[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9523 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9523

  To provide for the hiring and training of certain personnel at the 
        Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 10, 2024

Ms. Lee of Florida (for herself, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Rutherford, 
and Mr. LaTurner) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the hiring and training of certain personnel at the 
        Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Renewed Hope Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. IMAGE AUDIO FORENSICS HIRING AND TRAINING PROGRAMS AT THE 
              DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

    (a) Additional Personnel.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
hire, train, and assign not fewer than--
            (1) 40 forensics analysts to the Victim Identification 
        Laboratory of the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit of 
        Homeland Security Investigations;
            (2) 30 child exploitation investigators to the Victim 
        Identification Laboratory of the Child Exploitation 
        Investigations Unit of Homeland Security Investigations; and
            (3) 130 additional forensics analysts and child 
        exploitation investigators to support identification and rescue 
        of victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse at offices of 
        the Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security 
        Investigations.
    (b) Employment of Experts and Consultants.--Section 890A of the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 473) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (i); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
    ``(g) Employment of Experts and Consultants.--
            ``(1) In general.--In accordance with section 3109 of title 
        5, United States Code, at daily rates not to exceed the 
        equivalent rate prescribed for grade GS-15 of the General 
        Schedule under section 5332 of such title, the Secretary may 
        procure by contract the temporary (not in excess of 1 year) or 
        intermittent services of experts or consultants to provide 
        image and audio forensic analysis related to victim 
        identification to support efforts to identify, locate, and 
        rescue children seen in abusive images and videos.
            ``(2) Placement.--The Secretary shall promulgate guidelines 
        for assigning or detailing participants to positions at the 
        Center, offices of the Special Agent in Charge, offices of the 
        Resident Agent in Charge, and Attache offices.''.

SEC. 3. DECONFLICTION OF CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE 
              INVESTIGATIONS WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 
              SECURITY.

    Section 890A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 473) is 
amended by inserting after subsection (a)(2) the following:
            ``(3) Coordination.--The Secretary shall, with the 
        concurrence of the directors of affected agencies within the 
        Department, establish joint procedures to deconflict, 
        coordinate, and synchronize child sexual exploitation 
        investigations with the Center.''.

SEC. 4. VICTIM IDENTIFICATION TRAINING PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish 
a Victim Identification Training Program (referred to in this section 
as the ``Program'') in the Cyber Crimes Center.
    (b) Program.--The Program shall provide training on new and 
advanced technology used to identify victims to--
            (1) Homeland Security Investigations personnel; and
            (2) Federal, State, local, Tribal, military, and foreign 
        law enforcement agency personnel engaged in the investigation 
        of child sexual exploitation and abuse within their respective 
        jurisdictions, upon request and subject to the availability of 
        funds.
    (c) Functions.--The functions of the Program shall include--
            (1) annual training for a minimum of 24 Homeland Security 
        Investigations special agents and analysts focused on--
                    (A) training on the most current tools and 
                techniques used in victim identification; and
                    (B) training on the capabilities of the Victim 
                Identification Laboratory; and
            (2) increasing personnel knowledge on how to conduct image, 
        audio, and video enhancements.
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