Tim Tebow joined lawmakers on Tuesday as he read aloud messages from sex offenders bragging about their preferences for children or having exploitative content of babies on their computers.
"When I read that chat, it hurts," Tebow said during a press conference on Capitol Hill this week to introduce an anti-exploitation bill titled the Renewed Hope Act of 2024 to fight exploitation.
"And I mourn and grieve a little bit when I read it, but I also have hope. Because I know that we're able to bring a piece of the solution here today," he added. "And, unfortunately, many times, people with the goal to do evil work better than people with the goal to do good. I say that today with a heavy heart, but you know, I also believe here today that people with the goal to do good are working together in an incredible way."
As reported by The Christian Post, the legislation would strengthen the ability of U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to rescue exploitation victims and identify predators. Agencies would also be provided with the resources to hire and train personnel and equip them with advanced victim identification methods.
The bill was introduced by Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut in the Senate and Reps. Laurel Lee and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida in the House of Representatives.
"And why would we not have the best training in the world?" Tebow asked. "Our boys and girls should matter that much to us."
He hopes that the Renewed Hope Act of 2024 will give exploited children the "faith, hope, and love they deserve." The former NFL star added that he loved the inclusion of the word "renewed" in the legislation, noting that the word means "to give someone the ability to flourish once more."
"Right now, as we're talking, they're crying," Tebow said. "So we better do more than talk. We better act because they're waiting."
During an interview with The Christian Post last month, Tebow said he felt called to speak on this issue because of his missionary father, Robert, who rescued 4 girls who were on sale at an auction by spending all his money to rescue them when he was preaching at an underground pastors' conference years ago in a place of religious intolerance.
"And he called me afterward, and it's hard to explain," Tebow said. "I just knew that this is one of the areas that we've been called into and that I knew I was called into. And that we had to step up and stand up for those four and the rest like those sweet, poor girls."
Photo Credit: ©Kent Nishimura / Stringer
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.