President Bush's FY 2008 budget proposal for the Department of Justice (DOJ) includes $25.4 million in program increases for crimes against children and obscenity.
"The resources requested in this year's budget represent the Department of Justice's commitment to protecting our nation's security on many fronts," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "We have made important strides in identifying and prosecuting suspected terrorists, safeguarding children against Internet predators, and protecting communities from the havoc of drugs and gun crime. This budget will robustly support our most efficient, effective and essential programs and functions."
Of a requested $21.8 billion in discretionary funding, the 2008 budget proposal provides $12.5 million for Gonzales' Project Safe Childhood initiative. While the official website for Project Safe Childhood focuses solely on child predators, the DOJ now refers to the program as targeting "purveyors of child pornography and obscenity."
The FY 2008 President's request also provides funding for efforts to pursue child obscenity and abduction cases, as well as for aggressive efforts against online child pornographers and molesters. Finally, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 directs the Department to collaborate with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to target and take into custody the approximately 100,000 non-compliant sex offenders who are believed to be living in the United States.
The President's FY 2008 budget also provides $12.8 million in program increases for the United States Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prisons to implement sex offender tracking and management initiatives that comply with the Walsh Act.
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