Doing Something About It

I'm not sure if anyone caught the Oprah episode about Child Predator's in America. If you did, then you already know how disturbing it was and heart wrenching to watch. If you didn't see it, I would only say that you need to be in the right frame of mind to do so, and even then you'll need tissues and to lie down afterwards.

Watching these types of things for me is akin to ripping open a long healed scar and oozing it all over. I KNOW the pain. I GET it. I feel it all over again like I did back when I was the little girl I was.

The problem is not that people are unaware of these monsters. The problem is these animals are escalating in their brazen ways, making actual movies to share with their fellow sickos. They are making them of girls, boys, toddlers, and babies. SOMEONE'S babies. OUR babies. Fucking BABIES, for fuck's sake. Do NOT underestimate the magnitude of child predators that can access your kids. These people are your kid's teachers, coaches, neighbors and family members. My uncle was my nightmare.

There are brave men and women who make it their life mission to save these kids. But, they are poorly understaffed, underfunded and overwhelmed. They leave their jobs every day knowing that the stack of kids' files left on their desks, the ones they could not get to, are kids that will have to endure another day of hell.

Disgusted enough to do something about it? I was too.

There is a bill RIGHT NOW awaiting to be approved that will appoint the much needed funding to these law enforcement officials to get these fuckers off the streets and away from our kids. The bill is called Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act.

The PROTECT Our Children Act 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.

HERE' WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Act Now!
Your U.S. senators will be voting on the bill soon, so it is crucial you contact them immediately.
Go to www.senate.gov to find contact information for the senators in your state. Search for your senator by name or state by clicking on the arrow from either dropdown menu. Contact information is provided here. To send an e-mail, click on "Web Form" below his or her name, and e-mail your letter to make a difference!

You can go to Oprah's site for all of the details. She even gives a sample letter to use. I'll paste it in here as well.

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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)

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So, go - contact your state Senator and tell them they need to protect your children and mine. Do it today. The bill is only up until September 26th and then they recess. Please, help me. Feel free to link back to this on your own site, we need every Mom in America to fight for our kid's safety.