Paulsen, Courtney Introduce Bill to Aid Investigations of Missing Children

Statement

Congressmen Erik Paulsen (MN-03) and Joe Courtney (CT-02) have introduced bipartisan legislation, the Recovering Missing Children Act, that will provide law enforcement with additional tools in their search for abducted children. This legislation will add the case of a missing child to the current list of circumstances under which the IRS may release tax information to investigating authorities.

More than 200,000 children are abducted every year by parents or other relatives. There is evidence that in a significant number of these cases, taxes were later filed using either the suspected perpetrator's or the missing child's social security number. According to one government report, a new address of residence is listed as often as 46% of the time -- potentially a case-breaking discovery. Despite this evidence being critical to an investigation, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is prohibited from providing the information to law enforcement. The Recovering Missing Children Act would address this problem by allowing the IRS to release tax information related to the case of a missing child if a federal court order is obtained.

"This commonsense legislation is about reuniting missing children with their families," said Congressman Paulsen. "We know that information exists to solve thousands of these cases if law enforcement was simply able to access it. We should give police and prosecutors this tool and bring these kids home."

"I am pleased to join my colleague, Rep. Erik Paulsen, to reintroduce the Recovering Missing Children Act," said Congressman Courtney. "Missing children cases are incredibly complex and challenging to solve, and providing law enforcement officials with access to information that can bring children home safely would be a small but important step for families going through the devastating experience of child abduction. I look forward to working with my colleagues to expand law enforcement resources to information that could help bring missing children home as quickly as possible."

The Recovering Missing Children Act has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the Major County Sheriff's Association (MCSA), the National Association of Police Officers (NAPO), and the Sergeants Benevolent Association.

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