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On March 3, former NFL quarterback and founder of the Tim Tebow Foundation, Tim Tebow, testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism. This was his second time speaking before Congress (having also testified in 2024), urging them to pass the Renewed Hope Act as a major step toward defeating the evil of child sex trafficking.

The Scale of Worldwide Child Trafficking Continues to Snowball

During his emotional and eye-opening testimony, Tebow explained, “Several years ago, we were finishing a leadership meeting, and I looked at Camille, our VP of anti-human trafficking and child exploitation, and she had a very sober look on her face.

“And I said, ‘Camille, what is it? What’s breaking your heart?’ And she wrote down the number 20,000. And I said, ‘Camille, 20,000 what? And she said, ‘20,000 boys and girls.

“That’s the best guess of what law enforcement can see in rape and abuse images, but yet they’re categorised as unknown, unidentified.”

Tebow went on to explain that they then met with the FBI, Europole, and other international law enforcement agencies across 18 countries to find out what the truth was regarding just how many children are being trafficked and exploited.

The answer was much worse than 20,000: it was 57,000: “It was 57,000 boys and girls in the IXA database that have yet to be identified. And that led us to [Operation] Renewed Hope I, II, and III, which identified over 1,100 boys and girls. And over 550 of them have been safeguarded so far. And right now, 30 minutes away at C3, the Cyber Crime Center… the biggest operation ever in the fight against child exploitation is taking place with 30 countries, 34 agencies, 94 investigators, and victim identification specialists. And hopefully it will be one of the biggest operations ever in history.”

Devastatingly, though, the excellent work that these 30 countries are pulling together to accomplish is not nearly enough. Because the heartbreaking reality is that while 57,000 abused children were identified in 2024, the number is now over 89,000.

“We are losing the battle, and we are losing the war, and boys and girls are suffering for it,” Tebow told the Senate.

“And to give you an idea of the scope of what’s happening in America, there’s a red dot map right over there over my right shoulder. And that’s just a screenshot of the U.S. And every red dot that is on there is someone that is downloading, sharing, or distributing child rape images, almost all under the age of 12. And there’s over 330 of them just in that six-month screenshot. And we know that 55 to 85% of them are also hands-on offenders. And we know your average offender has 13 victims in their lifetime.”

Yet while there are over 89,000 exploited children, there are only seven full-time specialists employed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to find those children.

The Renewed Hope Act Is the “Largest Surge against Child Trafficking Ever”

First introduced in 2024, the Renewed Hope Act allocates $108.5 million to DHS to hire 200 additional analysts. Yet, while the effort to end child trafficking received bipartisan support over the years, it became increasingly frustrating that such legislation did not come up for an actual vote.

Thankfully, that wait finally came to an end this month when, on June 5, the Senate passed the Renewed Hope Act and the House followed on June 9 as part of the reconciliation bill funding the Department of Homeland Security (the Secure America Act).

The Washington Times describes how it was a “chance” (or God-ordained) encounter in April between Tebow and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (R) that gave the Renewed Hope Act renewed hope of being passed: both were speakers at a pro-life pregnancy resource centre gala. Tebow told Hawley, “I could really use your help…I’ve gotten [the Renewed Hope Act] through the House, but we’ve never been able to get any traction in the Senate.”

Soon after his conversation with Tebow, Senator Hawley raised the crisis of child trafficking to Markwayne Mullin during his confirmation hearing as Secretary of Homeland Security: Mullin responded that DHS would love to tackle the crisis, but they needed Congress to give them the manpower.

That’s when Hawley began looking for ways to get the legislation through this slow-moving Congress in which the Republicans have an extremely thin majority. As the Times describes,

“The opportunity arose quickly as Republicans, facing a Democratic blockade on funding immigration enforcement agencies, used the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process to send $70 billion to the Department of Homeland Security.

“HSI and its Child Exploitation Investigations Unit are housed under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, one of the two agencies funded under the Secure America Act.

“Mr. Hawley, who sits on both committees charged with drafting the bill, pitched Mr. Mullin, the White House, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, on the child exploitation investigations being a vital function of the Homeland Security Department that should be funded under the measure.

“‘They all agreed, so it’s in the bill,’ Mr. Hawley said.”

Bill Passes: Republicans Support, Democrats Oppose

The Senate then passed the bill with a vote of 52 to 47. Four days later, it passed the House by a vote of 214 to 212, with 214 Republicans voting “yes,” and 211 Democrats and one Independent voting “no.”

After President Trump signed the Secure America Act on June 10, Senator Hawley thanked the president and said, “This is the largest surge against child trafficking ever by the federal government.”

Tebow, too, celebrated the passage of the Renewed Hope Act, saying, “Right now, 89,000 unidentified image series of children being sexually abused have been seen by law enforcement — but these children have yet to be identified and are still waiting to be found due to resource and manpower shortages. Every day we don’t act is another day they’re in harm’s way. Today, we acted. I am grateful to our congressional leaders for getting this lifesaving legislation over the finish line, and to the law enforcement who never stop fighting for these kids. My prayer is that hope is renewed for many more boys and girls, and that their stories will be different because of this legislation. When we come together, real change can happen — and this is just the beginning.”

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Republished with thanks to The Washington Stand. Originally titled “Thanks to Tebow and Hawley, There Is ‘Renewed Hope’ to End Child Trafficking”.

Images via Sound of Freedom and CBN News.