WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment offered by Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI), which would increase funding for a division of the Department of Homeland Security that has taken a lead role in prosecuting online child pornography.   The Cyber Crimes Unit of the Department’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would receive nearly $5 million in additional funding under the Stupak amendment, which passed the House overwhelmingly by a vote of 348 to 74. 

“We must use every tool at our disposal to combat the scourge of sexual exploitation of children on the Internet,” Stupak said.  “ICE has been on the frontlines of battling this burgeoning online child pornography industry.”

Since 2003, ICE’s Operation PREDATOR, which is administered through the Cyber Crimes Center, has arrested more than 7,500 child predators, more than 88% of whom were non-US citizens. 

The Cyber Crimes Center was funded at only just over $6 million dollars last year, but has already been recognized as being at the forefront in the fight against child exploitation and internet crime.  Stupak’s amendment would add $5 million dollars to Immigration and Customs Enforcement salaries and expenses, which would be used by the Cyber Crimes Center to expand their operations.  The $5 million would be offset by a reduction in the Office of the Secretary, which is funded at over $95 million in the base bill.

“This is an innovative program that is doing great work to protect kids,” Stupak said.  “I am pleased that my colleagues saw the value in increasing funding for this project.”

The Cyber Crimes Center uses sophisticated investigative techniques to target violators who operate on the Internet.  The Center has worked previously with organizations such as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children as well as state and local law enforcement on the National Child Victim Identification Program to successfully investigate leads and assist in identifying violators.

“The Cyber Crimes Center at Immigration and Customs Enforcement is doing important work in apprehending online child pornographers,” said Ernie Allen, president & CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  “Congressman Stupak was right to obtain additional funding for this program.”

Stupak said that the online child pornography industry has grown at an alarming rate.  “One in five children report having been sexually solicited on the Internet and 3.5 million pornographic images of children are now estimated to be in circulation,” Stupak said.  “Online child pornography is a growing, multi-billion dollar industry that must be stopped.

The top Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Stupak has taken a lead on a recent series of hearings examining the scope of child pornography on the Internet.  In April, Stupak successfully offered to a broader telecommunications bill an amendment that would order the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on Internet Service Providers that allow the transmission of child pornography on their systems. 

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