September 26, 2008
Enough Is Enough® Applauds Senate Passage of The Protect Our Children Act
Enough Is Enough® Applauds Senate Passage of The Protect Our Children Act, S.1738
September 26, 2008
Washington, D.C.--Late last night, the United States Senate passed the Protect our Children Act (S.1738). This bipartisan legislation takes a bold step forward in addressing the growing problem of child exploitation by creating a strong nationwide network of highly trained law enforcement experts to track down these offenders and put them behind bars. The bill requires the Department of Justice to develop and implement a National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. In addition, the bill increases the number of federal agents focused on child exploitation and builds upon the critical Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program to ensure that we have at least one cyber unit in each state dedicated to these cases.
As amended, the Protect Our Children Act of 2008 will authorize $320.5 million over the next five years for:
- A National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction - In order to help develop a cohesive national effort to fight child exploitation on the Internet, this legislation will require the Department of Justice to develop and implement a national strategy to help garner our nation's collective resources to combat this growing problem.
- An ICAC Grant Program - The Attorney General will be required to establish a formula grant program for the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program, funded at $60 million per year for the next five years. This will ensure that local agencies have the additional resources necessary to create robust cyber units with highly trained investigators.
- Increased Forensic Capacity - $2 million per year to establish increased forensic capacity for child exploitation cases at the Regional Computer Forensic Labs (RCFL).