It took over two years of hard work and struggle, but the PROTECT Our Children Act was signed into law on October 13, 2008. This landmark legislation sets a course for federal action that could rescue untold thousands of American children. Now, securing full funding for the PROTECT Our Children Act is a top legislative priority for PROTECT in 2011.
July 31, 2011: Elizabeth Smart joined PROTECT on Capitol Hill for meetings last week with members of the U.S. House and Senate.
Our two-part agenda: Hands off the $30 million now in the budget for America’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces and then find another $30 million to fully fund the PROTECT Our Children Act.
Smart, who is now a commentator for ABC News, could fight for a lot of things in Washington. But she’s focused on the same urgent priority as PROTECT: getting desperately needed funding to the ICAC child rescue task forces. The U.S. government knows where hundreds of thousands of child pornography traffickers are right now, and swift action could rescue countless thousands of American children from sexual abuse. But Congress refuses to act.
Smart and PROTECT secured new promises to introduce targeted legislative amendments from several members of Congress, including members of the Tea Party and one powerful Democratic Senate appropriator.
The National Association to Protect Children is a national, pro-child, anti-crime membership association. We are founded on the belief that our first and most sacred obligation as parents, citizens, and members of the human species is the protection of children from harm.
PROTECT is a bipartisan pro-child, anti-crime lobby whose sole focus is making the protection of children a top political and policy priority at the national, state and local level.
