I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1998 

To continue operation of the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) 

Child Rescue Corps, a Cyber Crimes Center, a Child Exploitation Investigations Unit, a Computer Forensics Unit, and a Cyber Crimes Unit 

to support the mission of the Homeland Security Investigations directorate of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement to combat the exploitation of children. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2015 

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. POE of Texas, Mrs. LAWRENCE, 

Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CLAY, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Ms. 

MENG, Ms. BASS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 

CHABOT, Ms. WILSON of Florida, and Mr. KILMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 

in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To continue operation of the Human Exploitation Rescue 

Operative (HERO) Child Rescue Corps, a Cyber Crimes 

Center, a Child Exploitation Investigations Unit, a Computer Forensics Unit, and a Cyber Crimes Unit to support the mission of the Homeland Security Investigations 

directorate of United States Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement to combat the exploitation of children. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1998 IH

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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Human Exploitation Rescue Operations Act of 2015’’ or 

6 the ‘‘HERO Act of 2015’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The illegal market for the production and 

9 distribution of child abuse imagery is a growing 

10 threat to children in the United States. International 

11 demand for this material creates a powerful incen12 tive for the rape, abuse, and torture of children 

13 within the United States. 

14 (2) The targeting of United States children by 

15 international criminal networks is a threat to the 

16 homeland security of the United States. This threat 

17 must be fought with trained personnel and highly 

18 specialized counter-child-exploitation strategies and 

19 technologies. 

20 (3) The United States Immigration and Cus21 toms Enforcement of the Department of Homeland 

22 Security serves a critical national security role in 

23 protecting the United States from the growing inter24 national threat of child exploitation and human traf25 ficking. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1998 IH

1 (4) The Cyber Crimes Center of the United 

2 States Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a 

3 vital national resource in the effort to combat inter4 national child exploitation, providing advanced ex5 pertise and assistance in investigations, computer 

6 forensics, and victim identification. 

7 (5) The returning military heroes of the United 

8 States possess unique and valuable skills that can 

9 assist law enforcement in combating global sexual 

10 and child exploitation, and the Department of 

11 Homeland Security should use this national resource 

12 to the maximum extent possible. 

13 (6) Through the Human Exploitation Rescue 

14 Operative (HERO) Child Rescue Corps program, the 

15 returning military heroes of the United States are 

16 trained and hired to investigate crimes of child ex17 ploitation in order to target predators and rescue 

18 children from sexual abuse and slavery. 

19 SEC. 2. CYBER CRIMES CENTER, CHILD EXPLOITATION IN20 VESTIGATIONS UNIT, AND COMPUTER 

21 FORENSICS UNIT. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 

23 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 

24 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1998 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 890A. CYBER CRIMES CENTER, CHILD EXPLOITATION 

2 INVESTIGATIONS UNIT, COMPUTER 

3 FORENSICS UNIT, AND CYBER CRIMES UNIT. 

4 ‘‘(a) CYBER CRIMES CENTER.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall oper6 ate, within United States Immigration and Customs 

7 Enforcement, a Cyber Crimes Center (referred to in 

8 this section as the ‘Center’). 

9 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Center 

10 shall be to provide investigative assistance, training, 

11 and equipment to support United States Immigra12 tion and Customs Enforcement’s domestic and inter13 national investigations of cyber-related crimes. 

14 ‘‘(b) CHILD EXPLOITATION INVESTIGATIONS

15 UNIT.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall oper17 ate, within the Center, a Child Exploitation Inves18 tigations Unit (referred to in this subsection as the 

19 ‘CEIU’). 

20 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The CEIU— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall coordinate all United States Im22 migration and Customs Enforcement child ex23 ploitation initiatives, including investigations 

24 into— 

25 ‘‘(i) child exploitation; 

26 ‘‘(ii) child pornography; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1998 IH

1 ‘‘(iii) child victim identification; 

2 ‘‘(iv) traveling child sex offenders; and 

3 ‘‘(v) forced child labor, including the 

4 sexual exploitation of minors; 

5 ‘‘(B) shall, among other things, focus on— 

6 ‘‘(i) child exploitation prevention; 

7 ‘‘(ii) investigative capacity building; 

8 ‘‘(iii) enforcement operations; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) training for Federal, State, local, 

10 tribal, and foreign law enforcement agency 

11 personnel, upon request; 

12 ‘‘(C) shall provide training, technical ex13 pertise, support, or coordination of child exploi14 tation investigations, as needed, to cooperating 

15 law enforcement agencies and personnel; 

16 ‘‘(D) shall provide psychological support 

17 and counseling services for United States Immi18 gration and Customs Enforcement personnel 

19 engaged in child exploitation prevention initia20 tives, including making available other existing 

21 services to assist employees who are exposed to 

22 child exploitation material during investigations; 

23 ‘‘(E) is authorized to collaborate with the 

24 Department of Defense and the National Asso25 ciation to Protect Children for the purpose of 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1998 IH

1 the recruiting, training, equipping and hiring of 

2 wounded, ill, and injured veterans and 

3 transitioning service members, through the 

4 Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) 

5 Child Rescue Corps program; and 

6 ‘‘(F) shall collaborate with other govern7 mental, nongovernmental, and nonprofit entities 

8 approved by the Secretary for the sponsorship 

9 of, and participation in, outreach and training 

10 activities. 

11 ‘‘(3) DATA COLLECTION.—The CEIU shall col12 lect and maintain data concerning— 

13 ‘‘(A) the total number of suspects identi14 fied by United States Immigration and Customs 

15 Enforcement; 

16 ‘‘(B) the number of arrests by United 

17 States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 

18 disaggregated by type, including— 

19 ‘‘(i) the number of victims identified 

20 through investigations carried out by 

21 United States Immigration and Customs 

22 Enforcement; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the number of suspects arrested 

24 who were in positions of trust or authority 

25 over children; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1998 IH

1 ‘‘(C) the number of cases opened for inves2 tigation by United States Immigration and Cus3 toms Enforcement; and 

4 ‘‘(D) the number of cases resulting in a 

5 Federal, State, foreign, or military prosecution. 

6 ‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY OF DATA TO CONGRESS.—In 

7 addition to submitting the reports required under 

8 paragraph (7), the CEIU shall make the data col9 lected and maintained under paragraph (3) available 

10 to the committees of Congress described in para11 graph (7). 

12 ‘‘(5) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The CEIU 

13 is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements to 

14 accomplish the functions set forth in paragraphs (2) 

15 and (3). 

16 ‘‘(6) ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is au18 thorized to accept monies and in-kind donations 

19 from the Virtual Global Taskforce, national lab20 oratories, Federal agencies, not-for-profit orga21 nizations, and educational institutions to create 

22 and expand public awareness campaigns in sup23 port of the functions of the CEIU. 

24 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL ACQUISI25 TION REGULATION.—Gifts authorized under 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1998 IH

1 subparagraph (A) shall not be subject to the 

2 Federal Acquisition Regulation for competition 

3 when the services provided by the entities re4 ferred to in such subparagraph are donated or 

5 of minimal cost to the Department. 

6 ‘‘(7) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

7 date of the enactment of the HERO Act of 2015, 

8 and annually for the following 4 years, the CEIU 

9 shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) submit a report containing a sum11 mary of the data collected pursuant to para12 graph (3) during the previous year to— 

13 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Homeland Se14 curity and Governmental Affairs of the 

15 Senate; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on the Judiciary 

17 of the Senate; 

18 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Appropria19 tions of the Senate; 

20 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Homeland Se21 curity of the House of Representatives; 

22 ‘‘(v) the Committee on the Judiciary 

23 of the House of Representatives; and 

24 ‘‘(vi) the Committee on Appropria25 tions of the House of Representatives; and 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 1998 IH

1 ‘‘(B) make a copy of each report submitted 

2 under subparagraph (A) publicly available on 

3 the website of the Department. 

4 ‘‘(c) COMPUTER FORENSICS UNIT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall oper6 ate, within the Center, a Computer Forensics Unit 

7 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘CFU’). 

8 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The CFU— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall provide training and technical 

10 support in digital forensics to— 

11 ‘‘(i) United States Immigration and 

12 Customs Enforcement personnel; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) Federal, State, local, tribal, mili14 tary, and foreign law enforcement agency 

15 personnel engaged in the investigation of 

16 crimes within their respective jurisdictions, 

17 upon request and subject to the availability 

18 of funds; 

19 ‘‘(B) shall provide computer hardware, 

20 software, and forensic licenses for all computer 

21 forensics personnel within United States Immi22 gration and Customs Enforcement; 

23 ‘‘(C) shall participate in research and de24 velopment in the area of digital forensics, in coVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 May 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1998.IH H1998

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 1998 IH

1 ordination with appropriate components of the 

2 Department; and 

3 ‘‘(D) is authorized to collaborate with the 

4 Department of Defense and the National Asso5 ciation to Protect Children for the purpose of 

6 recruiting, training, equipping, and hiring 

7 wounded, ill, and injured veterans and 

8 transitioning service members, through the 

9 Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) 

10 Child Rescue Corps program. 

11 ‘‘(3) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The CFU 

12 is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements to 

13 accomplish the functions set forth in paragraph (2). 

14 ‘‘(4) ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is au16 thorized to accept monies and in-kind donations 

17 from the Virtual Global Task Force, national 

18 laboratories, Federal agencies, not-for-profit or19 ganizations, and educational institutions to cre20 ate and expand public awareness campaigns in 

21 support of the functions of the CFU. 

22 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL ACQUISI23 TION REGULATION.—Gifts authorized under 

24 subparagraph (A) shall not be subject to the 

25 Federal Acquisition Regulation for competition 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 1998 IH

1 when the services provided by the entities re2 ferred to in such subparagraph are donated or 

3 of minimal cost to the Department. 

4 ‘‘(d) CYBER CRIMES UNIT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall oper6 ate, within the Center, a Cyber Crimes Unit (re7 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘CCU’). 

8 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The CCU— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall oversee the cyber security strat10 egy and cyber-related operations and programs 

11 for United States Immigration and Customs 

12 Enforcement; 

13 ‘‘(B) shall enhance United States Immi14 gration and Customs Enforcement’s ability to 

15 combat criminal enterprises operating on or 

16 through the Internet, with specific focus in the 

17 areas of— 

18 ‘‘(i) cyber economic crime; 

19 ‘‘(ii) digital theft of intellectual prop20 erty; 

21 ‘‘(iii) illicit e-commerce (including hid22 den marketplaces); 

23 ‘‘(iv) internet-facilitated proliferation 

24 of arms and strategic technology; and 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 1998 IH

1 ‘‘(v) cyber-enabled smuggling and 

2 money laundering; 

3 ‘‘(C) shall provide training and technical 

4 support in cyber investigations to— 

5 ‘‘(i) United States Immigration and 

6 Customs Enforcement personnel; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) Federal, State, local, tribal, mili8 tary, and foreign law enforcement agency 

9 personnel engaged in the investigation of 

10 crimes within their respective jurisdictions, 

11 upon request and subject to the availability 

12 of funds; 

13 ‘‘(D) shall participate in research and de14 velopment in the area of cyber investigations, in 

15 coordination with appropriate components of 

16 the Department; and 

17 ‘‘(E) is authorized to recruit participants 

18 of the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative 

19 (HERO) Child Rescue Corps program for inves20 tigative and forensic positions in support of the 

21 functions of the CCU. 

22 ‘‘(3) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The CCU is 

23 authorized to enter into cooperative agreements to 

24 accomplish the functions set forth in paragraph 

25 (2).’’. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 1998 IH

1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

2 of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act 

3 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 note) is amended by adding after 

4 the item relating to section 890 the following: 

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

5 (c) HERO CORPS HIRING.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that Homeland Security Investigations of the United 

7 States Immigration and Customs Enforcement should 

8 hire, recruit, train, and equip wounded, ill, or injured mili9 tary veterans (as defined in section 101, title 38, United 

10 States Code) who are affiliated with the HERO Child Res11 cue Corps program for investigative, intelligence, analyst, 

12 and forensic positions. 

13 (d) INVESTIGATING CHILD EXPLOITATION.—Section 

14 307(b)(3) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

15 U.S.C. 187(b)(3)) is amended— 

16 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

17 the end; 

18 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 

19 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

21 ‘‘(D) conduct research and development for 

22 the purpose of advancing technology for the in23 vestigation of child exploitation crimes, includ24 ing child victim identification, trafficking in 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 1998 IH

1 persons, and child pornography, and for ad2 vanced forensics.’’. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS