A resolution recognizing the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on its 40th anniversary.

Whereas 40 years ago John and Revé Walsh, along with other advocates for children, founded the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, whose mission is to serve as the leading nonprofit organization in the United States to help locate missing children and combat child sexual exploitation;

Whereas John and Revé Walsh’s son Adam was tragically murdered following an unconscionable abduction, leading them to a lifetime of advocacy on behalf of missing and exploited children;

Whereas, as a result of the tireless advocacy of the Walshes and countless others, in 1984, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was established to serve as the clearinghouse for information relating to missing and exploited children in the United States and as a resource for parents, children, and law enforcement;

Whereas, in 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Missing Children’s Assistance Act (34 U.S.C. 11291 et seq.), establishing a national resource center and clearinghouse for missing children, a role that the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was designated to fulfill;

Whereas the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, in coordination with Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies, provides a critical response to help in locating missing children, responds to reports of child sexual exploitation, and distributes posters of missing children to the public;

Whereas, over the last 40 years, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of over 448,000 children and has received 200,000,000 reports relating to suspected child sexual exploitation;

Whereas, since its founding, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has received more than 5,600,000 calls to its 24-hour call center;

Whereas, following an increase in reports relating to the online sexual exploitation of children, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children established its CyberTipline, which provides an online mechanism for members of the public and electronic service providers to report incidents of suspected online sexual exploitation;

Whereas, since its inception in 1998, the CyberTipline has received 200,000,000 reports of child sexual exploitation, which the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reviews and makes available to international, Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, for their review and handling;

Whereas, in 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children launched its Take It Down tool, a groundbreaking program that helps victims of online child sexual exploitation remove from the internet nude or sexually explicit photos and videos taken of them while under the age of 18;

Whereas, with the passage of the Missing Children’s Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2023 (Public Law 118–65; 138 Stat. 1439), on June 17, 2024, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was reauthorized to perform 16 programs of work, including—

Whereas, for over 40 years, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has been essential to combating the sexual exploitation of children in the United States and has served as a critical resource to children, parents, and law enforcement: Now, therefore, be it