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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 5771. Findings
The Congress finds that -
(1) each year thousands of children are abducted or removed
from the control of a parent having legal custody without such
parent's consent, under circumstances which immediately place the
child in grave danger;
(2) many missing children are at great risk of both physical
harm and sexual exploitation;
(3) in many cases, parents and local law enforcement officials
have neither the resources nor the expertise to mount expanded
search efforts;
(4) abducted children are frequently moved from one locality to
another, requiring the cooperation and coordination of local,
State, and Federal law enforcement efforts;
(5) the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children -
(A) serves as the national resource center and clearinghouse;
(B) works in partnership with the Department of Justice, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of the
Treasury, the Department of State, and many other agencies in
the effort to find missing children and prevent child
victimization; and
(C) operates a national and increasingly worldwide network,
linking the Center online with each of the missing children
clearinghouses operated by the 50 States, the District of
Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as with Scotland Yard in the
United Kingdom, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL
headquarters in Lyon, France, and others, which enable the
Center to transmit images and information regarding missing
children to law enforcement across the United States and around
the world instantly.
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