The following press release was published by the U.S. Secret Service on April 30, 2003. It is reproduced in full below.

WASHINGTON, D.C. --On Wednesday, April 30, United States Secret Service DirectorRalph Basham issued the following statement on the signing of the Prosecutorial

Remedies and Tools Against the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (PROTECTAct).

"We are extremely pleased that our nations leaders recognize the importantcontributions that the United States Secret Service provides in investigations

involving missing and exploited children. With the passage and implementationof this bill, the Secret Service now has statutory jurisdiction to provide forensic

and investigative support upon request to both the National Center for Missingand Exploited Children and local law enforcement.

For 138 years, the Secret Service has been charged with protecting the integrity ofthe nation's financial systems. Since 1901, the agency has protected our nation'sleaders. As of March 1, our move to the new Department of Homeland Securityallows us to continue and enhance our contribution to the protection of ourhomeland. Now, with the PROTECT Act, Congress and the President haverecognized our efforts to safeguard another valuable resource -- our nation'schildren."

Source: U.S. Secret Service