Protect Our Children

In a few days the Senate will be voting on Senate Bill 1738 - the Protect Our Children Act of 2008.

I learned about this bill on Oprah yesterday, during a most disturbing episode in which she educates us on the wide-spread problem of internet child pornography. 15,000 images are traded each day. Like baseball cards. I cried and was sick to my stomach through it all. One guest, who works on a task force tracking the computers the images originate from, said it's like floating in the midst of a sea of drowning children and you look around and decide which one you can save that day. Only one.

Why is our country devoting billions of dollars to fighting wars that are not our own, when our own countries children are being victimized and exploited on a daily basis? 85% of children who are molested are done so by someone they know. 35% are molested by their own parents. Why is this treated like a shameful secret, hidden away and ignored by our leaders, hoping that maybe if we don't acknowledge it, it will go away? But it won't go away, it will only get worse.

I wonder, what can we, parents who loves our own children, do to help? Go to Oprah's website, www.oprah.com. Read the story of yesterday's episode. Then go to www.senate.gov and send your senator the following letter:

Dear Senator:

I know that you believe, like I do, that we must do everything possible to protect children from sexual predators. That is why I am asking for your help.

Last year alone, U.S. law enforcement identified over 300,000 criminals who were trafficking in movies and pictures of young children being raped and tortured. Experts say that one in every three of these criminals has local child victims. Child pornography trafficking over the Internet has given us a trail of evidence that leads straight to their doorsteps, but the vast majority of these children will never be rescued because investigators are overwhelmed, outnumbered and underfunded.

As your constituent, I urge you to do everything in your power to pass the PROTECT Our Children Act (S. 1738, Biden-Hatch). This bipartisan legislation passed the House 415-2, but it is now the victim of petty partisan politics.

Now that we know where these children are and how to protect them, there is no excuse for the Senate to fail to take action this session.

(Your name here)

The Protect Our Children Act of 2008 will:
~Authorize over $320 million over the next five years in desperately needed funding for law enforcement to investigate child exploitation.
~Mandate that child rescue be a top priority for law enforcement receiving federal funding.
~Allocate funds for high-tech computer software that can track down Internet predators.

With enough government funding, each police department can have staff dedicated solely to tracking, arresting, and prosecuting people who hurt children. Our nation can not afford NOT to do this. Our children are the most important citizens of our country and do not deserve to be ignored by it.