On the recordMay 23, 2017
I thank the gentleman for his work on this on a bipartisan basis with Mr. Courtney. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1808, the Improving Support for Missing and Exploited Children Act. This important initiative, it builds on the bipartisan work we have already accomplished to combat sex trafficking and child exploitation. Since its creation in 1984, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has worked tirelessly to protect children from being exploited, to reunite missing children with their families, and to provide resources and training to our law enforcement community to help assist in this effort. This legislation today will assist the Center in strengthening its prevention and its recovery programs. One of those programs is the CyberTipline which, since being launched in 1998, has received 12.7 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation. It is programs like this, Mr. Speaker, that go a long way to helping us save lives and put an end to sexual exploitation and trafficking of children. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill.
