Pence Amendment Passes Congress As Part of Adam Walsh Act

PENCE AMENDMENT PASSES CONGRESS AS PART OF ADAM WALSH ACT

U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, today made the following remarks on the House floor about the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which incorporates his own legislation that cracks down on child pornographers. Pence's remarks follow:

"Mr. Speaker, before us today is the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (H.R. 4472). I am a strong supporter of this legislation, and urge its passage.

"Title V of this legislation is derived from a bill that I introduced in the First Session of this Congress, the Child Pornography Prevention Act. As the title states, the intent of my legislation is to prevent American children from becoming victims of pornography because as we know, Mr. Speaker, the fuel that fires the wicked hearts of child predators is child pornography.

"Every day in America, children are exploited in pornography - sometimes by those closest to them in their homes. In the home, children are forced to pose for pornographic pictures or act in pornographic videos by family members, family friends, caretakers and other trusted individuals who violate that trust. These pictures and videos are posted on the Internet or surreptitiously spread to sexual predators.

"A main tenet of my legislation is the addition of language that will fix a technicality that so-called ‘home pornographers' have used to evade federal prosecution on child pornography charges. Home pornographers use digital cameras, Polaroid cameras and video cameras to make pornographic pictures and videos of children, and they download child pornography from the Internet onto their home computers. My legislation makes clear that federal prosecutions of home pornographers can proceed in federal courts because their activities impact interstate commerce. This is a fix that must be made now in order to protect children at home.

"Another element of my bill is the addition of a new section to the criminal code, Section 2257A, which adds a record-keeping requirement that will force producers of sexually explicit material to keep records of the names and ages of their subjects when they are engaged in simulated sexual activity.

"Congress previously enacted the PROTECT Act of 2003 against the background of Department of Justice regulations applying section 2257 to both primary and secondary producers. That fact, along with the Act's specific reference to the regulatory definition that existed at the time, reflected Congress' agreement with the Department of Justice's view that it already had the authority to regulate secondary producers under the applicable law.

"A federal court in Colorado, however, recently enjoined the Department from enforcing the statute against secondary producers, relying on an earlier Tenth Circuit precedent holding that Congress had not authorized the Department to regulate secondary producers. These decisions conflicted with an earlier D.C. Circuit decision upholding Congress' authority to regulate secondary producers. Section 502 of the bill is meant to eliminate any doubt that section 2257 applies both to primary and secondary producers, and to reflect Congress' agreement with the regulatory approach adopted by the Department of Justice in enforcing the statute.

"My bill goes a step further by requiring that records be kept for lascivious exhibitions - nude photographs and displays. No child should be used in either nude pictures or sexually explicit materials because these items only serve to inflame the prurient interest in child predators. Requiring that records be kept will serve as a deterrent.

"Additionally, my bill requires that the records be made available to investigators for inspection. Failure to keep the records or allow inspections is a criminal offense. By strengthening the law in this manner, we will provide both a strong deterrent to the use of children in sexually explicit materials and the necessary tools to law enforcement to investigate and prosecute those who are not deterred.

"Finally, the legislation expands the ability of investigators and prosecutors to pursue the people who distribute child pornography. These distributors also will be required to follow the record-keeping provision, and this will provide law enforcement with a powerful tool to use against them. These are devious people who work in cohorts with pornographers to sell child pornography, but who currently can work out of sham corporations to avoid prosecution. My legislation will empower prosecutors with the ability to charge and convict these people.

"Providing law enforcement with the tools to combat child pornography contained in my legislation is a much-needed and overdue step that must be taken to protect our children from those in our society who have no decency and know no shame.

"Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. It is time to protect our children, and today we take a significant step toward that goal."

http://mikepence.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=47685