We live in a new day and age, when our children are being exposed to more threats at school, in their own neighborhoods and even on the internet. In 1998, I helped to establish the Missing and Exploited Children’s Caucus in Congress in order to bring more attention to legislation and issues that provide law enforcement and parents with the tools they need to keep children safe.

I have been honored to become a leader on this issue in Washington, sponsoring
legislation that ensures organizations that deal with children have proper background checks, strengthens sex offender laws and eliminates child pornography.

* Sponsored legislation signed by the President that gives volunteer organizations that work with children, such as scouting and sports groups, access to FBI fingerprint-based background checks to ensure that they are not inadvertently hiring child molesters.

* Sponsored legislation toughening the penalties for those who hurt children.

* Joined forces with the Administration and Congress to fight child predators.

* Authored the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which has passed both the House and Senate and which will overhaul the way predatory pedophiles are tracked and monitored.

* Introduced and cosponsored legislation designed to eliminate child pornography and exploitive child modeling web sites.

* Worked closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and John Walsh (host of FOX TV’s "America’s Most Wanted") on a variety of child protection programs. Among the latest of these is a program designed to show children how to protect themselves from online predators.