HERO Act of 2015

Summary: Human Exploitation Rescue Operations Act of 2015 or the HERO Act of 2015 This&nbsp;bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to operate, within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a Cyber Crimes Center to provide investigative assistance, training, and equipment to support domestic and international investigations by ICE of cyber-related crimes.  Within the Cyber Crimes Center, DHS shall operate a Child Exploitation Investigations Unit, which shall:   coordinate all ICE child exploitation initiatives, including investigations into child exploitation, child pornography, child victim identification, traveling child sex offenders, and forced child labor, including the sexual exploitation of minors;  focus on child exploitation prevention, investigative capacity building, enforcement operations, and training for law enforcement personnel;  provide training and technical expertise to cooperating law enforcement agencies and personnel;  provide psychological support and counseling services for ICE personnel engaged in child exploitation prevention initiatives;  collaborate with the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Association to Protect Children to recruit, train, equip, and hire wounded, ill, and injured veterans and transitioning service members through the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) Child Rescue Corps program;  collaborate with other governmental and nongovernmental entities for the sponsorship of, and participation in, outreach and training activities; and  collect and maintain data on the total number of suspects identified by ICE, the number of arrests and cases opened for investigation by ICE, and the number of cases resulting in prosecution and report on such data.  DHS shall operate, within the Cyber Crimes Center, a Computer Forensics Unit (CFU). The CFU is directed to: (1) provide training and technical support in digital forensics to ICE personnel and other law enforcement personnel investigating crimes; (2) provide computer hardware, software, and forensic licenses for all computer forensics personnel within ICE; (3) participate in research and development in the area of digital forensics; and (4) collaborate with DOD and the National Association to Protect Children to recruit, train, equip, and hire wounded, ill, and injured veterans and transitioning service members through the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) Child Rescue Corps program.  DHS shall also operate, within the Cyber Crimes Center, a Cyber Crimes Unit (CCU). The CCU shall: (1) oversee the cyber security strategy and cyber-related operations and programs for ICE, (2) enhance the ability of ICE to combat criminal enterprises operating on or through the Internet, (3) provide training and technical support in cyber investigations to ICE personnel and other law enforcement personnel, (4) participate in research and development in the area of cyber investigations, and (5) recruit participants in the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) Child Rescue Corps program for investigative and forensic positions.  Congress declares that Homeland Security Investigations of ICE should hire, recruit, train, and equipment wounded, ill, or injured military veterans who are affiliated with the HERO Child Rescue Corps program for investigative, intelligence, analyst, and forensic positions.  The bill further amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to expand the purposes of the DHS Acceleration Fund for Research and Development of Homeland Security Technologies to include conducting research and development to advance technology for the investigation of child exploitation crimes, including child victim identification, trafficking in persons, child pornography, and for advanced forensics. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Human Exploitation Rescue 
Operations Act of 2015'' or the ``HERO Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The illegal market for the production and distribution 
        of child abuse imagery is a growing threat to children in the 
        United States. International demand for this material creates a 
        powerful incentive for the rape, abuse, and torture of children 
        within the United States.
            (2) The targeting of United States children by 
        international criminal networks is a threat to the homeland 
        security of the United States. This threat must be fought with 
        trained personnel and highly specialized counter-child-
        exploitation strategies and technologies.
            (3) The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
        of the Department of Homeland Security serves a critical 
        national security role in protecting the United States from the 
        growing international threat of child exploitation and human 
        trafficking.
            (4) The Cyber Crimes Center of the United States 
        Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a vital national 
        resource in the effort to combat international child 
        exploitation, providing advanced expertise and assistance in 
        investigations, computer forensics, and victim identification.
            (5) The returning military heroes of the United States 
        possess unique and valuable skills that can assist law 
        enforcement in combating global sexual and child exploitation, 
        and the Department of Homeland Security should use this 
        national resource to the maximum extent possible.
            (6) Through the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) 
        Child Rescue Corps program, the returning military heroes of 
        the United States are trained and hired to investigate crimes 
        of child exploitation in order to target predators and rescue 
        children from sexual abuse and slavery.

SEC. 3. CYBER CRIMES CENTER, CHILD EXPLOITATION INVESTIGATIONS UNIT, 
              AND COMPUTER FORENSICS UNIT.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle H of title VIII of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 890A. CYBER CRIMES CENTER, CHILD EXPLOITATION INVESTIGATIONS 
              UNIT, COMPUTER FORENSICS UNIT, AND CYBER CRIMES UNIT.

    ``(a) Cyber Crimes Center.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall operate, within 
        United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a Cyber 
        Crimes Center (referred to in this section as the `Center').
            ``(2) Purpose.--The purpose of the Center shall be to 
        provide investigative assistance, training, and equipment to 
        support United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 
        domestic and international investigations of cyber-related 
        crimes.
    ``(b) Child Exploitation Investigations Unit.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall operate, within the 
        Center, a Child Exploitation Investigations Unit (referred to 
        in this subsection as the `CEIU').
            ``(2) Functions.--The CEIU--
                    ``(A) shall coordinate all United States 
                Immigration and Customs Enforcement child exploitation 
                initiatives, including investigations into--
                            ``(i) child exploitation;
                            ``(ii) child pornography;
                            ``(iii) child victim identification;
                            ``(iv) traveling child sex offenders; and
                            ``(v) forced child labor, including the 
                        sexual exploitation of minors;
                    ``(B) shall, among other things, focus on--
                            ``(i) child exploitation prevention;
                            ``(ii) investigative capacity building;
                            ``(iii) enforcement operations; and
                            ``(iv) training for Federal, State, local, 
                        tribal, and foreign law enforcement agency 
                        personnel, upon request;
                    ``(C) shall provide training, technical expertise, 
                support, or coordination of child exploitation 
                investigations, as needed, to cooperating law 
                enforcement agencies and personnel;
                    ``(D) shall provide psychological support and 
                counseling services for United States Immigration and 
                Customs Enforcement personnel engaged in child 
                exploitation prevention initiatives, including making 
                available other existing services to assist employees 
                who are exposed to child exploitation material during 
                investigations;
                    ``(E) is authorized to collaborate with the 
                Department of Defense and the National Association to 
                Protect Children for the purpose of the recruiting, 
                training, equipping and hiring of wounded, ill, and 
                injured veterans and transitioning service members, 
                through the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) 
                Child Rescue Corps program; and
                    ``(F) shall collaborate with other governmental, 
                nongovernmental, and nonprofit entities approved by the 
                Secretary for the sponsorship of, and participation in, 
                outreach and training activities.
            ``(3) Data collection.--The CEIU shall collect and maintain 
        data concerning--
                    ``(A) the total number of suspects identified by 
                United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
                    ``(B) the number of arrests by United States 
                Immigration and Customs Enforcement, disaggregated by 
                type, including--
                            ``(i) the number of victims identified 
                        through investigations carried out by United 
                        States Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and
                            ``(ii) the number of suspects arrested who 
                        were in positions of trust or authority over 
                        children;
                    ``(C) the number of cases opened for investigation 
                by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement; 
                and
                    ``(D) the number of cases resulting in a Federal, 
                State, foreign, or military prosecution.
            ``(4) Availability of data to congress.--In addition to 
        submitting the reports required under paragraph (7), the CEIU 
        shall make the data collected and maintained under paragraph 
        (3) available to the committees of Congress described in 
        paragraph (7).
            ``(5) Cooperative agreements.--The CEIU is authorized to 
        enter into cooperative agreements to accomplish the functions 
        set forth in paragraphs (2) and (3).
            ``(6) Acceptance of gifts.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to 
                accept monies and in-kind donations from the Virtual 
                Global Taskforce, national laboratories, Federal 
                agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and educational 
                institutions to create and expand public awareness 
                campaigns in support of the functions of the CEIU.
                    ``(B) Exemption from federal acquisition 
                regulation.--Gifts authorized under subparagraph (A) 
                shall not be subject to the Federal Acquisition 
                Regulation for competition when the services provided 
                by the entities referred to in such subparagraph are 
                donated or of minimal cost to the Department.
            ``(7) Reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
        enactment of the HERO Act of 2015, and annually for the 
        following 4 years, the CEIU shall--
                    ``(A) submit a report containing a summary of the 
                data collected pursuant to paragraph (3) during the 
                previous year to--
                            ``(i) the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
                            ``(ii) the Committee on the Judiciary of 
                        the Senate;
                            ``(iii) the Committee on Appropriations of 
                        the Senate;
                            ``(iv) the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        of the House of Representatives;
                            ``(v) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
                        House of Representatives; and
                            ``(vi) the Committee on Appropriations of 
                        the House of Representatives; and
                    ``(B) make a copy of each report submitted under 
                subparagraph (A) publicly available on the website of 
                the Department.
    ``(c) Computer Forensics Unit.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall operate, within the 
        Center, a Computer Forensics Unit (referred to in this 
        subsection as the `CFU').
            ``(2) Functions.--The CFU--
                    ``(A) shall provide training and technical support 
                in digital forensics to--
                            ``(i) United States Immigration and Customs 
                        Enforcement personnel; and
                            ``(ii) Federal, State, local, tribal, 
                        military, and foreign law enforcement agency 
                        personnel engaged in the investigation of 
                        crimes within their respective jurisdictions, 
                        upon request and subject to the availability of 
                        funds;
                    ``(B) shall provide computer hardware, software, 
                and forensic licenses for all computer forensics 
                personnel within United States Immigration and Customs 
                Enforcement;
                    ``(C) shall participate in research and development 
                in the area of digital forensics, in coordination with 
                appropriate components of the Department; and
                    ``(D) is authorized to collaborate with the 
                Department of Defense and the National Association to 
                Protect Children for the purpose of recruiting, 
                training, equipping, and hiring wounded, ill, and 
                injured veterans and transitioning service members, 
                through the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) 
                Child Rescue Corps program.
            ``(3) Cooperative agreements.--The CFU is authorized to 
        enter into cooperative agreements to accomplish the functions 
        set forth in paragraph (2).
            ``(4) Acceptance of gifts.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to 
                accept monies and in-kind donations from the Virtual 
                Global Task Force, national laboratories, Federal 
                agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and educational 
                institutions to create and expand public awareness 
                campaigns in support of the functions of the CFU.
                    ``(B) Exemption from federal acquisition 
                regulation.--Gifts authorized under subparagraph (A) 
                shall not be subject to the Federal Acquisition 
                Regulation for competition when the services provided 
                by the entities referred to in such subparagraph are 
                donated or of minimal cost to the Department.
    ``(d) Cyber Crimes Unit.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall operate, within the 
        Center, a Cyber Crimes Unit (referred to in this subsection as 
        the `CCU').
            ``(2) Functions.--The CCU--
                    ``(A) shall oversee the cyber security strategy and 
                cyber-related operations and programs for United States 
                Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
                    ``(B) shall enhance United States Immigration and 
                Customs Enforcement's ability to combat criminal 
                enterprises operating on or through the Internet, with 
                specific focus in the areas of--
                            ``(i) cyber economic crime;
                            ``(ii) digital theft of intellectual 
                        property;
                            ``(iii) illicit e-commerce (including 
                        hidden marketplaces);
                            ``(iv) Internet-facilitated proliferation 
                        of arms and strategic technology; and
                            ``(v) cyber-enabled smuggling and money 
                        laundering;
                    ``(C) shall provide training and technical support 
                in cyber investigations to--
                            ``(i) United States Immigration and Customs 
                        Enforcement personnel; and
                            ``(ii) Federal, State, local, tribal, 
                        military, and foreign law enforcement agency 
                        personnel engaged in the investigation of 
                        crimes within their respective jurisdictions, 
                        upon request and subject to the availability of 
                        funds;
                    ``(D) shall participate in research and development 
                in the area of cyber investigations, in coordination 
                with appropriate components of the Department; and
                    ``(E) is authorized to recruit participants of the 
                Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) Child Rescue 
                Corps program for investigative and forensic positions 
                in support of the functions of the CCU.
            ``(3) Cooperative agreements.--The CCU is authorized to 
        enter into cooperative agreements to accomplish the functions 
        set forth in paragraph (2).
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out 
this section.''.
    (b) Table of Contents Amendment.--The table of contents in section 
1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 note) is 
amended by adding after the item relating to section 890 the following:

``Sec. 890A. Cyber crimes center, child exploitation investigations 
                            unit, computer forensics unit, and cyber 
                            crimes unit.''.

SEC. 4. HERO CORPS HIRING.

    It is the sense of Congress that Homeland Security Investigations 
of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement should hire, 
recruit, train, and equip wounded, ill, or injured military veterans 
(as defined in section 101, title 38, United States Code) who are 
affiliated with the HERO Child Rescue Corps program for investigative, 
intelligence, analyst, and forensic positions.

SEC. 5. INVESTIGATING CHILD EXPLOITATION.

    Section 307(b)(3) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
187(b)(3)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) conduct research and development for the 
                purpose of advancing technology for the investigation 
                of child exploitation crimes, including child victim 
                identification, trafficking in persons, and child 
                pornography, and for advanced forensics.''.