[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5884 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5884
To direct the Attorney General to convene a national working group to
study proactive strategies and needed resources for the identification
and rescue of children from sexual exploitation and abuse, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 4, 2021
Ms. Spanberger (for herself, Mr. Cline, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Mr. Owens)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Attorney General to convene a national working group to
study proactive strategies and needed resources for the identification
and rescue of children from sexual exploitation and abuse, 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 ``National Response to Exploitation
and Sexual abuse of Children in Unaddressed Emergencies Act'' or the
``Child RESCUE Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The growing international trade in child sexual abuse
material creates demand and incentive for the sexual assault of
children throughout the United States.
(2) United States law enforcement efforts to combat child
sexual exploitation have the potential to help multiple
distinct groups of victims, including--
(A) children depicted in child sexual abuse
material (CSAM) who are still being assaulted;
(B) children and adults whose victimization as a
child continues to be viewed and shared online; and
(C) children who are being sexually assaulted by
adults who could be interdicted while accessing or
sharing CSAM online.
(3) In congressional hearings held by the Committee on
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives in 2006,
the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
and State law enforcement leaders estimated that hundreds of
thousands of adults in the United States are engaging in CSAM
crimes.
(4) A growing body of research--including academic studies,
analysis by the United States Sentencing Commission, and
findings by law enforcement polygraphers--indicates that a
majority of individuals possessing and sharing CSAM are ``dual
offenders'' who possess illegal imagery and also commit contact
offenses.
(5) According to a 2018 study by the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), ``in cases involving a
single victim and single offender, actively traded cases were
associated with having prepubescent victims. Actively traded
cases were also associated with more egregious content in terms
of sexual activity, and more likely to involve familial
offenders, particularly nuclear family members.''.
(6) Law enforcement investigations of CyberTipline reports
from the NCMEC frequently lead to the rescue of current child
victims, thus enabling law enforcement to interdict offenders
who are abusing children by circulating CSAM and also
committing contact offenses. In 2020, 21,700,000 CyberTipline
reports were submitted to NCMEC and approximately 200,000
CyberTipline reports were made available to the 61 Internet
Crimes Against Children (ICAC) units across the country.
(7) United States law enforcement's ability to detect and
interdict online traffic in CSAM provides a historic
opportunity to locate sexual predators and rescue children
through victim-centric investigations. In 2020, the Internet
Crimes Against Children Child Online Protection Services
(ICACCOPS) and other law enforcement investigative systems
detected more than 325,000 unique IP addresses in the U.S. that
were associated with CSAM and made available to the Internet
Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces.
(8) With inadequate resources, United States law
enforcement agencies are increasingly unable to adequately
respond to this rapidly growing number of CyberTips and other
investigative leads, a problem which also reduces the number of
proactive undercover investigations and education activities
they can conduct.
(9) Investigations of these crimes are complicated by the
increasing prevalence of encryption and anonymizing services
available to offenders.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Child sexual abuse material.--The term ``child sexual
abuse material'' has the meaning given the term ``child
pornography'' in section 2256 of title 18, United States Code.
(2) Known to law enforcement.--The term ``known to law
enforcement'' means a Federal, State, or local law enforcement
agency has evidence of a crime that can be attributed to a
person or location, including an email address, Internet
Protocol address, screen name, computer global unique
identifier, phone number, or other information attributable to
that person or location.
(3) Proactive policing.--The term ``proactive policing''
means a specialized, covert, or undercover investigation
conducted by a law enforcement agency that involves a person or
organization that the law enforcement agency believes is
engaging in a violation or violations of child sexual abuse,
child exploitation, or child sex trafficking crimes.
(4) Working group.--The term ``Working Group'' means the
United States Working Group on Children in Imminent Danger
established under section 3(a).
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUP.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a national working
group, to be known as the ``United States Working Group on Children in
Imminent Danger'', to study victim-centric policing strategies and
resource needs to rescue children in the United States who are--
(1) victims of child sexual abuse material; or
(2) victims of sexual abuse by individuals who are also
engaged in child sexual abuse material crimes.
(b) Priority.--In carrying out the study under subsection (a), the
Working Group shall give priority to investigative leads that indicate
the possibility of identifying or rescuing child victims of sexual
abuse or child sexual abuse material crimes.
SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE WORKING GROUP.
In carrying out the study under section 4, the Working Group
shall--
(1) develop estimates of the total number of adults in the
United States who are committing crimes involving the
production, distribution, receipt, or possession of child
sexual abuse material, including the number of such individuals
who--
(A) could be interdicted by Federal, State, or
local law enforcement agencies if sufficient funding
resources were available; and
(B) are committing crimes involving sexual contact
with children;
(2) develop estimates of the total number of minor victims
of child sexual abuse in the United States, disaggregated by
age range, who--
(A) could be located and protected from further
abuse through the interdiction of individuals
committing offenses described in paragraph (1); or
(B) are likely to become victims of contact sexual
offenses by adults committing offenses described in
paragraph (1) during the 10-year period beginning on
the date of enactment of this Act;
(3) develop estimates and descriptions of the funding,
resources, and proactive and reactive strategies necessary for
Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to
successfully locate and protect minor victims described in
paragraph (2);
(4) develop estimates of the number of child sexual abuse
offenses that are reported annually involving adults in a
position of trust or authority including--
(A) the total number of such offenses annually
known to social service agencies and other non-law
enforcement child abuse investigators, and whether or
not those reports received a concurrent law enforcement
investigative response; and
(B) potential strategies and resources that could
be used to ensure that offenders reported to social
service agencies alleged to have committed contact
sexual offenses are also investigated for potential
child sexual abuse material crimes; and
(5) provide additional analysis and nonduplicative
estimates of--
(A) the number of adults who were arrested by
Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies
during the 5-year period ending on the date of
enactment of this Act, by year, for any of the offenses
described in paragraphs (1) and (4);
(B) the number of adults who were prosecuted at the
Federal or State level during the 5-year period ending
on the date of enactment of this Act, by year, for any
of the offenses described in paragraphs (1) and (4);
(C) the estimated number of unidentified victims
depicted in child abuse imagery that is known to the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; and
(D) the estimated number of cases that receive no
investigative follow-up and the underlying reasons for
that outcome.
SEC. 6. MEMBERS OF THE WORKING GROUP.
(a) In General.--
(1) Attorney general discretion.--The Working Group shall
be composed of such representatives of Federal departments and
agencies, non-Federal law enforcement agencies, nongovernmental
organizations, and subject matter experts as the Attorney
General considers appropriate.
(2) Specified members.--The Attorney General shall appoint
representatives of the following agencies and nongovernmental
organizations to the Working Group:
(A) Three representatives from State or local
grantees of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task
Force program with extensive, direct experience
conducting both CyberTipline investigations and
proactive, online undercover investigations, including
use of specialized tools for peer-to-peer
investigations.
(B) A Chief or Deputy Chief of the Child
Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Criminal
Division of the Department of Justice.
(C) The National Coordinator for Child Exploitation
Prevention and Interdiction of the Department of
Justice.
(D) A representative of the Behavioral Analysis
Unit of the United States Marshals Service with subject
matter expertise in child exploitation offenders who
also commit contact offenses.
(E) A special agent of Homeland Security
Investigations with expertise in both CyberTipline
investigations and proactive online investigations.
(F) A subject matter expert within Homeland
Security Investigations with expertise in child victim
identification.
(G) A special agent of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation with expertise in both CyberTipline
investigations and proactive online investigations and
the use of polygraphs in child sexual abuse material
investigations.
(H) A representative from the National Children's
Alliance with expertise in child exploitation and child
victim forensic interviewing.
(I) A special agent of the United States Secret
Service with expertise in investigations of child
sexual abuse material or polygraphs of child sexual
exploitation suspects.
(J) A special agent of the United States Postal
Inspection Service with expertise in investigations of
child sexual abuse material.
(K) A representative from the National District
Attorney's Association.
(L) A representative from the academic community
with expertise in developing technology that can
proactively detect the distribution of CSAM online.
(M) At the election of the head of the relevant
entity--
(i) a representative of the Internet Crimes
Against Children Task Force program;
(ii) a representative from the ICAC Child
Online Protection System (ICACCOPS) at the
National Criminal Justice Training Center with
subject matter expertise on child sexual
exploitation and abuse investigations;
(iii) a representative at the Child Rescue
Coalition with subject matter expertise on the
CPS system and other child sexual exploitation
and abuse investigations;
(iv) a representative of the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children with
subject matter expertise on child sexual
exploitation and abuse and child victim
identification; and
(v) a representative of the Rape, Abuse &
Incest National Network with subject matter
expertise on child sexual exploitation and
abuse.
(b) Cessation of Membership.--If an individual is appointed to the
Working Group based on membership in an agency or organization and the
individual ceases to be a member of that agency or organization, the
individual shall cease to be a member of the Working Group on the date
on which the member ceases to be a member of the agency or
organization.
(c) Terms.--A member of the Working Group shall be appointed for
the life of the Working Group.
(d) Vacancies.--
(1) Vacancy before expiration of term.--A member appointed
to the Working Group to fill a vacancy occurring before the
expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor was
appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of that
term.
(2) Manner of appointment.--A vacancy in the Working Group
shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment
was made.
(e) Compensation.--A member of the Working Group shall serve
without pay.
(f) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Working Group shall
constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings.
(g) Chairperson.--The Chairperson of the Working Group shall be
elected by a majority vote of the Working Group.
(h) Meetings.--The Working Group shall hold virtual meetings
monthly, and any subgroup of the Working Group shall hold additional
meetings as necessary.
SEC. 7. STAFF OF WORKING GROUP; EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.
(a) Staff.--The Chairperson of the Working Group may appoint and
fix the pay of additional personnel as the Chairperson considers
appropriate.
(b) Experts and Consultants.--The Chairperson of the Working Group
may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b)
of title 5, United States Code.
(c) Detailees.--Upon request of the Chairperson of the Working
Group, the head of any Federal department or agency may detail, on a
reimbursable basis, any of the personnel of that department or agency
to the Working Group to assist in carrying out the duties of the
Working Group under this Act.
SEC. 8. POWERS OF WORKING GROUP.
(a) Hearings and Sessions.--
(1) In general.--The Working Group may, for the purpose of
carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act at times and
places, take testimony, and receive evidence as the Working
Group considers appropriate.
(2) Witnesses.--The Working Group may administer oaths or
affirmations to witnesses appearing before the Working Group.
(b) Powers of Members and Agents.--Any member or agent of the
Working Group may, if authorized by the Chairperson, take any action
that the Working Group is authorized to take under this section,
including requesting information.
(c) Obtaining Official Information.--
(1) In general.--The Working Group may secure directly from
any department or agency of the United States information
necessary to enable the Working Group to carry out this Act.
(2) Furnishing information.--Upon request of the
Chairperson of the Working Group for information under
paragraph (1), the head of the department or agency of the
United States shall furnish that information to the Working
Group.
(d) Administrative Support Services.--Upon the request of the
Working Group, the Administrator of General Services shall provide to
the Working Group, on a reimbursable basis, the administrative support
services necessary for the Working Group to carry out the
responsibilities of the Working Group under this Act.
SEC. 9. REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 365 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Working Group shall submit to the Attorney
General, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives, a report that contains--
(1) a detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of
the Working Group, together with recommendations for
legislation; and
(2) a summary of the support, documents, and witnesses to
the Committee provided by the Department of Justice to the
Working Group.
(b) Material Included.--A majority vote of the members of the
Working Group shall determine the findings, conclusions, and
recommendations included in the report submitted under subsection (a).
SEC. 10. TERMINATION.
(a) In General.--The Working Group shall terminate 120 days after
submission of the report under section 9, unless the Attorney General
determines that such termination is not appropriate.
(b) Reconvening Group.--If the Working Group terminates under
subsection (a), the Attorney General may reconvene the Working Group in
accordance with this Act.
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