**The full Committee markup is available HERE, Kuster’s full remarks are available HERE**

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02), a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, helped advance her legislative amendment to ensure the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children can continue their critical joint work with law enforcement to recover missing children and combating online child exploitation as part of H.R. 8152, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act. This bill passed the Energy and Commerce Committee and now heads to the House Floor for passage.

“As we work to protect personal privacy and create safeguards to ensure Granite Staters are not being taken advantage of online, we must also prioritize the role of our law enforcement officers, especially when it comes to protecting children,” said Rep. Kuster, founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence. “I was proud to help introduce this bipartisan amendment to protect Granite State kids from exploitation online and to help child protection organizations as they work with law enforcement to protect missing and victimized children. I was glad to see this amendment included today and urge my colleagues to vote for this legislation and protect children and personal privacy across the country.”

"The working relationship the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is a crucial one,” said Lieutenant Eric Kinsman, Commander, NH ICAC Task Force. “CyberTips we receive from NCMEC initiate investigations which not only lead to the arrest and conviction of dangerous individuals but in many instances lead to the identification and rescue of innocent children who were forced to become victims."

“The growing presence of predators targeting and exploiting children online is alarming,” said Amanda Grady Sexton, Director of Public Affairs at the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. “We must do everything in our power to stop child exploitation and equip our law enforcement officers and child protection organizations with the tools and resources they need to hold perpetrators accountable and keep our kids safe. The amendment offered by Rep. Annie Kuster today will help achieve that goal right here in New Hampshire.”

Kuster’s amendment, introduced alongside Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), would:

• Create an exception for organizations dealing with missing and exploited children to ensure they can safely, securely, and legally continue to do their work and submit child victimization information to National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and law enforcement agencies. 

Kuster is a leader in Congress in protecting children from exploitation and abuse. Earlier this Congress, she reintroduced the END Child Exploitation Act, legislation designed to extend the period of time that technology companies are required to preserve information about child sexual abuse images they report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). 

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