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With more than 69 million images of exploited and abused children found online last year, Ohio Congressman Anthony Gonzalez (16th District of Ohio) and colleagues across the aisle, have put through a bill for increased funding in the form of a 2021 budget request of $105 million.

In the past, nowhere near this amount has been approved, and far less has been actually paid out, hamstringing law enforcement when the problem is growing bigger year after year.

From his website:

Congressman Gonzalez has met with law enforcement, including the Cleveland Federal Bureau of Investigations office, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to hear directly from those on the frontlines on what Congress can do better. ICAC task forces in communities across the country are tasked with responding to reports of child exploitation within their jurisdictions. Congress has continuously underfunded the ICAC program, appropriating around half the amount authorized. NCMEC, the clearinghouse that intakes reports from technology companies about child exploitation on their platforms and directs them to the appropriate law enforcement jurisdiction, is facing such a large volume of reports that they are not able to address them all. Congressman Gonzalez’s requested increase in funding for Missing and Exploited Children Programs would help to adequately resource both ICAC and NCMEC to more effectively combat the spread of online child exploitation. https://anthonygonzalez.house.gov/

His legislation is both bipartisan and bicameral — meaning his co-sponsors represent both parties, in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Even possibly more interesting is his request that the US Government Accountability Office answer multiple pertinent questions as to how they plan to address some of these most pressing questions, such as:

What policies and procedures are in place to make sure that federal agencies are adequately funded?

What processes are in place to ensure that federal agencies are cooperating and sharing information with local and state agencies?

How is the effectiveness of the various federal agencies measured and reported?

To read the entire text, click on the letter below.

I’ll be interested to see what answers he gets back. While I don’t have high expectations, I truly hope it will be honest and informative. Watch this space for an answer when it’s received.

Photo by Darren Halstead on Unsplash

Originally published at https://dougbardwell.com on March 10, 2020.