HEARING OF THE COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND THE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE SUBJECT: FY '99 APPROPRIATIONS FOR PROPOSAL TO PREVENT CHILD EXPLOITATION ON THE INTERNET CHAIRED BY: SENATOR JUDD GREGG (R-NH) WITNESSES: LOUIS FREEH, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION ERNEST ALLEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN 192 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING 10:00 A.M. (EST) TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1998 SEN. GREGG: Let's start the hearing of the subcommittee on Commerce and Justice of the Appropriations Committee. And the purpose of today's hearing is to continue a discussion with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children over the issue of the use of the Internet by people who are attempting to take advantage of our children, either through the promotion of child pornography or through the actual attempt to solicit children for sexual activities. A year ago - approximately a year ago we had a hearing where the director was kind enough to go forward and show us some of the initiatives which the agency has undertaken in the area of trying to protect the Internet from predators. And we congratulate the FBI for their initiatives in this area - specifically the [Operation] Innocent Image[s] initiative, which essentially is a sting operation which was initiated at the direction of the director, and which this committee strongly supports. As a result of that hearing, and some of the very moving and disturbing testimony that we heard from parents of kids who had been taken advantage of as a result of their use of the Internet, this committee initiated a significant funding increase and promoted a number of undertakings which have been pursued both by the agency and by the National Center. This hearing is to go over the questions of what additional activity is needed, and what additional funding may be needed. I think we all understand that the Internet is an extraordinary tool, and a great opportunity for everyone in this country, but especially for our children to learn and to have access to information which otherwise would not be available, or which would involve a great deal of complication to get to. I know in my own household my kids are constantly using it for research on all sorts of complex issues that I don't understand - whether it's biology or mathematics and in some instances just learning about the world as it is. In addition, it's a great communication tool. The chat room concept gives kids the opportunities to talk to their friends and to people who they don't know but can meet around the world and hear other thoughts and ideas about what's happening. And so the Internet is a unique and special tool. And from my standpoint it is something we should protect and expand and use aggressively as a positive tool. But unfortunately there are those who have decided to use it inappropriately and as I said yesterday at the announcement of the Cyber Tip line over at the National Center, it used to be that you tell your children don't talk to strangers in the playyard, don't accept candy from a stranger outside the house, don't if you're walking down the street speak to somebody who comes up to you and tries to ask you to do something. But today unfortunately the stranger isn't outside the house. The stranger can be in the house, and he or she can be in the house through the Internet. And so parents have to be extremely sensitive to what their children are doing when they are using the Internet, and there has to be an openness of discussion. And so the first line of defense from abuse of the Internet is obviously parental involvement, parental knowledge, and the education of children as to the threat. And in that area I am sure we will hear from Director Allen of the National Center as to his ideas, and specifically the fact that no child should ever give out their name over the Internet or their address over the Internet, or they certainly should never agree to meet anyone as a result of an Internet contact, unless they tell their parents first, and also they are very sure of who the person is they are communicating with. So these are just obvious things that we need to communicate more effectively about in order to make sure that the Internet is used effectively. And today we are going to hear from Director Freeh as to some of the initiatives which are going forward in the area of law enforcement relative to people who are promoting child pornography over the Internet, and also in the area of trying to catch people who may use the Internet to try to solicit children for sexual activity. So we look forward to an update here. This is an issue that this committee has been aggressively involved in. And the aggressiveness of this committee has been bipartisan. Certainly Senator Hollings, as the ranking member and past chairman, and most knowledgeable person on this committee about its history or its prerogatives has been an extremely strong force for getting us - for supporting the funding initiatives in this area and making sure that the agencies which we have jurisdiction over aggressively pursue the question of trying to protect our children who may use the Internet. So I would yield now to the ranking member, Senator Hollings. SEN. ERNEST HOLLINGS (R-SC): Thank you very, very much, Mr. Chairman. I once again commend you for continuing to lead us on this important score. And I think your comments - don't talk to strangers - brings into mind my main concern that I want to hear from Judge Freeh and Director Allen on how they may emphasize even again a little bit more prevention, because I don't know how to control the Internet. Intentionally this was brought about where you couldn't control it. I'll never forget way back in the early '70s what we were saying if a bomb landed on the Pentagon and all the communications were knocked out, and everything else, how could we handle things, or whatever. And we took the various scientific research projects at the university campuses the country around and started interconnecting them in the defense budget under DARPA - actually Internet is a defense entity, and that's how we got started and said let the economy, let the political system develop an alternative on its own that couldn't be destroyed in a single stroke. Now you and I with a single stroke try to stop pornography on the Internet, and I don't know how to do it. I'm trying. We can hear from the witnesses from their experience on how to make perhaps the violations more severe to deter violators on the one hand; but on the other hand, judge, I want to hear from your good experience - and the big family that continues to grow - how we want to emphasize prevention. Thank you very much. SEN. GREGG: Thank you. Senator Mikulski, who has also been a leader on all these issues that involve children and protect children. SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D-MD): Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and my compliments to you. Mr. Chairman, it is with a great deal of pride that the national headquarters for the FBI's program to fight child pornography and child predators on the Internet is located in my own home state of Maryland. I have had the opportunity to visit our local FBI headquarters to see first-hand these demonstrations. They were shocking. I could not believe that what should be a tool to advance a child's education, should be an opportunity for learning, to take them to vistas all around the world, and even beyond through the NASA Internet, has now then created a virtual playground of which the predators are very, very, very real. The $10 million that we got in last year's appropriation has worked. We have 60 agents who are working in Baltimore. They are out there working to make sure we protect our children from these predators. The - we know that nationwide there have been over 329 arrests - and actually already 184 convictions. We look forward to hearing from Director Freeh how we could further enhance this. We want to make sure that the Internet, and the ability to own a computer in your home, or have access to the Internet in a public library is a tool for learning about the world, and it is not a tool for people to come in, have a virtual playground, or to use chatrooms to seduce little children. And I am going to compliment you on your leadership. And, Director Freeh, I just want you to know that the agents I visited in Baltimore, their sophistication with technology, and their commitment to protecting children was so outstanding it was inspirational, and even wanted me to fight extra hard for the resources you have. SEN. GREGG: Thank you, senator. And, Director Freeh, we look forward to hearing your idea. DIR. FREEH: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senators Hollings and Mikulski, thank you all for your support and your comments. We are very pleased to be here again to talk about these very serious issues specifically as they affect law enforcement and our ability to protect our most precious resource, our children. [missing text] significant. Later this year we're going to convene a national-level symposium on Internet and on-line child pornography cases, where, in conjunction with state and local partners and prosecutors, we will develop what we believe to be better case strategies and better protocols and review the technology available to work on these important cases. With respect to increasing public awareness, which as Mr. Allen noted yesterday is perhaps one of the most important aspects of this entire initiative, the education and the prevention aspect, that's an issue which goes, of course, to the schools and the parents, but also has a law enforcement component. For instance, we're following up on a suggestion which you made last year, Mr. Chairman, and Senator Hollings, with respect to including in our FBI tour the notion of awareness with respect to on-line pornography and child exploitation. And we're in the process now of establishing on that tour, which is seen by 500,000 people per year, videos, perhaps interactive kiosks and displays with respect to the whole issue of child exploitation and vulnerability and using that as another forum for education. With respect to the Innocent Images cases, as Senator Mikulski noted, we have been very, very successful in the investigation and prosecution of those cases. We have over 684 active pending cases at this time; 184 convictions, as the senator, noted. Significantly, 70 of those cases are what we call travelers cases. These are the most serious cases where someone contacts a child or a minor over the Internet and seeks to meet them for illicit sexual purposes, sometimes leading to crimes of violence and even death. Seventy of those cases are identified in our top priority category of travelers. Those are the cases that we react most immediately to with all the resources at our disposal. In addition to the search warrants and arrests, what is also significant and based in part on the resources which are now being utilized from your 1998 appropriation, we have increased the number of search warrants 62 percent, the number of indictments have increased since last year 50 percent, arrests 57 percent, and convictions 45 percent. I would also note that in addition to the national efforts, these cases have international aspects. Currently, approximately 21 of these cases are being worked in part by nine of our legates, nine of our overseas offices which this committee has also strongly supported in terms of establishment and expansion. The Internet has no boundaries. Subjects from countries literally around the world can visit into someone's home for the purposes of committing one of these crimes. So the capability needs to be beyond our borders, since the Internet has no borders. There are challenges, as we mentioned last year as well as last week, with respect to pursuing these cases. The encryption issue is an issue that we need to resolve in some rational as well as effective way. We do have subjects using encryption to commit crimes against children, particularly crimes on the Internet, and that's a continuing source of concern to us but has broad law enforcement implications beyond these cases. With respect to national coordination, we do seek, as I know this committee wishes us to, the ability to coordinate as best we can the various and now proliferating efforts not only by federal law enforcement authorities but by state and local authorities, to avoid a situation where two undercover operatives on the Internet are working against each other and unknown to each other at the time both represent law enforcement agencies. We want to use whatever means and liaisons available as well as the conferences which this appropriation will support, to see if we can establish some basic protocols and guidelines so we can avoid a situation where we're basically wasting resources. And I don't think that's happened yet as far as I know, and we're going to ensure that it doesn't happen in the days to come. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs, based on this committee's funding, as you know, is setting up eight regional state and local task forces which will work very closely with the FBI as well as with the National Center with respect to the pursuit of these cases. In the area of DNA profiles, we are actively pursuing the forensic ability to have a legal but effective DNA database with respect to people convicted of sexual predatory crimes. The average child molester, for instance, we know from studies and statistics, attacks approximately 70 victims throughout his lifetime. With respect to many of those crimes, DNA profiles and DNA databases become a very effective forensic tool in terms of identification and also prevention. If we're being asked to check the employees at a daycare center, we need to have access to a database which serves that very important purposes. The FBI continues to work with the states to establish the CODIS (sp) network. The CODIS network is the DNA identification network. We now have connections with 86 different crime labs in 36 states, including the District of Columbia, with respect to the ability to exchange and compare DNA profiles electronically. At this time, however, there is no comparable effort to collect and maintain DNA samples from individuals convicted federally for sex crimes, and that's an area where I think, both with respect to authorization and certainly appropriation, a good judgment might be had with respect to increasing that forensic ability. With respect to private industry assistance, again, during the past year, as we noted yesterday and as several of the presenters noted, we have had a very good dialogue as well as cooperation with some of the Internet service providers with respect to conducting our investigations, receiving assistance from them to obtain evidence, but also to receive from them suggestions as well as abilities to help educate and work in the prevention area, which of course is very key. We think that many things need to be done and can be done. For instance, manufacturers of software products, particularly those products which are used to access the Internet, could easily in our view include in their products some of the safety publications which are currently available and which are very effective in getting the message across, particularly to children and teens. We would encourage the Internet provider industry to maintain subscriber and call information for a fixed period of time; they now discard it very briefly, unlike the telephone companies. Those are records which are very critical in identifying and even tracing some of the Innocent Images type cases and leads. That would be a very helpful thing and we certainly hope that it could be done, even on a voluntary basis. Caller ID, retaining caller ID by the Internet service providers would be another hopefully voluntary measure that we would help us, and we are in discussions with the providers to see if we can receive that kind of assistance. In general and in conclusion, with respect to our FBI Crimes Against Children Program, we are very proud of this program. We have worked very hard, and I want to commend the FBI special agents and the support employees who have really dedicated themselves to making this program work, which has been recently established but in our view very, very effective. Some of the measures that we've taken, which I know are known to the committee, in February last year we added, as you know, a new dimension to the NCIC which allows law enforcement agencies to flag entries for us where there is some reasonable indication that a child is missing under suspicious circumstances and that that particular child might be a life-threatening situation. And we have a system established where those NCIC flags notify the National Center and also our Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit once they are entered. We have established the International Sex Offender Registry ,which uses the NCIC III Index. To date 23 states are participating in that, with 30,778 records, which are flagged individuals as sexual offenders. In July of 1999, when the NCIC 2000 comes on line, this will be a permanent part of that file. Last May I instructed each of our offices to designate two special agents per office, each of our 56 offices, to serve as crimes against children coordinators with in their particular field and to serve as points of contact for the state and local agencies. One of the efforts that we have pursued and which this particular liaison capacity supports is a manual, which I'll make available to the committee again. It's called the Child abduction Response Plan, which was developed by our Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit. This particular manual is now being distributed to approximately 17,000 police departments in the United States. It is a how-to book, what to do, what not to do, particularly in the first few hours of a child abduction case. And for the majority of police departments in the country which are under a dozen or so sworn officers, this gives them not only some protocols and guidance, but also the means to contact us immediately where we can be of assistance. And we're working with the International Association of Chiefs of Police to distribute that and then follow it up with the liaison that these units, with your additional resources, will provide. We've also established in the FBI Criminal Division a particular office dedicated to crimes against children, not just sexual exploitation and pornography on the Internet but kidnapping cases, violent crimes against children all over the country, particularly on Indian reservations, where that rate is extremely high; parental kidnapping cases; all of the programs and statutes which we enforce which in any way relate to children. This organizes for the first time in the FBI an overview supervision for our programs. And as I noted last week, we did include in our 1999 budget increases with respect to law enforcement resources on Indian country, where the violent crimes, particularly the crimes against children, are phenomenally high. Again, I want to express my gratitude to this committee for its support. As a director, but also as a father of six children, I cannot think of a more important investment with respect to law enforcement. They are our most precious resource. And you have my commitment that we will use these resources wisely and we will work as hard as we can to prevent harm to all these children. Thank you very much. SEN. GREGG: Thank you, Director, for that comprehensive explanation of your efforts, which are also extensive - (off mike). And I guess I'd like to get a little perspective on how big the problem is. I would be interested if you know - or I noticed that Agent Hooper is here from your Baltimore office, who gave us a presentation; she might know. But when you go on-line in one of these sting operations under Innocent Images? How long does it take before you get a potential contact - (off mike) - request or a communication that involves child pornography? How extensive is the problem - (off mike)? MR. FREEH: I'm going to let Agent Hooper speak in a moment, because she is the expert here. But within minutes, literally, of an agent pretending to be a 13- or 14-year-old girl going into a designated chat room, the screen literally lights up with respect to questions and solicitations. And many of those are pursued in terms of our criminal cases. But if I could ask the real expert to come up and - SEN. GREGG: (Inaudible) - Agent Linda Hooper, who's in charge of the Baltimore field office - (inaudible). MS. HOOPER: Generally, when the undercover agents go on-line - SEN. MIKULSKI: Agent Hooper, would you use the microphone? MS. HOOPER: Oh, sorry. Generally, when the undercover agents go on-line, the contact is almost instantaneous. And it's from numerous individuals. Some of the on-line services only allow 23 individuals in a particular chat room at one time, and we've been engaged by 22 of the 23 individuals, us being the 23rd, all at once. SEN. GREGG: So it's a pretty extensive problem. MS. HOOPER: Yes. SEN. GREGG: And it's something that parents should be very worried about. MS. HOOPER: Yes, sir. SEN. GREGG: (Off mike) - educate the child as to the proper response. What would be your - either you, Director, or Agent Hooper's feeling about what the proper response is? What should a parent tell a child not to do or to do when they're in a chat room and somebody starts asking for information or - MS. HOOPER: Well, I think one of the most important things is parental supervision when your child is on-line and not to allow particularly young children to go on-line unsupervised. And they need to set up certain rules. One of the most obvious things would be to ensure that the computer is in a high-traffic area; it's not in the child's room where they can close the door and engage in these conversations independently. If you put the computer someplace where the parents always have a view of the computer, they're less likely to get involved in these types of situations. And then the things that were mentioned earlier - not to give out any personal information, not to meet people that they've met on-line without their parents' approval and supervision generally as well. SEN. GREGG: You say there's 70 of these traveler cases. Can you explain what a traveler case is? MR. FREEH: Yes, sir. A traveler case would be a case where, in the course of contacts to our undercover agents, we are receiving offers or solicitations to travel and meet the sender, the solicitor. We have had a number of cases where we have made arrests at the location where the subject asked our undercover agent to go - a hotel, a restaurant. Sometimes there's discussions about sending bus tickets or plane tickets, using a credit card, for instance, to travel. The traveling notion is the idea of the physical contact notion, which may involve traveling by the subject or the victim. SEN. GREGG: And as I understand it, the way it usually works is somebody, some pedophile or someone who has a sexual purpose in contacting children, is on-line in the chat room talking with the children. It builds up over time the confidence that that person is somebody other than who they are; in other words, they're presenting themselves as a 13-year-old boy or something talking to a 13-year-old girl and it turns out they're a 27-year-old, 40-year-old. And then they, as a result of those discussions, try to convince this other child - the child, the only child - to come to a meeting with them, right, which ends up - MR. FREEH: Yes. SEN. GREGG: - with the potential for kidnapping or sexual - MR. FREEH: Those are the most dangerous cases, obviously. Any - I mean, just to add to Agent Hooper's parameters, any contact, of course, on the Internet is an unknown contact. You do not know in this medium to whom you are talking. You think you're talking to, you know, a 50-year-old grandmother or a 60-year-old professor. You don't know who you're speaking to, because anybody can be anybody on the Internet. So any indication or solicitation to travel and meet or exchange phone numbers - "What school do you go to?" - are very dangerous things which parents need to be very aware of. SEN. GREGG: And the person of the - (off mike) - or to create the atmosphere out there, if I understand it, where, when that adult who has predatory desires or purposes gets on-line and starts talking to a 13-year-old, they don't know that that 13-year-old child might not be an FBI agent. MR. FREEH: Exactly that. That's part of the prevention. A lot of people speed on the highway but many people don't speed, or at least they don't speed as much as they would ordinarily, because they know that maybe there's a trooper, maybe there's a sheriff sitting around the corner. We want to create those inhibitions on the Internet with respect to protecting children. SEN. GREGG: (Off mike.) On the DNA issue, I noticed that California - (off mike). Do we have DNA - we obviously have fingerprints of these people. Do we have DNA - (off mike)? MR. FREEH: We don't have it on the federal level. On the state level, I believe California is one of the states which does require, I think, from convicted individuals in a certain number of categories a DNA sample. MS. HOOPER: I have no comment. SEN. GREGG: What can we do at the federal level to try to give you more authority to be able to track the people through DNA? MR. FREEH: In the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996, I believe, actually Section 811, we were given the authority to implement a federal convicted offender program which would be based on collecting and storing DNA data from federally convicted offenders. We have not implemented that yet. The Department of Justice thinks that the authorization is not expansive enough to address a lot of legal concerns. We are now with the Department of Justice working on some legislation which we think would correct that. And once that authorization would be granted, obviously some appropriations would be also requested, as we did request them in the 1999 request to OMB to implement that. I think it would be a very important and significant step forward because you would capture in the federal DNA offenders base, convicted offenders base, a whole universe of people that may slip through the state system. SEN. GREGG: If you could get us the language that the Justice Department feels is necessary - (off mike). Do you think we should go the route we've gone with the - (off mike) - for DNA? Should we have a national - (inaudible) - that goes beyond just federal prisoners? (Off mike.) MR. FREEH: The (coded?) system, as it's designed and as it's been implemented now, with about 36 states participating, does give us the capacity to exchange and compare and identify. It almost is - I mean, it's very similar to an (Iasis?) system. What's lacking now is the federal component. And we will follow up on your suggestion to prepare some language. SEN. GREGG: Senator Hollings. SEN. ERNEST HOLLINGS (D-SC): Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Director Freeh, the presentation you make is outstanding. I only had one comment with respect to the coordination. Continue to try to emphasize that working with the local agencies. I've been in law enforcement now for years. I've traveled, worked with the sheriffs. I've worked with the FBI agents going around the state again. There's always - I don't know whether it's a jealousy or parochial kind of impetus, but they all sort of work separately and apart to make sure they've got their own case. And the local sheriffs will say again, you know, "We see the FBI agents. They're good and everything else." But there's very little working together. So let's - as you state in the statement here, you emphasize that. Continue to emphasize it. But otherwise, I don't see how we are going to get enough money. Every one of these initiatives that you have are valid and realistic. I would want to financially support them all. I have to go to another meeting here later today where they'll say, "Cut spending, cut spending, cut spending." And then we'll go down on the floor and we'll make four or five other state offenses federal crimes. And the Justice Department budget in 10 years has gone from $4 billion to $20.9, $21 billion. And we at the Senate level had to add $10 million onto this $32 million effort. [missing text] children. It is significant that this is a second hearing. Last April, as you noted, Mr. Chairman, under your leadership, and Senator Hollings' leadership, for the first time at least in my tenure, a committee of the Congress focused specifically on child pornography and sexual exploitation of children from a federal law enforcement point of view. And that concern, that support, which has resonated not only in the appropriations of 1998, but the continuing support and inquiry by this committee is just outstanding from our point of view. And on behalf of not only the FBI but the other federal services, particularly the Customs Service and the state and local departments who are now benefitting from the training, from the protocols being developed in the - (inaudible) - cases. Yesterday, as you know, at the announcement of the Cyberline Tip Line effort, which is the direct result of this committee's support, we heard from a detective from a small - fairly small police department in New Hampshire who on his own initiative, and with his expertise as he has developed it, has made 60 arrests. These are not FBI arrests; these are state and local arrests with respect to people committing crimes against children using the Internet. As these techniques and this support percolate down to the state and local departments we will enormously increase the potential for this protection. It is nothing that the FBI could do by itself or the Customs Service. As you note, Senator Hollings, a lot of it has to do with prevention and education, which is why we note with great interest the legislation which you recently introduced which goes to that very point of education and prevention in the schools. But this is the beginning of an initiative which I think will have outstanding results around the country. And it really initiated in this committee, and I want to thank all the members, and you Mr. Chairman in particular. With respect to the commitment which was made by this committee, and followed up by myself and the FBI, I believe that we will have more significant results to report in addition to the ones I'll review very briefly here this morning. Again, the Cyber Tip Line - again one other example of a state and private partnership was very significant about that tip line is that it is privately supported as well as publicly funded, and that the center under the very competent leadership and very ingenious initiative by Ernie Allen, who is going to testify here this morning, has been able to take that particular idea and turn it into a practical tool and shield for protecting our children. With respect to the $10 million appropriation which we received last year, that, as you noted Senator Mikulski, went to the funding of 60 positions, including 25 special agents, to enhance the Innocent Images Initiative, which is now a nationwide investigative effort headquartered in our Baltimore field office but now expanding. We have an initiation established in Los Angeles and with the state and local training is now going to filter down to a level which will greatly expand its impact. Baltimore received 40 of those 60 new positions, including 13 agents and 12 intelligence research analysts. That has given us the capability there threefold to what it was prior to those resources. We are creating a second squad of FBI agents and state and local task force participants to expand the cope of our current on-line undercover operation to provide 24-hour support to Innocent Images cases from around the country, which will give us the capacity we have not heretofore enjoyed. Ninety-five percent of the Innocent Images cases which are initiated in Baltimore have to do with subject who reside in other states. So this is indeed a national effort which has been headquartered very successfully in our Baltimore division. The Baltimore agents who are assigned to Innocent Images will also use their expertise to train state and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors, including those trained through the National Center. Since last April the FBI Innocent Images staff have made 54 presentations to approximately 2,100 state and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors around the country. This is a continuing training effort, and the protocols which they receive during that training will enable them to go out and institute similar operations in a coordinated way. We are dedicated to making sure that these efforts are coordinated as best we can. We are also improving the case management system in the Innocent Images protocols to ensure that we can restore and retrieve quickly all of the relevant data. We are placing four agents and one intelligence research specialist in our Los Angeles field office, where they will be dedicated to following up on cases referred by the Baltimore offices, as well as initiating new Internet and on-line service child pornography investigations. With respect to forensic services, additional Innocent Images squad in Baltimore will generate increased workload for our FBI laboratory. Consequently, improving our laboratory capabilities to handle these additional cases forensically is a top priority. So we are adding five agent - five special agents and one professional examiner for those forensic examinations of computer-related evidence from Innocent Images cases. With respect to the Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit, which, as you know, is in Quantico, which I established in 1994, we will add two agents and one intelligence research specialist to that unit to ensure the timely and effective response to requests for assistance in missing children and sexual exploitation cases, particularly those involving Internet and on-line services. That unit, I'm very proud to say, has been extremely active since it became operational in 1995. In addition to the profiling services which we provide regularly to state and local departments, we also upon request deploy agents and analysts and forensic examiners from that unit and other sources to go out into the field, particularly when a small police department is faced with a child abduction which is beyond their resource needs. We are also assigning, as I mentioned yesterday, one full-time special agent to the National Center to help improve our liaison and facilitate what will be more complaints and tips, particularly as a result of the cyber line. With respect to training, we're conducting, based on the 1998 resources, five regional on-line child pornography and child sexual exploitation conferences. The first conference was held recently in Atlanta, attended by 20 FBI agents and 200 state and local officers from seven southeastern states. We have conferences scheduled later this year in Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Newark. That's the multiplier effect that I believe it will have, and you will see many more of these cases and initiatives on a state and local level, which is indeed very significant. [missing text] effort. And then the outstanding agent comes and says, "I've got to stand in line for an undercover operation to get in there. I sign on as a pornographer. There are 22 ahead of me. I'm number 23." I don't know that - they talk about math and science. I think the emphasis has got to be on education. With drugs, with sex, with tobacco, with racism and with pornography, maybe we ought to get Secretary Riley up here with these hearings, and let's get some money for a general course of orientation in schools today. The federal government just - there's not enough money on the drug thing. I've watched it over the years. It gets worse and worse and worse. Now, we've learned not to smoke. When I came to these hearings years ago, there were ash trays all over this place, and now no one's smoking because everyone understands it's injurious to your health. And unless we can get that kind of feel developed with respect to drugs, pornography, these other things, then we can't build enough jails. If you show me a military entity that wants to be a jail, we've got $500 million backed up (of?) almost a billion. And we're making every military activity a jail, putting bars in Olympic centers and everything else of that kind. So we're going to end up about 20 or 30 years from now as those in jail and those out of jail in our society. It's really discouraging in light of the outstanding job that you do. But let me listen now to Director Allen later on after the questions to see what he can suggest. Thank you. SEN. MIKULSKI: Thank you very much. Senator Gregg and Senator Hollings, you have been really leaders in this issue. And last year, thanks to the chairmanship and the ranking, bringing in $10 million in the budget to establish us - to establish the national headquarters in Baltimore - and I say that not because it is in my home town - really I think was bold, it was innovative, and heartened the law enforcement people who wanted to come to grips with this. And I think now the new cyber tip program that was announced is another tool that families - parents, grandparents, teachers and someone could use. I want to talk about resources that you need, Director Freeh. I know that Innocent Images was a result of a 10-year-old boy in Prince George's County who was seduced through the Internet and ultimately was murdered. Your action, the FBI's action working with local enforcement, identified the despicable criminals, and this then led I think to the establishment of this. When I came to the Baltimore headquarters to see the demonstration with Agent Hooper and her team, there were two things that impressed me. One was the availability of pornography. That is not amusing. It is not entertaining. This is not something that is kind of a fun little picture to pass around in a junior high locker room. This was vile and it was violent, and it promoted violence. The other thing that so shocked me was how easy, if you went on line and said you were a child or a teenager, how quick - and this was at 10:00 in the morning - 10:00 in the morning - the quick hits to come in - and also the way someone can masquerade for a child, so you could have a really convicted violent criminal on line masquerading as a 9-year-old working on a Scout badge, asking what seems to be questions but lead to this seduction. Now, let me then get - I mean, it was really shocking. But was also impressive was the agents. This is not J. Edgar Hoover's FBI where people went down the streets and would track bank robbers and look for Communists - all the things the FBI established as an incredible reputation for competency. But what was required of these agents was incredible sophistication in the use of technology. They had to have a great background, they had to have great training, and they had to deal with really an intense burn-out because of the repugnant - the exposure to these repugnant and vile things. Could you tell me what you need in the way of resources - not only for the unit - but how to recruit and retain agents of this high quality? We have a technology worker shortage. Software engineers can make 65 grand and stay at home and get an espresso machine and five weeks of paid vacation if they'll sign up, and here we're asking agents to come and do this. Could you talk about, one, how - what we can do to bring in the agents - what you need to bring in people as qualified as Agent Hooper, her team and the others that you want to do? This is a very sophisticated work force that you are trying to recruit. DIR. FREEH: Senator, first of all thank you very much for your comments. And the credit is deserved by Agent Hooper and her colleagues. We have been as an institution extremely fortunate in our ability to attract and retain not just solid outstanding agents, but agents who actually volunteer for these types of assignments. We have had over the last three years about 89,- - I think it's up 89,000 applicants for our special agents positions. We hired 1,100 last year. In fact, I was at an FBI graduation at Quantico yesterday morning. SEN. MIKULSKI: Excuse me, how many applicants did you say you had? DIR. FREEH: Over 80,000 there have been in the last four years. SEN. MIKULSKI: Eighty thousand men and women want to be FBI agents? DIR. FREEH: Yes. And we've hired about 3,000 of those since I've been director. SEN. GREGG: (?) It's tougher than getting into Harvard. (Laughter.) DIR. FREEH: It's been extremely good for us. It's been very good for the country. The agents who we turn away in terms of applicants are extremely qualified. Many of them have science and technology backgrounds. In fact, we started recruiting actively about three years ago for agents with backgrounds in engineering - software engineers. All of our new agents who graduate from Quantico, in addition to their firearm and credentials are given a laptop computer. This is the FBI of the information age. You saw a very good example of one dedicated program, but in many of the other areas that's replicated. And so far we have been extremely fortunate in not only getting those people but keeping them on board. SEN. MIKULSKI: What do you need in way of your budget? This - because we are the appropriations hearing. And we will have many competing resources in the commerce or justice that will be challenges to both the chairman and the ranking and those of us who are members. But what does the FBI need to fulfill this responsibility in this particular unit? DIR. FREEH: In this particular area, as it is in my areas, it is a combination of resources - people resources as well as the technology - the DNA national database would be extremely helpful. We did - the attorney general and I did request to OMB for the 1999 budget more agents - not only for the Innocent Images program, but to establish nationwide activity in our offices. We asked for some counselors - victim-witness counselors, which is a very important component of these cases - not just making the case, but dealing with the witnesses who in many cases need much help. We've asked for additions to our child abduction and serial killer unit in Quantico, and you know we realize that the decisions at OMB are certainly guided by distributing a very small pot to many different agencies. We are going to renew that request next year because we believe that those are dollars that are translated into cases - SEN. MIKULSKI: Well, last year we gave you 10 million. Do you need more or the same, or - SEN. GREGG: (?) What he's saying is he needs OMB to approve it. SEN. MIKULSKI: I know, but OMB isn't here. The FBI is here, and we want the FBI on the Net. DIR. FREEH: That amount of money would significantly enhance the Innocent Images program, the child abduction program and even spill over into the technology area. SEN. MIKULSKI: Well, thank you. Mr. Chairman, before I conclude I would like to just thank Director Freeh for something. You talked about how your agents volunteer for special assignments. We had a terrible thing happen to some of our college students from St. Mary's College in Guatemala. They were robbed and they were sexually assaulted. And because the FBI is working with the State Department on this issue, I want to thank you for the special FBI unit that you sent to interview the victims of the violence perpetrated against them. The families conveyed to me their gratitude to the FBI and said that the FBI sensitivity in dealing with these young ladies were a way that also encouraged them to move forward with other counseling and so on. So I want you to know your FBI agents were really fit for duty - and the way that they then went about helping interview the victims, so that we could then work with the Guatemalan authorities was so outstanding. It was tough law enforcement, but tone in a very high touch way, and I want to express my gratitude. DIR. FREEH: Thank you, senator, I'll convey that to the agents. Thank you very much. SEN. GREGG: I'd like to second the senator's thoughts there. Obviously that was a horrendous situation, and the FBI's professionalism is extraordinary in many areas, but clearly displayed there. I would say this, that one of the major concerns that I have as chairman of this committee is the fact that the OMB has held up the congressional intent that the FBI would have the authority to outside of Title Five and hire at a higher rate the technicians necessary to compete in a world of cybercrime. We all recognize that these folks who are computer literate can, as the senator from Maryland said, get a tremendous job sitting at home with their Starbucks coffee and make a lot of money. And the FBI has to be able to compete because those unfortunately are also some of the criminals that we are fighting. And why OMB has stood in the way of what was clear congressional intent to give you the flexibility to hire those people at higher grades of salary is beyond me, because it is clearly undermining our law enforcement capacity. And this committee will try to do something to straighten that out. We congratulate you again for this initiative. Thank you for continuing it. I think as you sense there is a lot of sympathy here for what you are doing - a lot of support more than sympathy for what you are doing. Tell us what you need and we'll try to get it for you. Thank you very much. DIR. FREEH: Thank you, senator. Thank you, members of the panel. SEN. GREGG: We will now hear from Director Allen, the head of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Okay, we are now going to hear from Mr. Allen, who is the director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which has with the FBI and the private sector evolved into the premier agency in this country for addressing issues of child exploitation - obviously kidnapping, but also protecting children who are using the Internet and trying to address the issues of abuse of the Internet by child pornographers and people who wish to take advantage of the Internet and the children who use the Internet. And it was a great pleasure for myself yesterday to join with the director - and I know representatives of the ranking member and representatives of the private community, especially the on-line provider groups, represented by Mr. Case of American Online, as you announced your Cyber Tip Line, which is a wonderful initiative, and which I know is going to be a tremendous resource for parents in this country as they try to deal with the need to have someplace to turn when they run into one of these situations which are obviously far to common on the Internet of sexual exploitation of children, either through pornography or through solicitation. So we thank you for coming to give us your thoughts on how we can best address this issue, both on the parental side, the public side and the private side. Director Allen. MR. ALLEN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have provided written testimony, and with your permission I would like to just briefly summarize. SEN. GREGG: Certainly. MR. ALLEN: First let me thank you and Senator Hollings for your wonderful leadership and support on this issue. The hearing a year ago was more than a discussion about an issue that truly launched a pattern of action, a campaign that we really think is going to make a difference. What I wanted to do today is just briefly report to you on what has happened since then, and if I could first I would like to report to you in a more general way, because you two senators have led this committee for a long time, and for 14 years have been the source of public support for the work of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. I wanted to thank you for that and to report to you that your support is making a difference for America's children and families. In 1997 we had a record year. We had the largest number of calls for service in our history; we had the largest number of cases received; and on the positive side we also had our highest recovery rate ever. Pre-1990 our recovery rate was about 60 percent; last year it was 95 percent. And I think the message there is that the public-private partnership in the system we built is working. There is a network that is getting information quickly to America's 17,000 police departments. There is a better system for responding, and children are being brought home as never before. Director Freeh mentioned earlier - and I really want to commend him for his leadership on behalf of children - but we truly believe that one of the reasons for the heightened success rate in 1997 was his initiative last February to create the check off on the NCIC report form. The United States Department of Justice just released survey research that found that in cases in which children are abducted and murdered, in 74 percent of those cases the child is dead within the first three hours. So time is the enemy in these cases. And the more quickly we can get information and we can disseminate information and we can activate the resources that are now available, the greater the likelihood for the recovery of the child. We at the center, as a result of Director Freeh's effort received 642 of those child abduction flags - instant notification through NCIC. And I truly believe that that is one of the reasons why the recovery rate has climbed so high so quickly. So thank you for the leadership of this committee and all that you have done for the center and for America's children. I also wanted to update you on what we know - what we now know since last year's hearing on quantifying the problem of the seduction of children, the luring or enticement of children by the Internet. We at the center have been involved in 60 cases - the so-called traveler cases, in which kids have been seduced on line and then persuaded to leave by an adult, usually for sexual purposes. Of those cases, 85 percent of those kids had been 15 years of age or older; 75 percent have been girls. So I think one of the things that we now know more than we did at this time last year is that the most vulnerable demographic for Internet exploitation and seduction are teenage kids. In addition, just in the last two years - and I think this is a tribute to the commitment of this committee and to federal law enforcement - there have now been 400 convictions in federal court for Internet-related child sexual exploitation offenses. That includes both the FBI's Innocent Images effort and the United States Customs Service child pornography effort. One of the other things that I tried to do - and the point was made earlier that this is a problem that is appearing in all kinds of places in all kinds of communities, and that there seems to be more of it everyday - is we looked just at cases within the last month from the states represented on this particular committee. And to give you an idea, every member of this committee had significant child sexual exploitation Internet-related cases since January 1 of 1998. Senator Hollings, it included a case last month in Midway, South Carolina in which an individual was arrested on child pornography charges over the Internet. And Senator Gregg, it included a case last month in which a 27-year-old man was arrested for targeting a child from Keene, New Hampshire. So this is a problem we've said about this issue generally. The only way not to find it any company is simply not to look for it. And because of your leadership America has begun to look. So we can anticipate many more cases, many more charges, and that the appearance is that the problems will be growing. Also encouraging is the development of additional specialization in task forces at the state and local level, as we discussed last year. Particularly noteworthy, I think, is attorney general, New York attorney general Dennis Vacco's Operation Rip Cord, which is a multi- agency effort spearheaded by the New York State police, that has resulted in the identification of 1,500 people transmitting child pornography, more than 100 search warrants, and so far dozens of prosecutions. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been a leader in its Central Florida Child Exploitation Task Force, which is targeting this effort; and state and local government, state and local law enforcement, as was evidenced yesterday by Detective McLaughlin (sp) from Keane, New Hampshire, more and more are playing a lead role in this. In many cases, it's an individual officer who is computer literate, has computer expertise, and in some cases is doing it on his own time. So your initiative to help build expertise at the state and local level, we think, is very, very timely and important. Your committee's mandate last year was really three-fold. The first was to enhance federal resources, and we support it enthusiastically and still support increasing resources for the FBI Innocent Images Task Force. They're the lead, they're the point agency in this effort for all the progress we've made. They are still attacking a national problem with relatively slim numbers, and building that asset, that resource, we think is very important. Secondly, your mandate was to enhance state and local law enforcement's capability. And I mentioned to this committee last year that I'd heard someone say that when the automobile was first developed law enforcement opposed it, and the concept was only the crooks will have the cars and we'll be chasing them on foot and on horseback. Well, I submit that's the case here as well, that in many situations American law enforcement still doesn't even have PCs and modems, has no idea what people are doing. And in the area of child pornography, when the Supreme Court of the United States said that the child pornography is not protected speech, and there was aggressive enforcement effort in the mid '80s, the effect of that was to run it out of adult bookstores. The work of the United States Postal Inspection Service has minimized the use of the mails. But where child pornographers have reached is areas where they have relative anonymity and apparent sanctuary, places where they can trade and transmit image and information with little risk. One of our primary challenges is to help law enforcement catch up with the technology. And then, finally, as Senator Hollings has talked about on many occasions, we believe that there is far greater need for public education, awareness-building, and help giving families the tools to deal with this problem. So, quickly, to report to you on what we've done since that hearing and since your appropriation, there are really several points I want to touch on quickly. One, and Senator Gregg, we were honored by your presence and your announcement at the cyber tip line launch yesterday, and Senator Hollings, honored that you were represented there as well, the cyber tip line is up and running. And since its announcement, we have already received 150 leads. Those are leads just as a result of free media. And as the on-line industry helps us make that address better known to the public, we think that there is a real opportunity for parents whose kids encounter suspicious situations or situations of concern on the Internet, to get us those leads and information and to respond to them in an effective way. All of the leads that we're receiving are going to five primary sources: to the FBI's Innocent Images Task Force, to the FBI's Crimes Against Children Unit, to the United States Customs Service Child Pornography Unit, to the US Postal Inspection Service, and to the Morgan Hardiman (sp) Task Force, which is headed by the FBI and based at Quantico. Also, those agencies have all been linked to the cyber tip line and have been provided technology so that they have the ability to access and search the entire database of leads and information at any given time. Once a lead is received, our hot line operators will be prioritizing those leads. And the primary criteria for priority will be the risk to the child. So if the lead suggests that a child is in immediate danger, we will respond very much in a 911 situation. And that is, we will target that information, we will trigger responses, we'll make sure that every possible resource is used to protect that child. If the child may be in immediate danger, there will be also a priority response, though not quite that 911 response. If the child from the information does not appear to be in immediate danger, the tip will be received, catalogued and assessed, and provided to the appropriate agency. Also, it's interesting, from the 150 leads we received so far, and I don't suggest that that's enough for this necessarily to be representative, in at least half of cases the lead information is sufficient to enable us to pinpoint the locality in which the child victim may be located and may be victimized. So that in least half of the cases so far, it does appear appropriate for us to provide that lead to a state or local agency, in addition to the federal agencies that will routinely receive them. The second issue that I want to mention that was part of your mandate is the creation of these pilot cyber police units that Director Freeh talked about. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, our partner in this initiative, has prepared a draft RFP, has circulated it, it will be going out shortly, and the Justice Department will be receiving and reviewing proposals to create those special units and the state and local level. It is our expectation that we will learn a great deal from those units. Clearly, this is an issue where FBI leadership is very important. But this is also an issue - or a crime in which there are sort of two pieces to the puzzle. While the use of the Internet and the transmission of data and images and information is key, as I said last year at this hearing, in every one of these cases there's a local victim. At this hearing last year you heard from a mom whose child had been sexually molested in her hometown while the perpetrator photographed the sex acts. Then he sold those images over the Internet. So, our belief in each one of these cases is we really need to pay close attention to the local essence, the local nature of this problem, and make sure that state and local government has the tools and expertise to work in partnership and coordination with federal law enforcement to follow through on these investigations. By June of this year the center will hold, in partnership with the FBI and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, its first cyber police training course. I think all of you know that it was this committee that was responsible for the creation of our Jimmy Rice (sp) Law Enforcement Training Center Program, which was launched by Director Freeh and members of this committee last April. In the first year we've already trained, at policy level training seminars, we've already trained police chiefs and sheriffs from all 50 state and Guam. And using that model, we're going to be conducting specialized training for law enforcement, state and local law enforcement, on cyber police techniques, on this problem and issues and technology related to it. There will be two courses. One will be an investigators course, and secondly, there will be a course for mid- level managers. The nominations for participants in those courses will come from the graduates of our Jimmy Rice (sp) Training Center, who are police chiefs and sheriffs from across the nation, as well as from the FBI and other federal law enforcement. So, again, this is partnership effort. You heard the director mention his commitment to provide a liaison agent at the center, so that we strengthen our working relationship. He's also committed training agents to work with us and assess and work on that process. In December at the Families On-Line Summit, we began the cyber tip line, telephone only, until we were ready to go on-line. And just to give you an idea, in those two and a half months, we've already received 263 leads over the telephone. Now, those leads break down as follows: 206 of them were for Internet related child sexual exploitation, but we received others leads as a result of this initiative addressing child sexual exploitation in other ways. And we think the same thing will happen with the cyber tip line. We think that people will not just send us leads about child pornography or child enticement on the Internet, they'll send us leads about child victimization generally. But we've already, in addition, received 28 leads on general, non-Internet- related sexual exploitation, 4 child pornography leads, 4 child prostitution leads, 18 leads about pedophile activity, and 3 leads about child sex tourism. So, in many ways we think what you've done is going to have impact even beyond its focal point. We have, as we announced yesterday, because of the data showing that teenagers are at greatest risk, we've created a new public education piece written for us by a Los Angeles Times columnist called "Teen Safety on the Information Highway." We did an original piece called "Child Safety on the Information Highway," and we've distributed almost 3 million of those to parents and kids. It's our goal - and this is specifically written so that it's more relevant, more readable, perhaps a little less preachy, so that it would be more likely to be used by teenage kids. Our hope is to be put this into schools and into the hands of families and teenagers across the country. One of the other - actually, three other developments that we've excited about, that we think are the precursors of other partnerships on this issue to come, is that, as a result of your initiative, we're hearing from private companies saying, How can we help? For example, Surf Watch, which was a pioneering company developing access controls for the Internet, to help parents keep kids out of the more high-risk areas, has now linked with us. So that when their customers complain about content that they encounter, Surf Watch is going to send that lead information directly to us through the cyber tip line. Similarly, America On Line has started a program called Kid Patrol, which is a partnership with the center, using what's called push technology, which will allow us actually to take content, images and information, directly into the homes of AOL's 10 million subscribers, as well as to use them to generate content, leads and information for us. And the chairman of America On Line committed yesterday that AOL, once we're absolutely confident that we can handle the volume that we've created with the cyber tip line, that AOL will help promote it and will let their users and subscribers know that this is a resource that's available, that if you encounter content that's troubling on AOL or anywhere, you will be able to link directly to the cyber tip line and bring us those leads and information. And then Lycos (sp), which is a search engine company, one of the top 10 most heavily trafficked sites on the Internet, has made a similar commitment, that it will promote the site, has developed links to the center, and they will funnel content to us which will be placed in the hands of federal law enforcement. So I think the - in many ways we didn't anticipate all of the positive repercussions of what you launched, of what came from your hearing last spring. But I think the most exciting thing about it is that it truly is public-private partnership. The technology to support this operation is entirely private-sector provided. So that we can report to you is that your dollars that you committed to this effort we think are being multiplied. And the effects, we think, will be far greater. Mr. Chairman and Senator Hollings, we are honored by your confidence. We think that what you began will have enormous impact in the lives of families and children across the country. And I look forward to being able to report to you a year from now or sooner about the specific impact, specific cases that are made, specific children whose lives are being touched as a result of this effort. SEN. GREGG: Thank you. And thank you and your organization, because if you weren't there, this wouldn't work. And so, we can put up the money and that's really only a minor part of the equation; the major part of the equation is having something like yourself and your organization there that's committed to this issue and has the expertise and ability and desire to know how to make it work. We're just - we're a small player, you're the big player. What else should we do? MR. ALLEN: Well, I think certainly it is important that we do more in the area of prevention-education. Our premise yesterday was that the public is the best source of this information. [more of the hearing followed, but this file does not include the rest of the testimony.]