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June 30, 2006



HOUSE PROVIDES FUNDING TO PROTECT CHILDREN
FROM ONLINE SEXUAL PREDATORS

Washington, D.C. – Funding for several programs aimed at protecting children from online sexual predators is included in the annual spending bill approved in the House on Thursday that funds the Department of Justice, according to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th).

Wolf said the House version of the FY 2007 Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations (SSJC) bill fully funds the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which calls for U.S. attorneys to work with federal, state and local officials to develop strategies to address the growth of computer-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes committed against children. The Senate has yet to take up its version of the bill.

Wolf, chairman of the SSJC subcommittee, said the bill provides over $2 million to hire 26 additional U.S. attorneys to help prosecute more federal cases. The measure also provides nearly $2 million for the continued development of a nationwide sex offender registry system.

“The worldwide web is allowing sexual predators to contact children and peddle pornography around the globe,” Wolf said. “We have all seen or read about the recent dangers surrounding online networking sites like MySpace.com. We need to do all we can to protect our children from these predators and this growing – and frightening – trend.”

Wolf said the bill also provides $28 million to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is $1 million above what was requested by the president, and $43.3 million for the FBI’s Innocent Images program, an $8.3 million increase over the present year’s funding. This program was created to combat the proliferation of child pornography and child sexual exploitation online.

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, which is specifically aimed at helping state and local law enforcement address this issue, is funded at $23 million, an increase of more than $9 million over the present year’s funding.

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