Washington Times: Mark Meadows revives bill to block porn-surfing by bureaucrats

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By Johnathan Soch

Citing in part reporting from The Washington Times, a Republican congressman has re-introduced legisation which would prohibit federal employees from surfing the Web for pornography while using government computers and devices.

The bill follows a scandal last year when an Environmental Protection Agency employee was caught viewing as much as six hours of porn a day, as well as having downloaded as many as 7,000 pornographic files onto his work computer. According to Rep. Mark Meadows, North Carolina Republican, the employee who was implicated in an inspector general's report last year has yet to be fired.

A separate Washington Times investigation revealed that government employees in multiple agencies and departments, including the Federal Communications Commission and the Commerce Department, have been caught viewing pornography on the job, blaming in part the lack of work and boredom.

"It's appalling that it requires an act of Congress to ensure that federal agencies block access to these sites," Mr. Meadows said, "While there are rules in place at most agencies to ban this kind of unprofessional and potentially hostile workplace behavior, it continues to take place."

The lawmaker added that the practice presents malware and cyber-security risks in these federal agencies, as well as acts as a waste of federal resources and taxpayer money.

Mr. Meadows introduced a similar bill last year in the 113th Congress, but it was not enacted.

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