Comey will brief members of the House Intelligence Committee to answer questions about russias influence in the 2016 president ial election. Well have live coverage monday morning at 10 00 eastern on cspan 3. Back in the house judiciary committee, prosecutors of crimes against children testified on the federal policy that helps and hurts their efforts. A warning that some of the testimony is graphic in nature and may not be sitabe suitable younger viewers. The committee will come to order. The subskmity of Homeland Security and investigations. We welcome everyone to todays hearing on combatting crimes against children. And i will recognize myself for an Opening Statement and then i will recognize the gentleman from michigan and the chairman of the full committee if hes able to make it and we will begin our questioning. So i want to thank each of you for being here today. Todays hearing address is one of the most difficult to contemplate. The societys most vulnerable, which would be our children. Public safety is the preeminent function and protecting those who cannot fully protect themselves is most important. Today begins our exploitation of women and to evaluate the effectiveness of these laws and Work Together across every perverbial aisle and make sure our laws are effective as possible. Strengthen where feed needed. Want to thank our witnesses for being here today and more importantly for every day other than today. While youre living out your commitment and dedication to preventing Child Exploitation and abuse. No longer is it simply physical proximity that puts our children in danger. The internet have created an alternative world where they can exploit our children through just a few strokes on the keyboard. Not only are they finding vulnerable victims, theyre finding others that share their depravities, leading to even more egregious and criminal behavior. The images being produced on the internet today target even younger children including infants with ever more graphic images. Congress has enacted a number of lieus from exploitation. In 1984 they established the National Center for preventing child abduction and Sexual Exploitation. Find missing children and to assist victims and their families. Its played a Critical Role in not only contributing to Public Awareness on the internet but also in assisting Law Enforcement by facilitating the reporting of these creams so they can be rescued. Tragically more often than not, redistributed time and time again, the victim can be revictimized hundreds of times over. This permanent depiction of abuse can effect them the remainder of their lives. There is no statute of limitations on your own personal suffering. This National Center for missing and exploited children, were able to use certain technology so we can assure theyre fully able to seek justice. In 1998, Congress Passed the crimes against children and Violent Offender act. 2006 the adam walsh act was signed into law. Under this federal statute came the national registry. Which requires each state to require public posting data on the internet and created a Justice Department for Registration Requirements. 1998 the department of justice established the task force to investigate internet crimes against children. This has been incredibly successful. In 2015 alone, they conducted more than 54,000 investigations and 61,000 forensic exams. These efforts resulting in the arrest of more than 8500 suspects. In the wake of evolving technologies and new ways to commit crimes, congress has passed law to combat child pornography and we passed the child victims act paid for by defendants to achieve the Financial Support needed for recovery. Remarkable progress has been made in preventing crimes as well as prosecuting these offenses. But there is more to do. Predators will continue to do everything to remain undeticketed and it is our fundamental and constitutional duty to track down these predators. Children are the most vulnerable and innocent of victims. They are completely dependent on us. They mare thet greatest protections our law allows, the most severe form of punishment the law alloallows. This includes everything from preventing the crimes from occurring, strengthening the prosecution and pretrial methodologies. So children are interviewed as few times as possible by trained p professionals who know hoato talk to and listen to children and assuring victims of access to fully aid them in the recovery process. So with that i would thank our witnesses again and would recognize the gentleman from michigan. Thank you, mr. Chairman. May i read the three sentences of congresswoman jackson lee who is another committee . Yes, sir. Thank you. What was what is said in her behalf. Our Ranking Member congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee is also a member of the House Budget Committee which is currently the d baiting the health care bill. She will not be able to attend this hearing today but she expresses her passion for combatting crimes against children which is a major problem in her district and the city of houston. In the form of human trafficking. As Ranking Member of the subcommittee and founder and chair of the childrens caucus, she pledges her support to Work Together to create a legal system that protects all our children and punishes the perpetrators of crimes against children. And now on my own behalf i want to mention that todays hearings, mr. Chairman and members by this subcommittee will discuss the disturbing issue of the criminal victimization of children. With all of our efforts to fight the various forms of Child Exploitation it continues to be a threat to our young people. However, we develop strategies to both prevent and respond to these crimes. And to assist in the many children who were victims. I trust we will learn about the strat aeegies that are working how we can do better. In april of last year the department of justice reported to us that the main threats in this area in the next five years will be child pornography, sex extortion, child sex trafficking, sex offender registry violations, and child sex tourism. Response to these crimes involve an intricate network of federal, state, local Law Enforcement and prosecutorial agencies and private nonprofit organizations and advocates supported a direct federal funding authorizations funding and grant programs. All working together to keep our youngest constituents safe from harm. Today we will hear from individuals representing some of the entities involved in this necessary mission and their roles illustrate the ways we can do more and do better. Were proud to have these four witnesses with us. First we in Congress Must recognize that while we can enact federal legislation, state and local Law Enforcement are on the front lines and we must support their partnerships with federal agencies. The internet crimes against Children Task force program funded through the Justice Departments office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention provides training and regularly conducts undercover online investigative operations. Since Congress Mandated creation of this program, 3,500 federal, state and local Law Enforcement and prosecutorial agencies have joined to form 61 coordinated Regional Task forces. These task forces are especially important now because were seeing nan crease in crimes perpetratored against children on the internet. Professor Patrick Beaver from the louden county Virginia Sheriffs Office will speak to us today about his successes that his office have enjoyed working with the Northern Virginia internet crimes against Children Task force to conduct an operation targeting internet predators last year. Next we must provide special eased assistance to families, victims and Law Enforcement to help prevent child abductions. Recover missing children. Identify and assist victims of child pornography. And child sex trafficking. That is the mission of the National Center for missing and exploited children. Well hear from their representative today about what their experiencing in providing this assistance. As a former local and federal prosecutor, she will also help us about the challenges a at the state and local levels and fighting these crimes and enforcing our laws. All of this will help us consider legislation to amend and reauthorize important statutes such as the adam walsh act and the trafficking victims protection act. Clearly we must do more to prevent and investigate these crimes. And especially assist their many victims. When we do apprehend and convict defenders, we must recognize that most of them will be released back into society at some point. The sex offender registration and notification act is intended to establish a nation wide system of monitoring and trafficking sex offenders. Particularly after their release from prison. Currently there are over 850,000 registered sex offenders in this country. If were going to have such a system, we must insure that it is used in an appropriate circumstances and in the most effective manner. However, only 17 states are insubstantialal compliance with its requirements. States, policy makers, researchers and advocates continue to object to the requirements established by sorna for many reasons. One of the most pervasive criticisms of sorna is the inclusion of juveniles on registries. Miss Nicole Pitman is here today to discuss the real impact of juvenile registration on the juveniles, their families, and the overall effectiveness of sorna. I thank the chairman for holding this hearing on this important topic. We all wish the child explo exploitation could be eradicated but the problem persists. With what we learned today i hope we can Work Together to come closer to achieving your goal. I thank the chair. Chair, thanks the gentleman from michigan and recognizes the gentleman from california. Mr. Goodlat. Except im from virginia. What did i say . California. Whatever i said. I meant virginia. Mr. Chairman, not with standing that, i am very pleased youre holding this hearing and i thank you for the opportunity to say a few words about it. Its a very important hearing on combatting crimes against children. Progress has been made in preventing and prosecuting Child Exploitation crimes but theres still work to be done. Bureau of justice and statistics reported that 67 of Sexual Assault were juveniles under the age of 18. 34 of all victims were under age 12. These statistics are unacceptable and especially frightening in light of the fact that most child sexual abuse goes unreported. It is for this reason we must remain vigilant in protecting the most vulnerable and innocent victims of crime, our children. As a father and grandfather i can think of no more Important Role for Law Enforcement. Congress has taken important steps to keep victims from children in the first place. This includes the passage of the adam walsh protection and safety act, a comprehensive set of National Guidelines for state sexual registries. These are crucial to make sure theyre not evading state and federal Law Enforcement and not having unsurprised interactions with children. I appreciate the quirk of the united marshals and the center for missing and exploited children in this effort. People who pose a very real risk to our children. U. S. Martiashall were tasked wi this mission in the original adam waulg act in 2006 and have worked at apprehending visitors. But so Important Information can be easily shared between jurisdictions. I thank congressman for his introduction of the adam walsh reacts aration act, necessary to keep the good accomplished by this act and improve the system to be more just. Sex offenders will go to Great Lengths to get close to children to gain their trust and take advantage of their naivety. That is why its important that organizations that serve children and which are meant to provide children with mentors can be sure their volunteers and employees do not have a history of predatory behavior. I commend them for introducing the child act. We have a distinguished panel of witnesses here today to discuss this difficult subject. People who have dedicated their careers to protecting children and familiar with the pervasive nature of these crimes and ending them. I look forward to hearing from our panel in the problems being encountered in preventing and investigating these crimes and what congress and the states can do to further combat them. Congress has passed a number of bills to combat the cries of Child Exploitation in the United States. We must keep up with this ever evolving criminal behavior. I tlank all of you for being here today and i yield pack. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman from the commonwealth of virginia j ask forgiveness again for putting him anywhere but the commonwealth of virginia. If you would please rise and lift your right hands. Do you swear the testimony youre about to give before this committee the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . Let the record indicate that all witnesses answered in the affirmative. I will introduce you as a group and then recognize you individually. I would tell you up front all members have access to your Opening Statements. All members either have or will read your Opening Statements so the extent you can sums are it within the five minute time period taeso members can get to their questions. The Vice President of the exploited Children Division at the National Center for missing and exploited children. And miss francy, former ausa and Child Exploitation prevention and introduction. Our third witness is bieber of the louden county sheriffs office. Hes a member of the internet crimes against Children Task force and our fourth witness is ms. Nicole pitman, the Vice President and director on youth registration reform at impact justice. Mr. Shannon, youre recognized for five minutes. Im the Vice President of the exploited Child Division at the national senter for missing and exploited children. Ive been with them for 17 years and served in my role as Vice President since 2015. It was created in 1984 as a private nonprofit organization. Our mission is to help reunite families with missing children, help reduce Child Exploitation. Our founders are walsh. Its funded by both the private and public sectors which inallows us to engage in the problem of missing and exploited children. It has multiple programs to help families that serve them and on cases of sexually exploited children. More specifically it has two core programs to facilitate child sexual abuse content and identify victims. The cyber tip line. They launched the cyber tip line in 1998 to give a way of reporting cases of exploitation. Federal law now requires Electronic Service providers to report that they become aware of on their systems on the tip line. Cyber tip line reports are reviewed by the staff that look over the content and then make the reports available for Law Enforcement for potential review by Law Enforcement. Triage 24 7 to make sure any children in imminent danger are given first priority. We have received more than 18 million reports. The number continue to increase exponentially year after year and we average more than 250,000 reports per week. In the first two months of 2017 we received more than 2 million reports into the cyber tip line. That can bow attributed to the Technology Companies who voluntarily choose to proactively find videos on their platform using hash values referred to as digital finger prints. Even though our focus is on domestic crimes, many come into the u. S. Base companies. As a result, it has grown into a globally recognized Clearing House for these issues and makes repourts iveilable to more than 100 National Police forces around the world. As our nations Clearing House, they also provide Key Opportunities to discover emerging trends in Sexual Exploitation. While we do not see any