The Department of Justice Web site that provides information on the AMBER alert program is off-line because of the federal government shutdown, but the program itself, which alerts communities to serious child abductions, is still up and running.

"It’s all functioning," Patti Davis, communications director for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said in an e-mail. "Only the DOJ Web site, which is informational, is down. The states run AMBER Alerts, and NCMEC does secondary alerts. Service has not been impacted. "

The AMBER Alert Program, which was named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman who was abducted while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Tex., uses radio, television, the Internet and road signs to assist law enforcement agencies in the search for abducted children.

Conservatives are criticizing the Obama administration for allowing the Web site to lapse -- accusing them of shuttering an essential service to make a political point about the shutdown.

Here's the front page of the Drudge Report, as of this posting: