An amendment numbered 26 printed in the Congressional Record to create a national child abuse registry within the Department of Justice. The amendment also requires the Attorney General to work in consultation with the Secretary of HHS in creating the database.

1. Adds TITLE VI--NATIONAL REGISTER OF CASES OF CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT at the end of the bill

   Adds a title

   Inserted: TITLE VI--NATIONAL REGISTER OF CASES OF CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT

   Inserted: SEC. 601. NATIONAL REGISTER OF CASES OF CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT.

   Inserted: (a) In General.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall create a national register of cases of child abuse or neglect. The information in such register shall be supplied by States, or, at the option of a State, by political subdivisions of such State.

   Inserted: (b) Information.--The register described in subsection (a) shall collect in a central electronic database information on children reported to a State, or a political subdivision of a State, as abused or neglected.

   Inserted: (c) Scope of Information.--

   Inserted: (1) In general.--

   Inserted: (A) Treatment of reports.--The information to be provided to the Secretary of Health and Human Services under this section shall relate to substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect. Except as provided in subparagraph (B), each State, or, at the option of a State, each political subdivision of such State, shall determine whether the information to be provided to the Secretary of Health and Human Services under this section shall also relate to reports of suspected instances of child abuse or neglect that were unsubstantiated or determined to be unfounded.

   Inserted: (B) Exception.--If a State or political subdivision of a State has an equivalent electronic register of cases of child abuse or neglect that it maintains pursuant to a requirement or authorization under any other provision of law, the information provided to the Secretary of Health and Human Services under this section shall be coextensive with that in such register.

   Inserted: (2) Form.--Information provided to the Secretary of Health and Human Services under this section--

   Inserted: (A) shall be in a standardized electronic form determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; and

   Inserted: (B) shall contain case-specific identifying information, except that, at the option of the entity supplying the information, the confidentiality of identifying information concerning an individual initiating a report or complaint regarding a suspected or known instance of child abuse or neglect may be maintained.

   Inserted: (d) Construction.--This section shall not be construed to require a State or political subdivision of a State to modify--

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   Inserted: (1) an equivalent register of cases of child abuse or neglect that it maintains pursuant to a requirement or authorization under any other provision of law; or

   Inserted: (2) any other record relating to child abuse or neglect, regardless of whether the report of abuse or neglect was substantiated, unsubstantiated, or determined to be unfounded.

   Inserted: (e) Dissemination.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall establish standards for the dissemination of information in the national register of cases of child abuse or neglect. Such standards shall preserve the confidentiality of records in order to protect the rights of the child and the child's parents or guardians while also ensuring that Federal, State, and local government entities have access to such information in order to carry out their responsibilities under law to protect children from abuse and neglect.

   Inserted: (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006 and succeeding fiscal years.

   Original wording

   At the end of the bill add the following (and amend the table of contents accordingly):

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed