Thank you for contacting me regarding efforts to improve the safety of our children. I appreciate hearing from you on this important matter.
I share your concern about the need to protect children from acts of violence and limit the threat of crimes against children by providing law enforcement and the public with better tools and information. As such, throughout my time in Congress I have supported legislation with this aim, including the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which was signed into law on July 27, 2006.
As you may know, this law established a comprehensive national system for the registration of sex offenders by requiring each state to maintain a sex offender registry with current information for all offenders within their respective borders and the Department of Justice to create updated software that will allow for immediate sharing of this information among jurisdictions and with community notification participants (i.e. schools, establishments, and organizations to which sex offenders may pose a threat). Further, this law stiffened the penalties for child and sex crimes and for the failure of convicted child and sex offenders to register and update their information upon their release from prison. This law also increased funding for the maintenance of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website.
You may be interested to know that H.R. 1105, the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations Act, included over $33.6 million to fund the provisions authorized by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, an increase of over $21 million from the FY08 level. I voted for this legislation, which the Senate passed on March 10, 2009, and was signed into law the following day.
Additionally, during the 110th Congress I was a cosponsor of S. 1738, the Child Exploitation Act, which was signed into law on October 13, 2008. This law will better coordinate the efforts of law enforcement nationwide to prevent the exploitation of children and track down the dangerous offenders who commit such acts. Specifically, it establishes an Office of Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction at the Department of Justice to develop and oversee a coordinated national strategy modeled after the highly successful Office of Violence Against Women. This law also builds upon the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program to ensure that there is at least one cyber unit in each state dedicated to these cases.
Like you, I recognize the challenges for law enforcement as they deter, prevent, and prosecute sex offenders and child predators and you can be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind as the Senate considers this matter during the FY10 appropriations process.
Again, thank you for contacting me, and please do not hesitate to write, call, or visit my website, www.reed.senate.gov, for information regarding this or any other matter.
