Children Must Be Protected

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, as a former prosecutor, I saw many different types of crimes committed and many different criminals through court, but none so heinous as the targeting and abuse of our Nation's children.

That is why I urge the House to consider legislation that I introduced last year, the Child Rescue Act, which is currently in the House Judiciary Committee.

This bipartisan bill, which I introduced with Congresswoman Spanberger, requires the Department of Justice to convene with experts to focus on protecting children who are suffering abusive situations, whether this be trafficking, sexual abuse by family and trusted adults, or pornography.

Technology companies report more than 45 million photos and videos online of children being sexually abused in 2018, and the U.S. Sentencing Commission also released a report last year which studied child sexual abuse image producers and found that these crimes had increased by 422 percent over the last 15 years.

I am proud to join this bipartisan effort to develop proactive solutions to protect our Nation's youth and safeguard them from heinous predators. The Child Rescue Act is a targeted solution supported by child protection advocacy organizations, and I urge Chairman Nadler and the Judiciary Committee to act on this legislation as quickly as possible.

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