NE Florida News

WASHINGTON—Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chairman Aaron Bean (R-FL) and Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT) welcomed the signing of the Missing Children’s Reauthorization Act of 2023 into law. This bipartisan bill renews the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (MCAA) and makes critical updates to help the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) better support youth who are missing, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent child victimization.

“As a father of three, I cannot imagine the pain of a missing or exploited child. Reauthorizing the MCAA gives hope and encouragement to loved ones during a time of immense heartbreak and uncertainty. Time is a critical factor in the search effort, and this bill will modernize the reporting system so law enforcement can quickly find missing children and bring closure to countless families. Today is an important step in the fight to prevent child victimization, sexual exploitation, and abductions, and I am proud to see our bill signed into law,” said Congressman Bean.

“In a narrowly divided Congress, it is very encouraging to see enactment of the bipartisan Missing Children’s Assistance Reauthorization Act, which I have co-led in the House alongside my Republican colleague Congressman Bean. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has provided critical lifesaving help for families, law enforcement, and child protection agencies that have to be maintained. With President Biden’s signature, we are ensuring the Center has the latest up-to-date resources it needs to continue protecting children and supporting families, which is particularly important today as more children are falling victim to predatory online practices,” said Congressman Courtney.

Bean and Courtney were joined by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in authoring the bill.

“The horrors of the Internet are every parent’s worst nightmare. From the beginning of this Congress, Senator Graham and I have been on a mission in the Senate Judiciary Committee to raise awareness of the harms caused by Big Tech to our kids, pass legislation to hold Big Tech accountable for its failures, and bolster programs that support victims and their families. I’m immensely grateful for NCMEC and its work as an invaluable lifeline – to the tune of 100,000 CyberTips per day concerning child sexual exploitation – and I’m glad these programs will be stronger for years to come,” said Senator Durbin.

“NCMEC is one of the most important organizations we have to protect children. I’m glad this bipartisan legislation to keep NCMEC’s programs up and running has been signed into law,” said Senator Graham.

The MCAA was enacted in 1984 to provide federal coordination of state and local efforts to recover and support missing and exploited children. It has been reauthorized multiple times since then; most recently by the Missing Children’s Assistance Act of 2018.

The MCAA directs the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)to establish a national resource center aimed at fulfilling many objectives under MCAA's mandate.NCMEC,a nonprofit organization headquartered in Alexandria Virginia has served as this national resource center since 1984.In 2022,NCMEC assisted with27 ,644 cases involving missing children,recovering88%of them

Specifically,theMissingChildren'sAssistanceReauthorizationActof2023improvesNCMEC'sabilityto:

Assistlawenforcementinidentifyinglocatingandrecoveringmissingandexploitedchildren;

Developeducationalmaterialstoreducetheriskofchildsextraffickingonlineenticementsexualextortionandcyberbullying;

Provideeducationandtechnicalassistanceonconductingbackgroundchecksonindividualsworkingwithchildren;

Offersupportservicestomissingandexploitedchildrenandtheirfamilies;and

Facilitaterequeststohavechildsexualabusematerialremovedfromtheinternet.

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