Release: Rep. Laurel Lee Celebrates Signing of the Secure America Act Into Law

Washington, D.C. - (Tuesday or Wednesday), Congresswoman Laurel Lee attended the signing ceremony at the White House for the Secure America Act - a landmark piece of legislation that delivers on key Republican priorities and ensures federal law enforcement has the resources and authorities needed to keep Americans safe. Earlier, Rep. Lee took to the House floor to urge her colleagues to support the measure and celebrate the bill's passage.

Among its many critical provisions, the Secure America Act includes language from the bipartisan Renewed Hope Act, legislation authored and championed by Rep. Lee to strengthen the federal government's capacity to identify, rescue, and protect children who are victims of online sexual exploitation.

"This is a generational achievement for the American people - and for the children this law will protect. For years, I have fought to give federal law enforcement the tools they need to find children trapped in abuse and bring predators to justice," said Congresswoman Laurel Lee. "Today, that fight has paid off. Passage of the Renewed Hope Act is a victory for our children, for law enforcement, and for every family that deserves to know their kids are protected. At the same time, this law delivers critical resources for ICE and Border Patrol to enforce our immigration laws and secure our borders. I am incredibly proud to have been at the White House to watch President Trump sign this legislation into law."

Watch Rep. Lee's Floor Speech

Background:

Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) first introduced the bipartisan Renewed Hope Act in September 2024 and reintroduced it in January 2026 at the start of the 119th Congress. The legislation passed the House Judiciary Committee unanimously before being enacted as part of the Secure America Act on Wednesday.

The Renewed Hope Act:

• Increases HSI resources to hire, train, and assign computer forensics and criminal analysts to the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit and field offices to support victim identification and rescue efforts;
• Clarifies the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit's role in coordinating child exploitation investigations within the Department of Homeland Security; and
• Improves training in new and advanced victim identification technology for HSI personnel and their federal, state, local, military, and foreign law enforcement partners.

The urgency is clear: since 2024, the number of unidentified children depicted in child sexual abuse material has risen from 57,000 to more than 89,000. In 2025, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline received more than 21.3 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation, including more than 61.8 million images, videos, and other files related to suspected exploitation. The Renewed Hope Act directly addresses this crisis by equipping investigators with the personnel and technology needed to find these children and bring perpetrators to justice.