FLOOR STATEMENT: Introducing the Recovering Missing Children Act

Wednesday, 25 May 2011 11:45

For the Congressional Record
May 25, 2011

Statement of Congressman Pete Stark Introducing the

Recovering Missing Children Act

MR. STARK: Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues and fellow Ways and Means members Erik Paulsen (R-MN) and Patrick Tiberi (R-OH), and my colleague Joe Courtney (D-CT), to introduce the Recovering Missing Children Act. Today, May 25th is National Missing Children’s Day. This legislation will help state and local law enforcement access the resources they need to bring missing children home safely.

Each year, more than 200,000 children are abducted by family members. These are usually not the stories that make national headlines, but the effects can be just as devastating. Even when there is a happy ending and young people are returned home, challenges remain. As one young woman who experienced a family abduction explains, “I had to get to know my mother from scratch, while at the same time dealing with my own prejudices and fear I had built up toward this stranger from years on the run and the negative messages from my father.”

In the case of a missing child, any information that might lead to the child’s return is crucial. Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department studied 1,700 parental abductions and found that in over one third of the cases, tax returns were filed using the missing child’s Social Security number. Hundreds of those tax returns had a new address for the child and the abductor. Tragically, law enforcement officers were not allowed access to this information.

The Recovering Missing Children Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to add the case of a missing or exploited child to the list of exceptions allowing the release of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax return information. The privacy of one’s IRS information is vital and must be protected. However, the law makes exceptions for the release of select information in specific cases, such as for child support enforcement, verifying information for Medicare benefits, or if someone has defaulted on a student loan. The chance to find a missing child and bring him or her home deserves such an exception.

The Recovering Missing Children Act requires a Federal court order for the release of this information to ensure that taxpayers’ rights to privacy are respected. It also limits the release of such information to only Federal, state and local law enforcement agents personally and directly involved in the investigation of a missing or exploited child. The vast majority of missing children cases are investigated by state and local law enforcement. They need all possible resources at their disposal to make sure these children are safe and home where they belong.

I urge my colleagues to stand with myself, Mr. Paulsen, Mr. Tiberi and Mr. Courtney on behalf of missing children and the law enforcement officers who diligently work for their safety. I ask for your support of the Recovering Missing Children Act.