Chairwoman Mikulski Fights to Keep Children Safe in Spending Bill
Includes $247 million to protect America’s children
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today announced she has included $247 million, $205 million above President Bush’s request, to protect our nation’s children from predators in the 2009 CJS spending bill. This year’s bill, which passed the Senate Appropriations Committee today, provides $25.8 billion for the DOJ, a $2.7 billion increase above the President’s budget request.
“We have made some amazing progress over the years, starting out with billboards and milk cartons. But crimes have gotten more sophisticated, and we’ve had to become more sophisticated,” said Senator Mikulski. “Our bill focuses the resources of the federal government like a laser on child predators. I will keep doing my part in this war against child predators to help keep our children safe.”
Chairwoman Mikulski has increased funding to ensure that law enforcement agencies have the tools they need to prevent, investigate and prosecute crimes against children, including:
• $85 million for state and local law enforcement efforts to find and apprehend child predators, which includes $30 million for the DOJ’s Internet Crimes Against Children taskforce (ICAC).
• $65 million to continue funding for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to track missing children.
• $47 million for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Innocent Images program to catch deviants who use the Internet to prey on children and to break up international sex trafficking rings.
• $25 million to hire 100 new Deputy U.S. Marshals to track down and arrest fugitive sex offenders.
• $10 million for grants to school districts to keep kids safe at school with officers and equipment.
• $10 million for counseling, witness protection and relocation for victims of trafficking.
• $5 million to hire 25 new assistant U.S. Attorneys to prosecute sex offenders.
In the next step of the appropriations process, the bill will move to the Senate floor for a vote, which has not yet been scheduled. For more information on the CJS spending bill, go to: http://mikulski.senate.gov/Newsroom/PressReleases.
