Moskowitz Joins Bipartisan Bill to Reauthorize Critical Law Enforcement Program and Combat Child Exploitation

WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) recently joined a bipartisan coalition of colleagues in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate to reauthorize and modernize the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force program. Through their bipartisan PROTECT Our Children Act, local and state law enforcement would continue to receive the training and tools they need to respond to digital crimes against children.

Moskowitz is joined by Representatives Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-02), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), and Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-01) to lead the House version of the bill and by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to lead the Senate version.

“In Florida and every other state in the country, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces have protected our kids from vile predators in the darkest parts of the digital world,” said Congressman Moskowitz. “These law enforcement programs have a proven track record of getting tens of thousands of bad actors off the streets, and reauthorizing this program is the right thing to do to keep kids safe. I’m proud to be joining this broad, bipartisan group of colleagues to support these programs so law enforcement agencies across Florida can continue their work combatting child exploitation and other heinous crimes.” 

“Predators are using new technology every day to exploit children online, and law enforcement needs to be able to keep up,” said Congressman Van Drew. “The PROTECT Our Children Act gives them the tools to track down these criminals, rescue victims, and hold offenders accountable.”

“Our lives are increasingly intertwined with the internet, and those who would commit crimes against our children know that all too well. With the PROTECT Our Children Act, the ICAC Task Force Program will get predators off line and help make the internet a safe space for all children,” said Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation to build on the original PROTECT Our Children Act that I authored over a decade ago. We all have a role to play in keeping our children safe.”

“Our nation’s children must be protected at all costs from technology-facilitated child exploitation and Internet crimes against them,” said Congressman Moran. “The PROTECT Our Children Act reauthorizes the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and ensures that federal, state, and local law enforcement work together to combat the exploitation of children from online predators.”

“The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program has a long history of equipping our law enforcement officers with the tools needed to safeguard children and hold perpetrators accountable,” said Senator Cornyn. “This legislation would reauthorize and update this critical program to address the evolving digital threat landscape and protect our children from these heinous crimes.”

“The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force leads the fight to keep kids safe from predators online,” said Senator Blumenthal. “This bipartisan legislation gives the Task Force and its law enforcement partners the tools and resources they need in their collaborative effort to fight child exploitation and protect our nation’s kids from abhorrent abuse in an increasingly online society.”

“The number of threats children face online in today’s digital age is unlimited, and we need to make certain that law enforcement has the resources to go after these criminals and prevent future crimes against innocent children,” said Senator Blackburn. “The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program has helped law enforcement protect children from harm for decades, and this bill would reauthorize this important program.”

From 1998 to 2022, ICAC Task Forces trained more than 826,700 law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and other professionals on techniques to investigate and prosecute ICAC-related cases, and their review of more than 1.4 million reports of online child exploitation resulted in the arrest of more than 123,790 suspects.

The PROTECT Our Children Act is endorsed by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), National Children’s Alliance, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), Rights 4 Girls, National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), Raven, Fraternal Order of Police, Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA), and the National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC).