue.
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Every year, thousands of children are abducted or go missing. In 1984, Congress recognized the need for greater coordination of local, State, and Federal efforts to recover these children, and established the Missing and Exploited Children's Program under the Missing Children's Assistance Act. This act addresses the needs of missing, abducted, and sexually exploited children. The program was created to coordinate and support various Federal missing children's programs through the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, OJJDP, and includes the authorization for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The National Center is a not-for-profit corporation mandated by Congress which works in partnership with the Department of Justice. The center is funded in part by Congress and in part by the private sector and serves as the national resource center and clearinghouse for information on missing and exploited children. The National Center carries out many of the objectives of the Missing Children's Assistance Act in collaboration with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The National Center provides assistance to families and law enforcement agencies in locating and recovering missing and exploited children, both nationally and internationally. While the National Center receives leads on abducted, runaway, and sexually exploited youth and disseminates this information to various investigative law enforcement units, the center [Page: H14188] itself does not conduct the investigation of these cases.
The National Center's Federal funding supports specific operational functions mandated by Congress, including a national 24-hour toll-free hot line; a distribution system for missing child photos; a system of case management and technical assistance to law enforcement and families; training programs for Federal, State and local law enforcement; and programs designed to help stop the sexual exploitation of children.
Today, more missing children come home safely than ever before; however, there is still important work to be done. Hundreds of children still do not make it home each year, and many more continue to be victimized by acts of violence. In fact, children are the most victimized segment of our society and crimes committed against children of all ages are the most underreported of any victim category.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has worked with law enforcement on more than 133,000 missing child cases, and has played a role in reuniting more than 115,000 children with their families. With a 96.2 percent recovery rate, up from 62 percent in 1990, the National Center has analyzed more than 500,000 reports of crimes against children on the Internet and referred them to law enforcement, resulting in hundreds of arrests and successful prosecutions.
Today, law enforcement is responding more swiftly and effectively to reports of missing children. There is a national network in place, and parents are more alert, more aware, and talking to their children about their safety. With the changes made through this legislation, the Missing Children's Assistance Act and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will continue their important efforts focused on protecting our vulnerable missing children.
Again, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson) for his sponsorship of this bill.
