WASHINGTON—Heisman winner and two-time national championship for the Florida Gators – Tim Tebow – joined U.S. legislators to introduce the bicameral, bipartisan Renewed Hope Act of 2024. This measure was brought forward by Representatives Laurel Lee (R-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), and Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
The legislation is designed to “enhance the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s capabilities to better identify, rescue, and protect victims of online child sexual exploitation and bring child exploiters to justice," according to Fox News.
The UF QB stated that this bill is about truly helping those children afflicted by sexual abuse, and not about anything political.
"This isn’t about policies or politics — it’s about people," said Tebow. "It’s about people, every single one of those boys and girls. It is about how we can possibly get to as many of those boys and girls as possible."
Moreover, Sen. Cornyn added that this bill will make it easier for law enforcement to do their job in identifying and eventually saving victims of child sex abuse.
"No child should be the subject of online sexual exploitation and abuse," said Sen. Cornyn. "Today, we're here to introduce the Renewed Hope Act, which would enhance the government's capacity to identify, rescue, and protect kids and bring perpetrators to justice. This bill would equip Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations with greater resources and more training, and new and advanced victim identification methods."
Furthermore, Rep. Wasserman Schultz stated that this bill will help law enforcement investigators navigate the dark web so that a “digital footprint” can be traced to catch child predators.
"This bill is about making sure we have enough investigators on the front lines to find the digital footprint of where these photographs are being traded and moved around the dark web and find the digital footprint so that the law enforcement officers can go and rescue that child who's in the midst of violent sexual abuse," said Rep. Wasserman Schultz.
In March, Tebow testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee, describing the work he and his foundation – The Tim Tebow Foundation – did alongside Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to save children afflicted by sexual predators.
