Press Releases

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3092, the E. Clay Shaw Jr. Missing Children’s Assistance Reauthorization Act, a substantial update to federal laws governing efforts to identify and recover missing and exploited children. Congresswoman Wilson (FL-24) served as the Democratic Floor Manager for the successful bill—named for recently-deceased former Florida Congressman E. Clay Shaw Jr.—and spoke strongly in favor of the legislation. The bill includes components of several previous bipartisan legislative proposals, including Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson’s Rilya Wilson Act, which was named for a 4-year-old girl in the custody of the foster care system, who went missing 12 years ago in Miami-Dade County.

“As a lifelong educator and advocate for children, I am so delighted to see Democrats and Republicans come together to stand up for missing and exploited kids,” said Congresswoman Wilson.

“The bill will enhance local, state, and federal coordination to protect our society’s most vulnerable citizens. This bill honors the life of Rilya Wilson, a beautiful little girlin Florida’s foster care system who was senselessly killed 12 years ago. The E. Clay Shaw Jr. Missing Children’s Assistance Reauthorization Act adds common-sense coordination and oversight rules that will facilitate protection of foster youth like Rilya.”

House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) said, “Not only will H.R. 3092 ensure the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children can continue its work on behalf of our most vulnerable citizens, the legislation will also encourage greater coordination between law enforcement and states, districts, and schools in the race to recover missing children.”

As passed by the House, the E. Clay Shaw Jr. Missing Children’s Assistance Reauthorization Act will:

• Support the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s current activities around providing technical assistance to law enforcement in coordinating with states and school districts to find and recover missing children; coordinate with state welfare agencies to find children missing from foster care; and identify and recover victims of (or those at risk for) child sex trafficking.

• Include educational stakeholders and homeless service providers in the list of recipients of Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) education and prevention activities.

• Require the national incidence studies on missing and exploited children be provided every three years (rather than periodically, as is currently written).

• Codify current OJJDP practice by limiting the use of federal funds for employee compensation.

• Authorize funding for the Act at $40 million for each of the five fiscal years (FY 2014-FY2018), with up to $32 million of that being used to carry out the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s responsibilities.

To learn more about H.R. 3092, click here.

###

Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson is a second-term Congresswoman from Florida representing parts of Northern Miami-Dade and Southeast Broward counties. A former state legislator and school principal, she is the founder of the 5000 Role Models for Excellence Project, a mentoring program for young males at risk of dropping out of school. Along with Congressman Bill Posey, Congresswoman Corrine Brown, and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, Congresswoman Wilson serves as founding Co-Chair of the Florida Ports Caucus, a bipartisan taskforce that coordinates federal action in support of Florida’s harbors and waterways.