National Child Identification Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1764 To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to State attorneys general to provide identification kits for missing children, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 10, 2021 Mr. NORCROSS (for himself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to State attorneys general to provide identification kits for miss- ing children, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Child Identi- 4 fication Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The proactive collection and central storage 8 of comprehensive identification information about in- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1764.IH H1764 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1764 IH dividual children by local, State, and Federal law en- 1 forcement agencies is resource intensive. 2 (2) The National Child Identification Program, 3 known as ‘‘Safety Blitz’’— 4 (A) is a national community service initia- 5 tive that has partnered with the Department of 6 Justice, Department of State, Federal Bureau 7 of Investigation, State attorneys general, local 8 law enforcement agencies, nonprofit organiza- 9 tions, and community organizations to provide 10 families with an inkless, in-home fingerprint 11 and DNA identification kit, which can be 12 turned over to law enforcement, by the parent 13 or guardian of a child to provide information on 14 a missing or trafficked child; and 15 (B) promotes the proactive collection and 16 storage of comprehensive identification informa- 17 tion within the home, decentralizing the process 18 for law enforcement agencies that often lack the 19 resources to collect and centrally store vital 20 identification information related to individual 21 children. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1764.IH H1764 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1764 IH SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PROVIDE IDENTIFICATION KITS FOR 1 MISSING CHILDREN. 2 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General is au- 3 thorized to award grants to State attorneys general to pro- 4 vide, for distribution to parents of children who attend 5 kindergarten or elementary school (as such term is defined 6 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 7 cation Act of 1965), inkless, in-home fingerprint and DNA 8 identification kits, which can be turned over to Federal, 9 State, tribal, or local law enforcement in an effort to locate 10 and return missing or trafficked children. 11 (b) APPLICATION.—A State attorney general seeking 12 a grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney 13 General an application at such time, in such manner, and 14 containing such information as the Attorney General may 15 reasonably require. 16 (c) GRANT AMOUNT.—Grants under this section shall 17 be allocated to each State in an amount which bears the 18 same ratio of— 19 (1) for fiscal year 2022— 20 (A) the population of children who attend 21 kindergarten or elementary school of the State 22 to— 23 (B) such population of all States; and 24 (2) for each of fiscal years 2023 through 25 2027— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1764.IH H1764 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1764 IH (A) the population described in paragraph 1 (1)(A) that were newly enrolled in school in 2 that State during the previous fiscal year to— 3 (B) such population of all States. 4 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 5 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— 6 (1) $52,800,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 7 (2) $9,800,000 each of fiscal years 2023 8 through 2027. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1764.IH H1764 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS