I Prayed have prayed
Father, we thank You for every effort to rescue children from exploitation and abuse. Give wisdom to our leaders as they work to keep these children safe!
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Nearly 90,000 unidentified children facing sexual abuse will finally be helped thanks to House Republicans funding the largest investment to fight child exploitation andĀ trafficking.

Pray for your fellow intercessor.

 

A provision included in the newly passed Department of Homeland Security funding bill will allow 200 new investigators to identify victims of child sexual abuse.

ā€œRight now, 89,000 unidentified image series of children being sexually abused have been seen by law enforcement—but these children have yet to be identified and are still waiting to be found due to resource and manpower shortages,ā€ Tim Tebow, founder and chairman of the Tim Tebow Foundation, said.

ā€œToday, we acted. I am grateful to our congressional leaders for getting thisĀ lifesaving legislationĀ over the finish line, and to the law enforcement who never stop fighting for these kids,ā€ Tebow continued.

House Republicans passed the $70 billion party-line budget bill, theĀ Secure America Act, to fully fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The bill passed Tuesday night, 214–212, with all Republicans voting ā€œyesā€ and all Democrats voting ā€œno.ā€

The Renewed Hope Act was included to allocate $108.5 million to hire 200 additional victim identification analysts, forensic analysts, and investigators to identify unknown children seen in sexual images. Now they can be located, and future potential child victims can be safeguarded.

TebowĀ testified before CongressĀ in March, where he brought this escalating crisis of online child exploitation to lawmakers’ attention.

He told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism that there are over 330,000 unique IP addresses that have downloaded, shared, or distributed child-rape images in the United States in less than a year.

He highlighted the widening gap between the scale of exploitation and available federal resources; prior to this passage, there were only seven analysts whose job it was to find and protect tens of thousands of children. Now there will be 200.

ā€œMy legislation with Tim Tebow to rescue thousands of children trapped in sex trafficking just passed the House and is headed to the president’s desk,ā€ saidĀ Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.,Ā who spearheaded the legislation. ā€œThis is the biggest surge against online child exploitation ever by the federal government. It’s time to rescue these kids.ā€

Tebow credited multiple members who helped author this legislation, including Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Lucy McBath of Georgia, and Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, all of whom decided to vote against the final passage due to it being connected to ICE funding.

ā€œMy prayer is that hope is renewed for many more boys and girls, and that their stories will be different because of this legislation. When we come together, real change can happen—and this is just the beginning,ā€ Tebow said in a press release following the vote.

How are you praying for vulnerable children, trafficking victims, and those working to rescue them? Share your prayers and scriptures below.

This article was originally published at The Daily Signal. Photo Credit: Tim Tebow Foundation on Unsplash.

Comments (0) Print

Comments

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

No comments have been posted yet; you can be the first!

Partner with Us

Intercessors for America is the trusted resource for millions of people across the United States committed to praying for our nation. If you have benefited from IFA's resources and community, please consider joining us as a monthly support partner. As a 501(c)3 organization, it's through your support that all this possible.

Dave Kubal
IFA President
Become a Monthly Partner

Share

Click below to share this with others

Log in to Join the Conversation

Log in to your IFA account to start a discussion, comment, pray, and interact with our community.