A former Iowa congressman who ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996 and for governor in 1998 has been honored for his work to find missing children. Former Iowa Congressman Jim Ross Lightfoot has been named an “emeritus director” of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It’s an honorary position.

Lightfoot, a former Shenandoah broadcaster who now lives in Texas, has worked on the group’s board of directors for a decade. Lightfoot is V.P. of a company that sells some of the high-tech equipment used by forensics experts. He helped the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children set up a unit to help sexually-exploited children and their parents.

The CyberTipline Lightfoot helped establish has logged almost half-a-million tips. Lightfoot is currently vice president of government affairs at Forensic Technology, Incorporated. One of the nation’s 80 largest law firms also has Lightfoot on retainer as a government relations advisor.