[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 22]
[House]
[Pages 31031-31038]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    PROTECT OUR CHILDREN ACT OF 2007

  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 3845) to establish a Special Counsel for Child 
Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction within the Office of the 
Deputy Attorney General, to improve the Internet Crimes Against 
Children Task Force, to increase resources for regional computer 
forensic labs, and to make other improvements to increase the ability 
of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute child 
predators, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3845

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Providing 
     Resources, Officers, and Technology to Eradicate Cyber 
     Threats to Our Children Act of 2007'' or the ``PROTECT Our 
     Children Act of 2007''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.

    TITLE I--SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR CHILD EXPLOITATION PREVENTION AND 
                              INTERDICTION

Sec. 101. Establishment of special counsel for child exploitation 
              prevention and interdiction.
Sec. 102. Establishment of National ICAC Task Force Program.
Sec. 103. Purpose of ICAC task forces.
Sec. 104. Duties and functions of task forces.
Sec. 105. National ICAC Data Network Center.
Sec. 106. ICAC grant program.
Sec. 107. Authorization of appropriations.

       TITLE II--ADDITIONAL MEASURES TO COMBAT CHILD EXPLOITATION

Sec. 201. Additional regional computer forensic labs.
Sec. 202. Additional field agents for the FBI.
Sec. 203. Immigrations and customs enforcement enhancement.
Sec. 204. Combating trafficking via the United States Postal Service.
Sec. 205. Accountability provisions for child exploitation prevention 
              and interdiction.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Internet has facilitated the growth of a multi-
     billion dollar global market for images and video of children 
     being sexually-displayed, raped, and tortured, far exceeding 
     the capacity of law enforcement to respond at the Federal, 
     State, and local level.
       (2) The explosion of child pornography trafficking is 
     claiming very young victims. Research by the Department of 
     Justice, the University of New Hampshire, and the National 
     Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicates that 
     among those arrested for possession of child pornography, 83 
     percent have images of children 6-12 years old, 39 percent 
     have images of children 3-5 years old, and 19 percent have 
     images of children under the age of 3 years old.
       (3) The images and videos being trafficked typically depict 
     sexual assaults that are both graphic and brutal. The 
     research described in paragraph (2) also indicates that 80 
     percent of known child pornography possessors have images of 
     children being sexually penetrated and 21 percent have images 
     depicting children bound, gagged, blindfolded, or ``otherwise 
     enduring sadistic sex.'' Just one percent of such possessors 
     restricted their collecting to images of simple child nudity.
       (4) Millions of children and teens in the United States are 
     at risk from sexual predators who are hunting, stalking, and 
     luring minors online. Along with the incredible access to the 
     world offered our children by the Internet, the Internet also 
     offers the world access to our children.
       (5) The Internet Crimes Against Children task forces at the 
     Department of Justice have identified millions of child 
     pornography transactions involving images and video of child 
     sexual assault from millions of computer IP addresses 
     worldwide.
       (6) The ICAC Program has been highly successful in creating 
     and sustaining an emerging national network of 59 Federal, 
     State, and local task forces in all 50 States, which form the 
     backbone of national readiness to combat child exploitation.
       (7) In testimony before Congress, law enforcement experts 
     have expressed consensus that lack of law enforcement 
     resources, including dedicated forensic analysis capacity, is 
     a severe problem at the Federal, State, and local level, 
     severely limiting the number of predators that can be 
     interdicted and children that can be identified and rescued.
       (8) The Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States 
     Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and the United States 
     Postal Inspection Service have each developed highly 
     specialized and successful child exploitation investigative 
     capabilities, yet these agencies have testified to Congress 
     that they must triage the overwhelming number of child 
     exploitation crimes and cannot investigate a large percentage 
     of known crimes.
       (9) Child pornography and online child enticement crimes 
     have among the highest conviction rates of any child sexual 
     offense, and the research funded by the Department of Justice 
     indicates that the majority of child pornography offenders 
     have committed or attempted direct sexual contact offenses 
     against children. Investigating and prosecuting these 
     predators is one of the most concrete and measurable 
     strategies for the prevention of future child sexual abuse.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
       (1) Child exploitation.--
       (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph (B), 
     the term ``child exploitation'' means any conduct, or an 
     attempt or conspiracy to commit such conduct, constituting 
     criminal sexual abuse of a minor, sexual exploitation of a 
     minor, abusive sexual contact of a minor, sexually explicit 
     conduct with a minor, or any similar offense under Federal or 
     State law.
       (B) Statutory rape exception.--The term ``child 
     exploitation'' shall not include sexual conduct involving a 
     minor if--
       (i) the minor involved in such conduct has attained 16 
     years of age or older;
       (ii) no other individual involved in such conduct is more 
     than 4 years older than such minor; and
       (iii) such conduct was consensual.
       (2) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means any person under the 
     age of 18 years.
       (3) Sexually explicit conduct.--The term ``sexually 
     explicit conduct'' has the meaning given such term in section 
     2256 of title 18, United States Code.

    TITLE I--SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR CHILD EXPLOITATION PREVENTION AND 
                              INTERDICTION

     SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR CHILD 
                   EXPLOITATION PREVENTION AND INTERDICTION.

       (a) In General.--The Attorney General shall appoint a 
     Special Counsel for Child Exploitation Prevention and 
     Interdiction within the Office of the Deputy Attorney 
     General.
       (b) Duties of the Special Counsel.--The Special Counsel 
     appointed under subsection (a) shall have the following 
     duties:
       (1) Coordinating the policies and strategies of the 
     Department of Justice related to the prevention and 
     investigation of child exploitation cases, including the 
     policies and strategies of the Office of Justice Programs, 
     the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, the 
     Executive Office of United States Attorneys, the Federal 
     Bureau of Investigation, and any other agency or bureau of 
     the Department of Justice whose activities relate to child 
     exploitation cases.
       (2) Pursuing memorandums of understanding or other 
     interagency agreements

[[Page 31032]]

     related to the prevention, investigation, and apprehension of 
     individuals exploiting children, including seeking 
     cooperation and collaboration with--
       (A) United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
       (B) the Department of State;
       (C) the Department of Commerce;
       (D) the Department of Education; and
       (E) other Federal agencies.
       (3) Coordinating and overseeing the ICAC Task Force Program 
     established under section 102.
       (4) Coordinating and overseeing the National Internet 
     Crimes Against Children Data Network Center established under 
     section 105.
       (5) Reviewing and approving the grants awarded by the ICAC 
     grant program as administered by the Office of Justice 
     Programs, including developing and approving the funding 
     formula established under section 106, after consultation 
     with the Office of Justice Programs.
       (6) Developing, providing, and coordinating technical 
     assistance and training for Federal, State, local, and tribal 
     law enforcement agencies related to the prevention, 
     investigation, and prosecution of child exploitation crimes.
       (7) Developing, providing, and coordinating training and 
     technical assistance to Federal, State, local, and tribal law 
     enforcement related to forensic computer examination and 
     analysis.
       (8) Developing and overseeing research programs related to 
     child exploitation prevention.
       (9) Directing and overseeing programs for child 
     exploitation prevention and education, including programs 
     related to Internet safety.
       (10) Maintaining liaison with the judicial branches of the 
     Federal and State Governments on matters relating to child 
     exploitation.
       (11) Providing information to the President, Congress, the 
     judiciary, State, local, and tribal governments, and the 
     general public on matters relating to child exploitation.
       (12) Serving, at the request of the Attorney General, as 
     the representative of the Department of Justice on domestic 
     task forces, committees, or commissions addressing policies 
     or issues relating to child exploitation.
       (13) Providing technical assistance, coordination, 
     training, and support to--
       (A) other components of the Department of Justice, in 
     efforts to develop policy and to enforce Federal laws 
     relating to child exploitation cases, including the 
     litigation of civil and criminal actions relating to 
     enforcing such laws;
       (B) other Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies, in 
     efforts to develop policy, provide technical assistance, and 
     improve coordination among agencies carrying out efforts to 
     eliminate child exploitation; and
       (C) grantees, in efforts to combat child exploitation and 
     to provide support and assistance to victims of such 
     exploitation.
       (c) Staff.--The Special Counsel appointed under subsection 
     (a) may hire or appoint such staff as may be required to 
     carry out the duties described in this section.

     SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL ICAC TASK FORCE PROGRAM.

       (a) Establishment.--There is established within the 
     Department of Justice, under the general authority of the 
     Attorney General, a National Internet Crimes Against Children 
     Task Force (hereinafter in this title referred to as the 
     ``ICAC Task Force''), which shall consist of a national 
     program of State and local law enforcement task forces 
     dedicated to developing effective responses to online 
     enticement of children by sexual predators, child 
     exploitation, and child obscenity and pornography cases.
       (b) National Program.--The National ICAC Task Force Program 
     established under subsection (a) shall include at least one 
     ICAC task force in each State.

     SEC. 103. PURPOSE OF ICAC TASK FORCES.

       The National ICAC Task Force Program, and each State or 
     local ICAC task force that is part of the national program of 
     task forces, shall be dedicated towards--
       (1) increasing the investigative capabilities of State and 
     local law enforcement officers in the detection, 
     investigation, and apprehension of Internet crimes against 
     children offenses or offenders, including technology-
     facilitated child exploitation offenses;
       (2) conducting proactive and reactive Internet crimes 
     against children investigations;
       (3) providing training and technical assistance to ICAC 
     task forces and other Federal, State, and local law 
     enforcement agencies in the areas of investigations, 
     forensics, prosecution, community outreach, and capacity-
     building, using recognized experts to assist in the 
     development and delivery of training programs;
       (4) increasing the number of Internet crimes against 
     children offenses being investigated and prosecuted in both 
     Federal and State courts;
       (5) creating a multiagency task force response to Internet 
     crimes against children offenses within each State;
       (6) enhancing nationwide responses to Internet crimes 
     against children offenses, including assisting other ICAC 
     task forces, as well as other Federal, State, and local 
     agencies with Internet crimes against children investigations 
     and prosecutions;
       (7) developing and delivering Internet crimes against 
     children public awareness and prevention programs; and
       (8) participating in such other activities, both proactive 
     and reactive, that will enhance investigations and 
     prosecutions of Internet crimes against children.

     SEC. 104. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF TASK FORCES.

       Each State or local ICAC task force that is part of the 
     national program of task forces shall--
       (1) consist of State and local investigators, prosecutors, 
     forensic specialists, and education specialists who are 
     dedicated to addressing the goals of such task force;
       (2) work consistently towards achieving the purposes 
     described in section 103;
       (3) engage in proactive investigations, forensic 
     examinations, and effective prosecutions of Internet crimes 
     against children;
       (4) provide forensic, preventive, and investigative 
     assistance to parents, educators, prosecutors, law 
     enforcement, and others concerned with Internet crimes 
     against children;
       (5) develop multijurisdictional, multiagency responses and 
     partnerships to Internet crimes against children offenses 
     through ongoing informational, administrative, and 
     technological support to other State and local law 
     enforcement agencies, as a means for such agencies to acquire 
     the necessary knowledge, personnel, and specialized equipment 
     to investigate and prosecute such offenses;
       (6) participate in nationally coordinated investigations in 
     any case in which the Attorney General determines such 
     participation to be necessary, as permitted by the available 
     resources of such task force;
       (7) establish or adopt investigative and prosecution 
     standards, consistent with established norms, to which such 
     task force shall comply;
       (8) investigate, and seek prosecution on, tips related to 
     Internet crimes against children, including tips from other 
     law enforcement agencies, ICAC task forces, the National 
     Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and other Federal, 
     State, and local agencies;
       (9) develop procedures for handling seized evidence;
       (10) maintain such reports and records as are required 
     under this title; and
       (11) seek to comply with national standards regarding the 
     investigation and prosecution of Internet crimes against 
     children, as set forth by the Attorney General, to the extent 
     such standards are consistent with the law of the State where 
     the task force is located.

     SEC. 105. NATIONAL ICAC DATA NETWORK CENTER.

       (a) In General.--The Attorney General shall establish a 
     National Internet Crimes Against Children Data Network 
     Center.
       (b) Purpose of Center.--The National Internet Crimes 
     Against Children Data Network Center established under 
     subsection (a) shall be dedicated to assisting--
       (1) the National ICAC Task Force Program established under 
     this title; and
       (2) Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies 
     investigating and prosecuting child exploitation.
       (c) Mandatory Requirements for Center.--The National 
     Internet Crimes Against Children Data Network Center 
     established under subsection (a) shall develop and maintain 
     an integrated technology and training program that provides--
       (1) a secure system enabling online communication and 
     collaboration by ICAC task forces, Federal law enforcement 
     agencies, and other State and local law enforcement agencies 
     regarding ongoing investigations;
       (2) a secure, online system for resolving case conflicts, 
     for use by ICAC task forces, Federal law enforcement 
     agencies, and other State and local law enforcement agencies;
       (3) a secure data storage and analysis system for use by 
     ICAC task forces, Federal law enforcement agencies, and other 
     State and local law enforcement agencies;
       (4) guidelines for the use of such Data Network by Federal, 
     State, and local law enforcement agencies; and
       (5) training and technical assistance on the use of such 
     Data Network by Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
     agencies.
       (d) ICAC Data Network Steering Committee.--The Attorney 
     General shall establish an ICAC Data Network Center Steering 
     Committee to provide guidance to the Center relating to the 
     program under subsection (c), and to assist in the 
     development of strategic plans for the Center. The Steering 
     Committee shall consist of 9 members with expertise in child 
     exploitation prevention and interdiction prosecution, 
     investigation, or prevention, including--
       (1) 3 representatives elected by the local directors of the 
     ICAC task forces;
       (2) 1 representative from the law enforcement agency having 
     primary responsibility for hosting and maintaining the ICAC 
     Data Network;
       (3) 1 representative of the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation's Innocent Images National Initiative or 
     Regional Computer Forensic Lab program;
       (4) 1 representative of the Immigration and Customs 
     Enforcement's Cyber Crimes Center;

[[Page 31033]]

       (5) 1 representative of the United States Postal Inspection 
     Service;
       (6) 1 representative of the Department of Justice's Child 
     Exploitation and Obscenity Section or a United States 
     Attorney's Office; and
       (7) 1 representative appointed by the Special Counsel for 
     Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction.
       (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 
     2016, $2,000,000 to carry out the provisions of this section, 
     including for--
       (1) the establishment of the National Internet Crimes 
     Against Children Data Network Center; and
       (2) the costs of operating and maintaining such Center.

     SEC. 106. ICAC GRANT PROGRAM.

       (a) Establishment.--
       (1) In general.--The Office of Justice Programs, in 
     consultation with the Special Counsel for Child Exploitation 
     Prevention and Interdiction, is authorized to award grants to 
     State and local ICAC task forces to assist in carrying out 
     the duties and functions described under section 104.
       (2) Formula grants.--
       (A) Development of formula.--At least 75 percent of the 
     total funds appropriated to carry out this section shall be 
     available to award or otherwise distribute grants pursuant to 
     a funding formula established by the Office of Justice 
     Programs, in consultation with the Special Counsel for Child 
     Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, in accordance with 
     the requirements in subparagraph (B).
       (B) Formula requirements.--Any formula established by the 
     Office of Justice Programs, in consultation with the Special 
     Counsel for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, 
     under subparagraph (A) shall--
       (i) ensure that each State or local ICAC task force shall, 
     at a minimum, receive an amount equal to 0.5 percent of the 
     funds available to award or otherwise distribute grants under 
     subparagraph (A); and
       (ii) take into consideration the following factors:

       (I) The population of each State, as determined by the most 
     recent decennial census performed by the Bureau of the 
     Census.
       (II) The number of investigative leads within the 
     applicant's jurisdiction generated by the ICAC Data Network, 
     the Cyber Tipline, and other sources.
       (III) The number of criminal cases related to Internet 
     crimes against children referred to a task force for Federal, 
     State, or local prosecution.
       (IV) The number of successful prosecutions of child 
     exploitation cases by a task force.
       (V) The amount of training, technical assistance, and 
     public education or outreach by a task force related to the 
     prevention, investigation, or prosecution of child 
     exploitation offenses.
       (VI) Such other criteria as the Attorney General determines 
     demonstrate the level of need for additional resources by a 
     task force.

       (3) Distribution of remaining funds based on need.--
       (A) In general.--Any funds remaining from the total funds 
     appropriated to carry out this section after funds have been 
     made available to award or otherwise distribute formula 
     grants under paragraph (2)(A) shall be distributed to State 
     and local ICAC task forces based upon need, as set forth by 
     criteria established by the Office of Justice Programs, in 
     consultation with the Special Counsel for Child Exploitation 
     Prevention and Interdiction. Such criteria shall include the 
     factors under paragraph (2)(B)(ii).
       (B) Matching requirement.--A State or local ICAC task force 
     shall contribute matching non-Federal funds in an amount 
     equal to not less than 25 percent of the amount of funds 
     received by the State or local ICAC task force under 
     subparagraph (A) of this paragraph. A State or local ICAC 
     task force that is not able or willing to contribute matching 
     funds in accordance with this subparagraph shall not be 
     eligible for funds under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
       (b) Application.--
       (1) In general.--Each State or local ICAC task force 
     seeking a grant under this section shall submit an 
     application to the Attorney General at such time, in such 
     manner, and accompanied by such information as the Attorney 
     General may reasonably require.
       (2) Contents.--Each application submitted pursuant to 
     paragraph (1) shall--
       (A) describe the activities for which assistance under this 
     section is sought; and
       (B) provide such additional assurances as the Attorney 
     General determines to be essential to ensure compliance with 
     the requirements of this title.
       (c) Allowable Uses.--Grants awarded under this section may 
     be used to--
       (1) hire personnel, investigators, prosecutors, education 
     specialists, and forensic specialists;
       (2) establish and support forensic laboratories utilized in 
     Internet crimes against children investigations;
       (3) support investigations and prosecutions of Internet 
     crimes against children;
       (4) conduct and assist with education programs to help 
     children and parents protect themselves from Internet 
     predators;
       (5) conduct and attend training sessions related to 
     successful investigations and prosecutions of Internet crimes 
     against children; and
       (6) fund any other activities directly related to 
     preventing, investigating, or prosecuting Internet crimes 
     against children.
       (d) Reporting Requirements.--
       (1) ICAC reports.--To measure the results of the activities 
     funded by grants under this section, and to assist the 
     Attorney General in complying with the Government Performance 
     and Results Act (Public Law 103-62; 107 Stat. 285), each 
     State or local ICAC task force receiving a grant under this 
     section shall, on an annual basis, submit a report to the 
     Attorney General that sets forth the following:
       (A) Staffing levels of the task force, including the number 
     of investigators, prosecutors, education specialists, and 
     forensic specialists dedicated to investigating and 
     prosecuting Internet crimes against children.
       (B) Investigation and prosecution performance measures of 
     the task force, including--
       (i) the number of investigations initiated related to 
     Internet crimes against children;
       (ii) the number of arrests related to Internet crimes 
     against children;
       (iii) the number of prosecutions for Internet crimes 
     against children, including--

       (I) whether the prosecution resulted in a conviction for 
     such crime; and
       (II) the sentence and the statutory maximum for such crime 
     under State law.

       (C) The number of referrals made by the task force to the 
     United States Attorneys office, including whether the 
     referral was accepted by the United States Attorney.
       (D) Statistics that account for the disposition of 
     investigations that do not result in arrests or prosecutions, 
     such as referrals to other law enforcement.
       (E) The number of investigative technical assistance 
     sessions that the task force provided to nonmember law 
     enforcement agencies.
       (F) The number of computer forensic examinations that the 
     task force completed.
       (G) The number of law enforcement agencies participating in 
     Internet crimes against children program standards 
     established by the task force.
       (2) Report to congress.--Not later than 1 year after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 
     submit a report to Congress on--
       (A) the progress of the development of the ICAC Task Forces 
     established under this title; and
       (B) the number of Federal and State investigations, 
     prosecutions, and convictions in the prior 12-month period 
     related to child exploitation.

     SEC. 107. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
     carry out this title--
       (1) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2009;
       (2) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2010;
       (3) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2011;
       (4) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2012;
       (5) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2013;
       (6) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2014;
       (7) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; and
       (8) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2016.
       (b) Availability.--Funds appropriated under subsection (a) 
     shall remain available until expended.

       TITLE II--ADDITIONAL MEASURES TO COMBAT CHILD EXPLOITATION

     SEC. 201. ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COMPUTER FORENSIC LABS.

       (a) Additional Resources.--The Attorney General shall 
     establish additional computer forensic capacity to address 
     the current backlog for computer forensics, including for 
     child exploitation investigations. The Attorney General may 
     utilize funds under this title to establish new regional 
     computer forensic laboratories within the Regional Computer 
     Forensic Laboratories Program operated by the Federal Bureau 
     of Investigation or may increase capacity at existing 
     laboratories.
       (b) New Computer Forensic Labs.--If the Attorney General 
     determines that new regional computer forensic laboratories 
     are needed under subsection (a) to address existing backlogs, 
     such new laboratories shall be established pursuant to 
     subsection (d).
       (c) Purpose of New Resources.--The additional forensic 
     capacity established by the resources provided under this 
     section shall prioritize its activities to assist Federal 
     agencies, State and local Internet Crimes Against Children 
     task forces, and other Federal, State, and local law 
     enforcement agencies in preventing, investigating, and 
     prosecuting Internet crimes against children.
       (d) Location of New Labs.--The location of any new regional 
     computer forensic laboratories under this section shall be 
     determined by the Attorney General, in consultation with the 
     Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Regional 
     Computer Forensic Laboratory National Steering Committee, and 
     other relevant stakeholders.
       (e) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, and every year thereafter, the 
     Attorney General shall submit a report to the Congress on how 
     the funds appropriated under this section were utilized.
       (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated for

[[Page 31034]]

     fiscal years 2009 through 2016, $7,000,000 to carry out the 
     provisions of this section.

     SEC. 202. ADDITIONAL FIELD AGENTS FOR THE FBI.

       (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
     the Attorney General $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 
     2009 through 2016 to fund the hiring of full-time Federal 
     Bureau of Investigation field agents and associated analysts 
     and support staff in addition to the number of such employees 
     serving in those capacities on the date of enactment of this 
     Act.
       (b) Sole Purpose.--The sole purpose of the additional staff 
     required to be hired under subsection (a) is to work on child 
     exploitation cases as part of the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation's Innocent Images National Initiative.

     SEC. 203. IMMIGRATIONS AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT ENHANCEMENT.

       (a) Additional Agents.--There are authorized to be 
     appropriated to the Secretary of Homeland Security 
     $15,000,000, for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2016, 
     to fund the hiring of full-time agents and associated 
     analysts and support staff within the Bureau of Immigration 
     and Customs Enforcement in addition to the number of such 
     employees serving in those capacities on the date of 
     enactment of this Act.
       (b) Sole Purpose.--The sole purpose of the additional staff 
     required to be hired under subsection (a) is to work on child 
     exploitation and child obscenity cases.

     SEC. 204. COMBATING TRAFFICKING VIA THE UNITED STATES POSTAL 
                   SERVICE.

       (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
     the Postmaster General $5,000,000, for each of the fiscal 
     years 2009 through 2016, to fund the hiring of full-time 
     agents and associated analysts and support staff in addition 
     to the number of such employees serving in those capacities 
     on the date of enactment of this Act.
       (b) Sole Purpose.--The sole purpose of the additional staff 
     required to be hired under subsection (a) is to work on child 
     exploitation and child obscenity cases.

     SEC. 205. ACCOUNTABILITY PROVISIONS FOR CHILD EXPLOITATION 
                   PREVENTION AND INTERDICTION.

       The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of 
     Homeland Security and the Postmaster General, shall report to 
     the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and House of 
     Representatives and any other relevant committee of 
     jurisdiction, on an annual basis, on the resources (agents, 
     forensic labs, prosecutors, etc.) being utilized by such 
     agencies to investigate and prosecute child exploitation and 
     child obscenity cases, including the resources established 
     under this title, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety 
     Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-248; 120 Stat. 587), and any 
     other law related to combating child exploitation and child 
     obscenity.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Goodlatte) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, just last week we learned that police arrested a senior 
executive at the National Children's Museum right here in Washington, 
DC, for distributing child pornography over the Internet. This headline 
floored me, but it is a good example of a problem that has gotten 
completely out of control.
  The Internet has facilitated an exploding multibillion dollar market 
for child pornography. Tragically, the demand for this criminal market 
can only be supplied by graphic new images, and these can only be 
supplied through the sexual assault of more children. I rise today to 
urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3845, the PROTECT Our Children Act 
of 2007.
  This bill addresses an issue that is central to the goals of Speaker  
Nancy Pelosi and the New Direction Congress, and one that should be at 
the top of everyone's agenda, the protection of our children. Our 
children deserve a future that is healthy, prosperous, safe, and 
bright, but our children are vulnerable when they are on line. If this 
bill becomes law, we have the potential to save many thousands of 
children from sexual abuse and exploitation.
  I want to start by thanking my friend and colleague, Joe Barton of 
Texas, for working with me on this bipartisan legislation, and for his 
counsel, his very good counsel, as the lead Republican sponsor of the 
bill.
  In the last Congress, Congressman Barton, then the chairman of the 
Energy and Commerce Committee, conducted a series of hearings on this 
topic. Not only did those hearings expose the dearth of Federal 
resources devoted to investigating and prosecuting child exploitation 
crimes, but they also brought together an extraordinary group of 
parents who formed an organization called the Surviving Parents 
Coalition. In June of this year, I had the opportunity to visit with 
this very special group of parents.
  When I sat down with Mark Lunsford, Erin Runnion, Ed Smart, Marc 
Klaas, Mary Kozakiewicz, and other founders of the Surviving Parents 
Coalition, I was not prepared for what they had to tell me. They shared 
with me their own horrific stories of how their children were abducted 
by sexual predators. As we all know, some of these children will never 
come home. As the mother of three young children myself, their stories 
broke my heart, and as a Member of Congress I felt compelled to act.
  What surprised me most about these brave parents was their message 
about child pornography and child exploitation. What they said was 
this: If you want to prevent predators from hurting other children like 
ours, the way to do that is to go back through the Internet and get 
them.
  As we learned last month with the apprehension of a child predator in 
Las Vegas, Nevada, for the first time we have the technology and the 
evidence not only to find these predators, we have the technology to 
rescue their victims as well. A 2005 Justice Department study found 
that 80 percent of child pornography possessors have images and videos 
of children being sexually penetrated. Another 21 percent possess 
images of bondage, sadistic abuse, and torture. The children depicted 
in these photos are very young. Eighty-three percent of child 
pornography possessors have images of children younger than 12, and 
another 19 percent possess images of infants and toddlers. There are 
even Web sites that provide live pay-per-view rape of very young 
children.
  Let me be clear. This is not about obscenity or pornography; these 
images are crime scene photos, created by a thriving industry that uses 
children as a sexual commodity.

                              {time}  1615

  I want to thank Chairman John Conyers for holding a hearing on 
Internet predators in October. At that hearing, Special Agent Flint 
Waters of the Wyoming State Police, a highly respected child 
exploitation investigator, testified that right now there are nearly 
500,000 identified individuals in the United States trafficking child 
pornography on the Internet. That's half a million people right here in 
the United States. And law enforcement knows who they are, and they 
know where they are.
  But what shocked me the most and what compelled me to get involved in 
this issue is that, due to a lack of resources, law enforcement is 
investigating less than 2 percent of these known 500,000 individuals. 
Less than 2 percent.
  What was even more shocking is that it is estimated that if we were 
to investigate these cases, we could actually rescue child victims 
nearly 30 percent of the time.
  It is clear that our current efforts are not working. We need a 
national campaign with everyone joining the fight: that means the full 
weight of law enforcement, the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children, Congress, the executive branch, parents and victims 
advocacy groups and Internet service providers.
  Alicia Kozakiewicz, whose testimony at the October Judiciary hearing 
moved us all, is a living, breathing reminder of the lives that we can 
save. Alicia is not just a victim; she is a survivor.
  Alicia told us how over a period of months she was groomed by a 45-
year-

[[Page 31035]]

old predator pretending to be a teenage girl. When Alicia, who was 13 
years old at the time, agreed to meet her cyberfriend in real life, he 
kidnapped her from her suburban Pittsburgh driveway and held her 
captive in his Virginia dungeon, where he performed unspeakable sexual 
acts upon her day after day and broadcast it over the Internet. Just 
when Alicia told us she had given up all hope, she was finally rescued 
by FBI agents. The FBI found her because the Virginia Internet Crimes 
Against Children task force, or ICAC, had the technology to lift the 
digital fingerprints of this perpetrator's crime and to discover the 
location where he held her captive, chained to the floor.
  The PROTECT Our Children Act will help provide the safety net we so 
desperately need by creating statutory authority for these highly 
successful ICAC task forces which support State and local law 
enforcement agencies. It will supplement this local effort with 
hundreds of new Federal agents who will be solely dedicated to crimes 
against children. It will also provide desperately needed forensic 
crime and computer labs so agents can uncover troves of electronic 
evidence, locate these perpetrators, and bring them to justice.
  Finally, the bill will create a special counsel within the Department 
of Justice who will be responsible for planning and coordinating our 
child exploitation prosecution efforts across the Federal agencies.
  At the October Judiciary Committee hearing, a representative from the 
FBI told us two things, Mr. Speaker, that boggled my mind. First, he 
told us that the number of agents being exclusively assigned to these 
cases is actually shrinking; and, second, that they are giving millions 
of dollars that Congress has appropriated to combat child pornography 
to programs that have nothing to do with child protection. Should we be 
shrinking critical staffing power and diverting badly needed funds at a 
time when we are investigating less than 2 percent of known traffickers 
of child pornography? We can do better, and we must do better.
  Mr. Speaker, the time has come to reorder priorities at the 
Department of Justice, and the PROTECT Our Children Act will do just 
that. Our mandate here is clear: we must prevent predators from hurting 
our children.
  Again, I want to thank Ranking Member Barton for his leadership, his 
concern, and his compassion for our children and their safety, not just 
on this issue but on the Pool Safety bill that we worked together in 
the 109th and the 110th Congress, and I truly appreciate his leadership 
and effort on this bill and many others.
  Mr. Speaker, this is what Congress can do when we come together in a 
bipartisan fashion. And maybe it's our children that can be the 
catalyst for the change that we need in America.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the majority has decided to promote 
politics rather than fully protecting our Nation's children. In its 
last-minute rush to bring bills to the floor, the majority has selected 
five bills addressing the problem of sex offenders on the Internet and 
Internet safety for children. These bills were never considered by the 
Judiciary Committee, never subject to legislative hearings, and never 
brought through the markup process.
  In addition, the majority failed to address concerns that the 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Justice 
Department expressed. To ignore the concerns of these major 
stakeholders is no way to legislate when it comes to the safety of our 
children.
  Why did the majority avoid the Judiciary Committee process? For one 
reason, they knew the amendments we would offer at the committee would 
gain bipartisan support. Again, avoiding amendments that both parties 
would support is no way to protect our children.
  Even on the substance, the majority's bills ignore the needs of law 
enforcement. At a full committee oversight hearing on October 17, 2007, 
the majority heard from law enforcement and the Justice Department 
about specific tools needed to protect children. The testimony at the 
hearing underscored the need to give law enforcement flexible tools 
necessary to protect children and apprehend sex offenders.
  Instead of working to produce a strong bill that responds to law 
enforcement's requests, the majority has bypassed the normal committee 
process and brought an incomplete bill to the floor.
  Last Congress we passed landmark child protection legislation, the 
Adam Walsh Act of 2006, which combined new tools, new authorities, 
additional programs, and important requirements on the registration and 
notification requirements for sex offenders. This legislation was 
developed through bipartisan cooperation, subject to full Judiciary 
Committee markup, extensive testimony on legislative proposals, and 
consultation with the NCMEC, and the Justice Department. In stark 
contrast, the majority has failed to meet these basic requirements in 
developing new child protection legislation.
  H.R. 3845 is replete with problems. For example, the bill creates a 
super-bureaucratic special counsel in the Justice Department and 
charges that counsel with coordinating all child protection efforts 
across the Federal Government.
  The special prosecutor duplicates existing offices within the 
Department of Justice with the expertise to prosecute child crimes 
cases and administer the ICAC grant program.
  The innumerable responsibilities of this new special prosecutor 
require expertise across so many issues, prosecution, policy, and grant 
administration, just to name a few, that no one person can fulfill this 
role. The bill in fact acknowledges this by directing the creation of 
an entirely new office within the office of the Deputy Attorney 
General, creating yet another layer of bureaucracy in Washington. This 
eats up precious resources, rather than sending them to our 
neighborhoods and communities.
  Moreover, the bill places approval for all ICAC grants with the new 
special prosecutor, a role traditionally held by the Office of Justice 
Programs. Why? We don't know. We have been presented no evidence to 
suggest that the Department's performance in administering grants to 
existing ICAC task forces is somehow flawed.
  It is sad to see that our children's safety is being sacrificed for 
the benefits of a quick press hit. While the bill has some good 
provisions, much more could have been done.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield as much time 
as he may consume to the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee, Mr. Conyers.
  Mr. CONYERS. I'm hoping that the discussion and the presentation by 
my good friend, Mr. Goodlatte, does not indicate that he is opposed to 
the substance of this measure and that his remarks were generated 
around the process, the procedure, because I'm sure he worked on the 
Adam Walsh bill, and here, to me, is another important step forward on 
that. And so we look forward to his continued support.
  Now, with reference to process, that's a little bit more sensitive 
issue, because, you know me, I don't like to bring up things that sound 
partisan. But you guys avoided more process in the Judiciary Committee 
than we ever have in the 110th Congress. So I've got a long record of 
it.
  But we don't want to get off the track here. This isn't about 
process. But I've got some not-complimentary statistics about the way 
we've operated in the past. And I've had good relationships with all 
the Republican, it almost seems like forever, chairmen of the Judiciary 
Committee that have preceded us for this last 12 years.
  But what our floor manager Debbie Wasserman Schultz is talking about 
now is something for which there can be no disagreement. We've got to 
get these Internet sex predators out of business. And that's what this 
measure does. It does it well. I don't know how much more benefited 
anybody would be if we had gone any different direction.

[[Page 31036]]

  We're under a little duress now. We've got measures on top of 
measures. The scheduling is getting horrific. But I commend the 
gentlelady and the members of the committee on both sides of the aisle 
that have worked with her in pursuance of this legislation to get it to 
the floor today.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to respond 
briefly to the distinguished chairman, for whom I have great respect. 
And when bills do go through the process of the Judiciary Committee, 
the chairman has been most fair to us on our side of the aisle. And the 
previous chairman, Mr. Sensenbrenner on our side of the aisle, was also 
very dedicated to fulfilling that process. In fact, that indeed is what 
took place with regard to the Adam Walsh legislation, which was moved 
through the process of the committee. I only wish the same thing had 
been done here. It would have enabled us to have produced a much, much 
better piece of legislation that would more effectively protect our 
children.
  At this time, it is my pleasure to recognize the distinguished 
ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Barton), for such time as he may consume.
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. I thank the distinguished gentleman from 
Virginia, the former chairman of the Agriculture Committee, one of the 
senior members of the Judiciary Committee.
  I want to, in a somewhat milder vein, share the concerns that Mr. 
Goodlatte shared about the process. When I agreed to be the principal 
Republican sponsor of this legislation, I asked and was told that there 
would be a committee markup in the Judiciary Committee and that there 
would be amendments made in order. So I was a little bit surprised last 
week to find that this was going to be on the Suspension Calendar and 
expressed that surprise to Ms. Wasserman Schultz and her staff.
  Having said that, there have been bipartisan discussions, 
negotiations. There have been changes made in the bill as originally 
introduced. It is a good bill. And I am proud to be the senior 
Republican sponsor.
  This bill needs to be passed. I will agree with Mr. Goodlatte that 
it's not a perfect bill, and I'll agree that had there been a committee 
markup or a subcommittee markup and a bipartisan markup amendment 
process, some of the issues would have been addressed a little bit 
differently. I'll agree with that.
  But having said that, let's look at what's positive in the bill. And 
let's compare the bill to current law. There are over 3 million images 
of child pornography on the Internet right now. Three million. And in 
the last Congress, as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, 
under my direct request as chairman, the Oversight and Investigations 
Subcommittee held nine hearings on the problem of Internet child 
pornography. And it's more than a problem. It is a vicious, malicious, 
virus, viral disease that has the potential to destroy our children. 
And at some point in time we have to do something. And this bill, the 
PROTECT bill that's before us this afternoon, is a good first start.
  We found out in our hearings last year that the various State and 
Federal agencies didn't have enough resources. We found out that they 
didn't coordinate. And so this bill before us, as my good friend, Mr. 
Goodlatte, has pointed out, it does set up a new special counsel office 
in the Justice Department. And normally that would probably not be a 
good thing to do. But in this case, given the lack of coordination 
under current law, at a minimum, I think it's acceptable. And I 
personally think that it's commendable.

                              {time}  1630

  We give additional resources. Not one witness in our hearings last 
year said that there were sufficient financial resources. The bill 
before us authorizes, over the course of the next 8 years, over 1 
billion additional dollars to fight this infestation of child 
pornography. It sets up an additional $400 million to increase funding 
over the next 8 years for the Federal law enforcement agencies: the 
FBI's Innocent Images Unit, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and 
the United States Postal Service. These are the Federal agencies that 
are at the forefront in investigating Internet child pornography.
  The bill also authorizes increased funding for new forensic computer 
laboratories. One of the things that we found out is that there just 
wasn't enough law enforcement laboratory capability in terms of 
forensics to track down the information that was being provided by the 
agents in the field. This bill recommends and authorizes an additional 
$7 million each year for 2008 through 2015 for new national forensic 
computer laboratories.
  We also found out, as I pointed out, that some of these task forces 
that have been set up and are well intentioned simply didn't have the 
resources that they needed. So the bill before us authorizes over $600 
million over the next 8 years on a staggered basis for these Internet 
Crimes Against Children, or ICAC, task forces. That is a huge 
improvement over the current situation, and I don't think any Member of 
Congress is going to oppose that.
  This bill provides additional funding for Federal and State law 
enforcement, greater coordination of the overall United States law 
enforcement effort at both the State, Federal, and local level. It 
establishes a Special Counsel office that I have already talked about. 
And I want to comment on that.
  I agree with what Mr. Goodlatte said that the current task force in 
the current system in terms of allocating resources is doing an 
acceptable job. So the Special Counsel will coordinate with them. The 
Special Counsel will have the ability to sign off, but it doesn't have 
the ability to unilaterally decide where these additional funds are 
going to go for the very reasons that Mr. Goodlatte said in his 
statement a few minutes ago.
  The bill before us brings additional resources that are vitally 
needed to the fight against the scourge of child pornography on the 
Internet. Almost all of us have children or grandchildren. And when you 
go on the Internet today and you type in www.snowwhite.com, you may 
well get a pornographic child pornography site. Now, that's 
unacceptable. It's unacceptable to every Member on both sides of the 
aisle and both sides of the other body, our friends on the other side 
of this Capitol.
  This bill before us may not be a perfect bill, but it is time to act. 
It is a good start. Anything can be improved.
  Again, I respect the process questions that have been raised. I have 
some of those same questions about some issues under the committee that 
I serve on as jurisdiction. But in this case it really is time to 
protect our children. It really is time to move forward. And if we have 
a roll call vote, I hope every Member of the House of Representatives 
votes ``yes'' on the PROTECT Act because it is a huge step forward in 
protecting our children.
  I thank my good friend Mr. Goodlatte for yielding to me.
  Thank you, Congresswoman Wasserman-Schultz, for your hard work and 
dedication to this bill.
  Almost 2 years ago, the Energy and Commerce Committee began a wide-
ranging investigation of Internet child pornography. During our 
investigation, we had nine hearings and interviewed numerous witnesses 
involved in the fight against child sexual exploitation: Federal and 
local law enforcement, Federal and local prosecutors, victims, 
educators, Internet service providers, and financial institutions.
  This investigation helped expose the epidemic that is Internet child 
pornography. At that time, we learned that the Internet contained 
approximately three million images of child pornography. Law 
enforcement testified to the Committee that the images were becoming 
increasingly violent in nature, and that the victims in the photos were 
getting younger, some as young as 2 years old.
  Although law enforcement is working to tackle the epidemic of abuse 
that exists on the Internet, their resources are taxed, because 
predators around the world are working just as diligently to continue 
flooding the Internet with images of child sexual abuse.
  I am proud to be the lead cosponsor of the PROTECT Act, because this 
bill provides the resources that are so desperately needed by law 
enforcement to take the fight to those predators who seek to exploit 
and abuse children, often for their own financial gain. We will

[[Page 31037]]

never win the battle against the sexual exploitation of children unless 
we arm law enforcement with the necessary resources and tools to bring 
these predators to justice.
  First, the PROTECT Act authorizes, over fiscal years 2008 to 2015, 
$400,000,000 in increased funding to the Federal law enforcement 
agencies--FBI's Innocent Images Unit, Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement, and the United States Postal Service--that are at the 
forefront in investigating Internet child pornography. The funding is 
directed for the hiring of additional, full-time agents to work child 
exploitation cases.
  The bill also authorizes increased funding for forensic computer 
labs. One of the key findings in the Energy and Commerce Committee's 
investigation of Internet child pornography is that law enforcement 
investigations were often hampered by the backlog at forensic computer 
labs. This backlog sometimes made it difficult for law enforcement to 
identify predators or obtain subpoenas in a timely manner--a delay that 
endangers the welfare and safety of the victims of Internet child 
pornography. To address this problem, the PROTECT Act authorizes 
$7,000,000 for fiscal years 2008 to 2015 for new regional forensic 
computer labs.
  The Energy and Commerce Committee's investigation also found that 
just as important as the Federal law enforcement effort against child 
pornography is the effort of State and local law enforcement, in 
particular, the effort of the state Internet Crimes Against Children, 
or ICAC task forces. In fact, 70 percent of the cases involving the 
sexual exploitation of children over the Internet are prosecuted at the 
state level. While the Department of Justice has provided funding for 
these ICACs through a grant program, the funding nowhere near matched 
the needs of these state task forces.
  Now, through the PROTECT Act, these task forces will finally receive 
the support they need. The bill authorizes over $600,000,0000 in new 
funding for ICACs over fiscal years 2008 to 2015. I believe the PROTECT 
Act's formula for allocating this funding among states strikes the 
right balance between ensuring a stable base of funding for the 
individual ICACs and giving the Justice Department the flexibility to 
direct funds based on need.
  Not only does the bill provide additional funding for Federal and 
State law enforcement, it also provides greater coordination of the 
overall United States law enforcement effort--Federal, State, and 
local--to investigate and prosecute child sexual exploitation crimes. 
The bill establishes a Special Counsel office within the Justice 
Department that is charged with coordinating the efforts and strategy 
of the Department of Justice and Federal and State law enforcement 
agencies when investigating child exploitation crimes. While I do not 
believe that the creation of a new Federal office is always the best 
solution to a problem, in this instance, I believe that this office 
will help to ensure that the various law enforcement agencies are 
receiving the assistance they need and are coordinating their 
investigations in a way that ensures their valuable resources are not 
being wasted.
  This bill brings incredible resources to bear in the fight against 
child sexual exploitation. We must ensure that the efforts of predators 
are more than matched by an aggressive law enforcement strategy to 
bring these criminals to justice. Our children deserve nothing less. 
For this reason, I urge my colleagues to support the PROTECT Act and 
make the Internet a safer place for our children.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Just in response to Mr. Goodlatte regarding the Special Counsel, I 
appreciate the comments of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton). 
Special Counsel is an essential element to this legislation because 
right now you have no less than eight different entities and agencies 
that have something to do with the grants and the coordination and the 
prosecution and the pursuit of child exploitation crimes and 
particularly child pornography.
  It is imperative that we have a single go-to entity, a single 
leadership position in the Department of Justice to ensure that there 
is someone who is responsible to Congress for the accountability, for 
the coordination, to make sure that it is elevated to the highest level 
of priority at the Department of Justice where clearly right now it is 
not.
  And I again want to thank my colleague Mr. Barton for working with us 
on this legislation. This is an issue that transcends party. It is an 
issue that transcends process. When you have 500,000 known individuals 
out there pursuing our children on-line, Internet predators, any of our 
children could fall victim just by a click of the computer.
  Mr. Speaker, I can tell you I have a 4-year-old who goes on-line with 
the most basic of Web sites, and you just never know, and we need to 
make sure that we have a massive effort to coordinate and put resources 
into going after child exploitation and child predators.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of H.R. 3845, the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2007, introduced by my 
distinguished colleague from Florida, Representative Wasserman Schultz. 
This important legislation will protect this Nation's most valuable 
resource, its children.
  As Chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus, I have been an 
outspoken advocate for the protection of our children against all 
predators, be it disease, natural disasters, or sexual deviants. While 
we may not be able to avoid natural disasters, there is nothing but a 
lack of political will and Congressional action that prevents us from 
protecting our children from known sexual predators. I am appalled that 
while the Department of Justice knows the location of hundreds of 
thousands of sexual predators that prey on our Nation's children within 
the U.S. at this very moment, the Department of Justice has 
consistently refused to take action or ask Congress for help despite 
the fact that law enforcement is investigating less than 2 percent of 
this criminal activity. I applaud this important piece of legislation 
for the accountability it will create by building the largest law 
enforcement army ever created for the protection of children.
  This issue is not one of obscenity or pornography but rather one of 
human rights and this Congress's dedication to protecting them. While 
surveillance by the Internet Crimes Against Children, ICAC, Data 
Network has provided the Department of Justice with the location of 
hundreds of thousands of sexual predators, far too little has been 
done. Child pornography must be considered an issue of human rights. 
These photos go beyond obscenity or pornography but rather must be 
acknowledged for what they are, ``crime scene photos, created by a 
thriving industry that uses children as sexual commodities.'' We must 
focus on the weapon of these predators, the internet, which has 
provided a multi-billion dollar network for child pornography and led 
to the additional exploitation of exponential amounts of children.
  While the child exploitation industry is global in scale, the 
majority of both supply and demand is based right here, within the 
United States. Due to the lack of attention to this issue by the 
Department of Justice, it is hard to quantify the number of child 
pornography traffickers that are involved in this gross violation of 
our children's rights; the best estimates are that this practice 
involves 485,000 perpetrators in the United States alone. A 2005 
Justice Department study found that:
  80 percent of child pornography possessors have images and videos 
depicting sexual penetration.
  20 percent of child pornography possessors have images of bondage, 
sadistic abuse and torture.
  83 percent of child pornography possessors have images of children 
aged 6-12.
  19 percent of child pornography possessors have images of infants or 
toddlers.
  Only 1 percent of child pornography possessors restricted their 
``collecting'' to images of nude children.
  Law enforcement reports of websites providing live ``pay-per-view'' 
rape of very young children.
  Mr. Speaker, we must act now to protect our children from these 
atrocities and this legislation is an important first step in doing so. 
This bill will increase funding for state and local task forces by 
tripling the size of the Internet Crimes Against Children, ICAC, 
program in the first year alone, which will support the 46 state and 
local task forces that ``have become the backbone of America's war on 
child exploitation.'' It further adds hundreds of new Federal agents to 
the FBI, ICE, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service who will be charged 
with the sole responsibility of working on crimes against children. 
This legislation also provides for the creation of new dedicated 
forensic crimes labs for America's overwhelmed child exploitation 
investigators and provides legal structure and funding for the ICAC 
Data Network, which has emerged as a critical asset in the fight 
against child pornography and exploitation. Perhaps most significantly, 
it will create a new Justice Department Special Prosecutor, a new high-
level office within the Department with sole dedication to combating 
child exploitation and the oversight of ICAC Task Force Network.

[[Page 31038]]

  This legislation is imperative to ensuring the protection of our 
Nation's children and engaging in a much needed and long overdue 
national war on child pornography. As the Chair of the Congressional 
Children's Caucus, a Representative of the people of the United States, 
and a mother of two, I am proud to cosponsor this legislation and I 
urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, as a cosponsor of the PROTECT Our Children 
Act, I am grateful we are considering this legislation today.
  This legislation will create a Special Counsel within the Department 
of Justice, DoJ, to design and organize the Departments child 
exploitation prosecution work.
  The bill will also establish grants to inrease the number of Federal 
Bureau of Investigation, FBI, agents dedicated to protecting children 
and ensure local authorities have funding available to create vigorous 
cyber units with well-trained officers.
  Having a child exploited is a parent's worst fear. This legislation 
will, strengthen our police force to ensure we can track down and 
imprison child sex predators.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this legislation.
  Mr. SHULER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support 
for H.R. 3845, the PROTECT (Providing Resources Officers and Technology 
to Eradicate Cyber Threats) Act. This legislation takes a strong stand 
against the exploitation of our children on the Internet.
  H.R. 3845 will authorize the largest increase ever in funding for 
state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate child 
exploitation, through the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task 
force program.
  Expanding the ICAC program will build state and local capacity and 
also modernize the way U.S. law enforcement at every level investigate 
crimes against children.
  Current technologies have assisted local law enforcement to identify 
over 500,000 individuals trafficking child pornography. Without the 
necessary resources, however, local law enforcement officials have only 
been able to investigate 2 percent of these cases.
  The PROTECT Act would provide our law enforcement officials the tools 
and resources to investigate and prosecute these offenders.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the PROTECT Act to 
ensure the safety of our Nation's children.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3845, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________