I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9641 

To reauthorize the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024 

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. SOTO, and Mr. 

MOSKOWITZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘PROTECT Our Chil5 dren Reauthorization Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR

8 CHILD EXPLOITATION PREVENTION AND INTERDIC9 TION.—Section 101 of the PROTECT Our Children Act 

10 of 2008 (34 U.S.C. 21111) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘every second 

2 year’’ and inserting ‘‘every fourth year’’; and 

3 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(c) REQUIRED CONTENTS OF NATIONAL STRAT6 EGY.—The National Strategy established under subsection 

7 (a) shall include the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) An analysis of current trends, challenges, 

9 and the overall magnitude of the threat of child ex10 ploitation. 

11 ‘‘(2) An analysis of future trends and chal12 lenges, including new technologies, that will impact 

13 the efforts to combat child exploitation. 

14 ‘‘(3) Goals and strategic solutions to prevent 

15 and interdict child exploitation, including— 

16 ‘‘(A) plans for interagency coordination; 

17 ‘‘(B) engagement with the judicial 

18 branches of the Federal Government and State 

19 governments; 

20 ‘‘(C) legislative recommendations for com21 bating child exploitation; 

22 ‘‘(D) cooperation with international, State, 

23 local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) engagement with the private sector 

2 and other entities involved in efforts to combat 

3 child exploitation. 

4 ‘‘(4) An analysis of Federal efforts dedicated to 

5 combating child exploitation, including— 

6 ‘‘(A) a review of the policies and work of 

7 the Department of Justice and other Federal 

8 programs relating to the prevention and inter9 diction of child exploitation crimes, including 

10 training programs, and investigative and pros11 ecution activity; and 

12 ‘‘(B) a description of the efforts of the De13 partment of Justice to cooperate and coordinate 

14 with, and provide technical assistance and sup15 port to, international, State, local, and Tribal 

16 law enforcement agencies and private sector 

17 and nonprofit entities with respect to child ex18 ploitation prevention and interdiction efforts. 

19 ‘‘(5) An estimate of the resources required to 

20 effectively respond to child exploitation crimes at 

21 scale by— 

22 ‘‘(A) each ICAC task force; 

23 ‘‘(B) the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

24 including investigators, forensic interviewers, 


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1 and analysts of victims, witnesses, and 

2 forensics; 

3 ‘‘(C) Homeland Security Investigations, in4 cluding forensic interviewers and analysts of 

5 victims, witnesses, and forensics; 

6 ‘‘(D) the United States Marshals Service; 

7 ‘‘(E) the United States Secret Service; 

8 ‘‘(F) the United States Postal Service; 

9 ‘‘(G) the criminal investigative offices of 

10 the Department of Defense; and 

11 ‘‘(H) any component of an agency de12 scribed in this paragraph; 

13 ‘‘(6) A review of the Internet Crimes Against 

14 Children Task Force Program, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) the number of ICAC task forces and 

16 the location of each ICAC task force; 

17 ‘‘(B) the number of trained personnel at 

18 each ICAC task force; 

19 ‘‘(C) the amount of Federal grants award20 ed to each ICAC task force; and 

21 ‘‘(D) an assessment of the Federal, State, 

22 and local cooperation with respect to each ICAC 

23 task force, including— 

24 ‘‘(i) the number of arrests made by 

25 each ICAC task force; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the number of criminal referrals 

2 to United States attorneys for prosecution; 

3 ‘‘(iii) the number of prosecutions and 

4 convictions from the referrals described in 

5 clause (ii); 

6 ‘‘(iv) the number, if available, of local 

7 prosecutions and convictions based on 

8 ICAC task force investigations; and 

9 ‘‘(v) any other information determined 

10 by the Attorney General demonstrating the 

11 level of Federal, State, Tribal, and local 

12 coordination and cooperation. 

13 ‘‘(7) An assessment of training needs for each 

14 ICAC task force and affiliated agencies. 

15 ‘‘(8) An assessment of Federal investigative and 

16 prosecution activity relating to reported incidents of 

17 child exploitation crimes that include a number of 

18 factors, including— 

19 ‘‘(A) the number of investigations, arrests, 

20 prosecutions and convictions for a crime of 

21 child exploitation; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the average sentence imposed and the 

23 statutory maximum sentence that could be im24 posed for each crime of child exploitation. 


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1 ‘‘(9) A review of all available statistical data in2 dicating the overall magnitude of child pornography 

3 trafficking in the United States and internationally, 

4 including— 

5 ‘‘(A) the number of foreign and domestic 

6 suspects observed engaging in accessing and 

7 sharing child pornography; 

8 ‘‘(B) the number of tips or other statistical 

9 data from the CyberTipline of the National 

10 Center for Missing and Exploited Children and 

11 other data indicating the magnitude of child 

12 pornography trafficking; and 

13 ‘‘(C) any other statistical data indicating 

14 the type, nature, and extent of child exploi15 tation crime in the United States and abroad.’’. 

16 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL ICAC TASK

17 FORCE PROGRAM.—Section 102 of the PROTECT Our 

18 Children Act of 2008 (34 U.S.C. 21112) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘, Tribal, military,’’ after 

21 ‘‘State’’; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘and child obscenity and 

23 pornography cases’’ and inserting ‘‘child ob24 scenity and pornography cases, and the identi25 fication of child victims’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (b)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘consult 

3 with and consider’’ and all that follows through 

4 ‘‘track record of success.’’ and inserting ‘‘, 

5 evaluate the task forces funded under the ICAC 

6 Task Force Program to determine if those task 

7 forces are operating in an effective manner.’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (3)(B)— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘establish a new task 

10 force’’ and inserting ‘‘establish a new or 

11 continue an existing task force’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘state’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘State’’; and 

14 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

15 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

16 ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 

17 (ii) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

18 (iii) by redesignating subparagraph 

19 (C) as subparagraph (B); and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(c) LIMITED LIABILITY FOR ICAC TASK FORCES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), a civil claim or criminal charge against an 

24 ICAC task force established pursuant to this section 

25 and sections 103 and 104, including any law enVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Sep 25, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9641.IH H9641

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1 forcement agency that participates on such a task 

2 force or a director, officer, employee, or agent of 

3 such a law enforcement agency, arising from the 

4 prioritization decisions with respect to leads related 

5 to Internet crimes against children described in sec6 tion 104(8), may not be brought in any Federal or 

7 State court. 

8 ‘‘(2) INTENTIONAL, RECKLESS, OR OTHER MIS9 CONDUCT.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a claim 

10 if the ICAC task force or law enforcement agency, 

11 or a director, officer, employee, or agent of that law 

12 enforcement agency— 

13 ‘‘(A) engaged in intentional misconduct; or 

14 ‘‘(B) acted, or failed to act— 

15 ‘‘(i) with actual malice; 

16 ‘‘(ii) with reckless disregard to a sub17 stantial risk of causing physical injury 

18 without legal justification; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) for a purpose unrelated to the 

20 performance of any responsibility or func21 tion under section 104(8).’’. 

22 (c) PURPOSE OF ICAC TASK FORCES.—Section 103 

23 of the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 (34 U.S.C. 

24 21113) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, and the 

2 identification of child victims of those crimes’’ before 

3 the semicolon at the end; 

4 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 

5 prioritizing investigations that task force personnel, 

6 through the background, training and experience of 

7 those personnel and the consideration of all relevant 

8 circumstances, determine to be most likely to result 

9 in positive case outcomes and in the rescue of chil10 dren’’ before the semicolon at the end; 

11 (3) in paragraph (3)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘and local law enforce13 ment’’ and inserting ‘‘Tribal, military, and local 

14 law enforcement’’; and 

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘, including probation and 

16 parole agencies, child advocacy centers, and 

17 child protective services,’’ after ‘‘enforcement 

18 agencies’’; 

19 (4) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

20 end; 

21 (5) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 

22 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(10) educating the judiciary on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the link between intrafamilial contact 

2 offenses and technology-facilitated crimes; and 

3 ‘‘(B) characteristics of internet offenders, 

4 including the interest of online offenders in in5 cest-themed material, sadism, and other related 

6 paraphilias or illegal activity.’’. 

7 (d) DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF TASK FORCES.— 

8 Section 104 of the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 

9 (34 U.S.C. 21114) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (3)— 

11 (A) by inserting ‘‘reactive and’’ before 

12 ‘‘proactive’’; 

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘conduct digital’’ before 

14 ‘‘forensic examinations’’; and 

15 (C) by inserting ‘‘engage in’’ before ‘‘effec16 tive prosecutions’’; 

17 (2) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(8) investigate, seek prosecution with respect 

20 to, and identify child victims from leads relating to 

21 Internet crimes against children, including 

22 CyberTipline reports, with prioritization determined 

23 according to circumstances and by each task force, 

24 as described in section 102(3);’’; 

25 (3) by striking paragraph (9); and 


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1 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (10) and (11) 

2 as paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively. 

3 (e) NATIONAL INTERNET CRIMES AGAINST CHIL4 DREN DATA SYSTEM.—Section 105 of the PROTECT 

5 Our Children Act of 2008 (34 U.S.C. 21115) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘shall estab8 lish’’ and inserting ‘‘may establish’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘continue and 

10 build upon Operation Fairplay developed by the Wy11 oming Attorney General’s office, which has estab12 lished a secure, dynamic undercover infrastructure 

13 that has facilitated’’ and inserting ‘‘facilitate’’; and 

14 (3) in subsection (g)— 

15 (A) by striking paragraph (3); 

16 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (4) 

17 through (8) as paragraphs (3) through (7), re18 spectively; and 

19 (C) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated, 

20 by striking ‘‘1 representative’’ and inserting ‘‘2 

21 representatives’’. 

22 (f) ICAC GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 106 of the 

23 PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 (34 U.S.C. 21116) 

24 is amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (2)(B)(ii)(II), by striking 

2 ‘‘Operation Fairplay,’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

4 (i) by striking subparagraph (A) and 

5 inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(A) Not less than 20 percent of the total 

7 funds appropriated to carry out this section 

8 shall be distributed to support the ICAC Task 

9 Force Program through grants to— 

10 ‘‘(i) provide training and technical as11 sistance to members of the ICAC Task 

12 Force Program; 

13 ‘‘(ii) maintain, enhance, research, and 

14 develop tools and technology to assist 

15 members of the ICAC Task Force Pro16 gram; 

17 ‘‘(iii) provide other support to the 

18 ICAC Task Force Program determined by 

19 the Attorney General; 

20 ‘‘(iv) conduct research; 

21 ‘‘(v) support the annual National Law 

22 Enforcement Training on Child Exploi23 tation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and 

24 Delinquency Prevention; and 

25 ‘‘(vi) provide wellness training.’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (d)(1)— 

2 (A) in subparagraph (B)— 

3 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

4 the end; 

5 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘, in6 cluding’’ and all that follows through 

7 ‘‘such crime under State law.’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (iii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(iv) the number of child victims iden12 tified.’’; 

13 (B) by striking subparagraph (D); and 

14 (C) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) 

15 through (G) as subparagraphs (D) through (F), 

16 respectively. 

17 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

18 107(a) of the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 (34 

19 U.S.C. 21117(a)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

21 end; 

22 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at 

23 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(11) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; 


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1 ‘‘(12) $80,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; and 

2 ‘‘(13) $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2027.’’. 

3 (h) ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COMPUTER FORENSIC

4 LABS.—The PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 (34 

5 U.S.C. 21101 et seq.) is amended by striking title II. 

6 (i) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS OF PROVIDERS.— 

7 Section 2258A(c) of title 18, United States Code, is 

8 amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by in9 serting ‘‘and all supplemental data included in the report’’ 

10 after ‘‘each report made under subsection (a)(1)’’. 

Æ 


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