WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) released the following statements after their PROTECT Our Children Act, which would reauthorize and modernize the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, was signed into law by President Trump as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026:

“The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program has a long history of equipping our law enforcement officers with the tools needed to safeguard children online and hold perpetrators accountable,” said Sen. Cornyn. “This legislation will reauthorize and update this critical program to address the evolving digital threat landscape and protect our children from these heinous crimes, and I’m glad it is now the law of the land thanks to President Trump.”

“The PROTECT our Children Act—bipartisan legislation to fight child exploitation and abuse online—is now law,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “Put into action, our measure will ensure that Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces and their law enforcement partners have the tools and resources they need to protect kids from online predators and hold bad actors accountable.”

“The threats children face are growing by the day, and Congress has a responsibility to ensure law enforcement has the resources needed to protect them,” said Sen. Blackburn. “By signing the PROTECT Our Children Act into law, President Trump has reauthorized and modernized the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program to help identify predators, stop abuse, and keep kids safe.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is also a cosponsor of this legislation.

Background:

The Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program helps state and local law enforcement agencies develop an effective response to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and Internet crimes against children. This encompasses forensic and investigative components, training and technical assistance, victim services, and community education. This national network of 61 coordinated task forces represents more than 5,400 federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies engaged in both proactive and reactive investigations, forensic investigations, and criminal prosecutions.

From 1998 to 2022, ICAC Task Forces trained more than 826,700 law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and other professionals on techniques to investigate and prosecute ICAC-related cases. They also reviewed more than 1.4 million reports of online child exploitation, which resulted in the arrest of more than 123,790 suspects.

The PROTECT Our Children Act would:

• Update and modernize the requirements for the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, including requiring the U.S. Department of Justice to provide detailed, useful information on efforts to protect children nationwide;
• Provide liability protection for ICAC Task Forces in the course of conducting criminal investigations of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and child abuse material;
• Make needed technical improvements and clarifications to the statutory text of the program to match it to current technology and needs;
• Focus the ICAC program on both proactive and reactive investigations;
• And reauthorize the ICAC Program through 2028.

The PROTECT Our Children Act is endorsed by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), National Children’s Alliance, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), Rights 4 Girls, National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), Raven, Fraternal Order of Police, Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA), and the National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC) and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA). 

Sen. Cornyn has long championed the ICAC Task Force Program and has led its reauthorization efforts in the U.S. Senate since 2017.