Chairwoman Mikulski Announces Senate Passage of CJS Bill that Puts Funds in the Federal Checkbook to Keep Children Safe
Justice Department funding bill includes $265 million to protect America’s children
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) announced Senate passage of the 2010 CJS Appropriations bill. The funding bill provides $265 million to protect our nation’s children from predators and $27.4 billion for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to help fight crime and terrorism, and protect communities and families.
“We have made some amazing progress over the years, starting out with billboards and milk cartons. But crimes have gotten more sophisticated, and we’ve had to become more sophisticated,” Chairwoman Mikulski said. “Our bill focuses the resources of the federal government on child predators like a laser. I will keep doing my part in this war against child predators to help keep our children safe.”
Chairwoman Mikulski has fought for increased funding to provide DOJ with the tools they need to prevent, investigate and prosecute crimes against children, including:
• $52 million for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Innocent Images program to catch deviants who use the Internet to prey on children and to break up international sex trafficking rings.
• $40 million to expand federal, state and local law enforcement efforts to protect our nation’s most vulnerable by locating missing children, and targeting, dismantling and prosecuting predatory child molesters and those who traffic in child pornography.
• $36 million to hire 50 new assistant U.S. Attorneys to prosecute sex offenders.
• $35 million to hire 100 new Deputy U.S. Marshals to track down and arrest fugitive sex offenders.
• $30 million to train state and local law enforcement to track down and arrest child predators stalking children on the Internet.
• $20 million for local law enforcement predator units to detect, apprehend and prosecute sex offenders who victimize children.
• $16 million for grants to school districts to keep kids safe at school with officers and equipment.
• $15 million for counseling, witness protection and relocation for victims of trafficking.
• $5 million for the FBI’s Innocence Lost program to rescue children forced into prostitution and sex trafficking.
In the next step of the appropriations process, the House and Senate will work out the differences between their versions of the bill, which will then be approved a final time by both legislative bodies before being signed into law.
