Improving Support for Missing and Exploited Children Act of 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1808, the Improving Support for Missing and Exploited Children Act of 2017.

Mr. Speaker, as a father, I cannot imagine the horror moms and dads in this country experience when they discover one of their children has been taken, abused, or exploited. Sadly, that is a nightmare for hundreds of thousands of parents in this country. Last year alone, there were more than 465,000 reports of missing children, and those are just the cases that were reported.

The well-being of America's children has long been a national priority. In 1984, Congress established the Missing and Exploited Children's Program to help coordinate State and local efforts to recover children who are missing and better protect and support kids who are victims of abuse and exploitation. As part of that program, we provide a grant that is used to support the work of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, known as NCMEC.

For more than 30 years, NCMEC has worked to provide help to people across the country, partnering with parents, law enforcement, nonprofits, and other public and private entities in an effort to recover, protect, and support missing and exploited children and their families. We are here today to ensure this supportive work continues.

H.R. 1808 updates and streamlines the Missing Children's Assistance Act, making positive changes that will enable us to strengthen our efforts. This includes reforms that encourage and increase public awareness of new and innovative ways to recover and protect missing and exploited children.

The bill better protects the growing number of children who go missing from State care or are victims of sex trafficking, while also providing transparency surrounding recovery and prevention efforts. In recent years, some of the advances in technology have, unfortunately, made it easier for kids to be victimized and exploited.

H.R. 1808 ensures the law aimed at recovering and protecting exploited children is able to effectively identify and locate today's abductors and criminal offenders, many of whom are turning to more modern techniques to commit their disturbing crimes.

The Improving Support for Missing and Exploited Children Act of 2017 delivers important reforms that will provide the tools needed to effectively serve vulnerable youth, help bring perpetrators to justice, and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1808.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I had the opportunity to visit the Center, and the building that I got to go visit was full of men and women who show up every day, who do exceptional work dealing with the disturbing issues, and so my hat is off to them.
They deal with stuff that is just unimaginable to most of us, and they do it in a way that is dignified and in a way that is well worthy of the effort that we are giving them to give more transparency and empower them to help more.

I really appreciate working with my friend, Mr. Courtney. H.R. 1808 is a bipartisan proposal, and I urge my colleagues to support the Improving Support for Missing and Exploited Children Act of 2017.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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