On the recordAugust 16, 2018
today I am introducing a bill to update and extend the Missing Children's Assistance Act. Senators Feinstein, Hatch, Klobuchar, and Portman have joined as original cosponsors, and I thank these colleagues for their support. I also want to thank Congressman Brett Guthrie and the chairman of the House Education Committee, Virginia Foxx, for championing a related companion measure in the other chamber. The purpose of this bipartisan bill, entitled the Missing Children's Assistance Act of 2018, is to ensure the continued availability of federal resources for the work of missing children's organizations such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Since its inception in 1984, the National Center has served as the official national resource center and clearinghouse on missing and exploited children. The National Center works in partnership with State child protective services agencies to help locate children who go missing from foster care. It also works in partnership with families, schools, corporate and nonprofit entities, the FBI, the Marshals Service, and the Secret Service, as well as other federal state and local entities, to prevent child abductions and facilitate the recovery of children who may become victims of sex trafficking. Each year, thousands of children run away or go missing in the United States, which is why this work is so important.…





