John Conyers

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am glad that you find we are making progress; that is very encouraging. How much time do you think we would need to arrive at a point where your observations about the bill and the needed improvement and our position would intersect so we could get it before the body? I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. CONYERS. How about tomorrow? If I gave you 24 hours, what would happen differently?

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize now the author of this bill, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis). We said it started three Congresses ago, but Danny Davis started it many years before three Congresses ago, and I am proud to yield 2 minutes to him. (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished Member from Ohio, a former jurist and prosecutor herself, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, for 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am proud now to yield to Gwen Moore, the gentlelady from Wisconsin, 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to close the debate on our side to Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has been not just a trial lawyer but has been before the Supreme Court on numerous occasions.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. I'm hoping that the discussion and the presentation by my good friend, Mr. Goodlatte, does not indicate that he is opposed to the substance of this measure and that his remarks were generated around the process, the procedure, because I'm sure he worked on the Adam Walsh bill, and here, to me, is another important step forward on that. And so we look forward to his continued support. Now, with reference to process, that's a little bit more sensitive issue, because, you know me, I don't like to bring up things that sound partisan. But you guys avoided more process in the Judiciary Committee than we ever have in the 110th Congress. So I've got a long record of it. But we don't want to get off the track here. This isn't about process. But I've got some not-complimentary statistics about the way we've operated in the past. And I've had good relationships with all the Republican, it almost seems like forever, chairmen of the Judiciary Committee that have preceded us for this last 12 years. But what our floor manager Debbie Wasserman Schultz is talking about now is something for which there can be no disagreement. We've got to get these Internet sex predators out of business. And that's what this measure does. It does it well. I don't know how much more benefited anybody would be if we had gone any different direction. We're under a little duress now. We've got measures on top of measures. The scheduling is getting horrific. But I commend the gentlelady and the members of the committee on both sides of the aisle that have worked with her in pursuance of this legislation to get it to the floor today.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 719) to require convicted sex offenders to register online identifiers, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Members of the House, H.R. 719, the KIDS Act, addresses the problems of convicted sex offenders infiltrating the Internet to contact and prey on minors. You've heard about this problem before under the measure that has just passed the House. We are all familiar with the problem. There is not a parent who is not concerned that through the Internet a sex offender may attempt to contact a child for criminal, vicious sex purposes. The KIDS Act addresses this problem in three ways: It authorizes funding for the Federal Probation and Pretrial Office to enhance the agency's ability to monitor the computer use by convicted Federal sex offenders. In particular, it authorizes funding to evaluate and purchase Internet filtering and monitoring systems to better enable probation officers to monitor the computer use of sex offenders. This is very important. This should help ensure that if an offender violates the terms of release as to Internet use, the violation will be discovered so the offender's release can be promptly revoked. The next thing we do here is codify the current practice of some sentencing judges by specifically authorizing a court to require as a condition of probation that a convicted sex offender cooperate with the installation of Internet filtering and monitoring systems. Finally, the bill directs the Sentencing Commission to consider increased penalties for sex crimes committed over the Internet where the defendant lied about his age or concealed identity as a sex offender. This measure before us now adds a new criminal provision to reach those who set up ``virtual money systems'' to facilitate the trafficking of child pornography over the Internet. There's no simple way of keeping the Internet out of the hands of those who would use it for these and other sinister purposes. Nonetheless, the KIDS Act goes a long way toward addressing the problem of Internet sex predation by enhancing supervision of convicted sex offenders and increasing penalties for these crimes. I can't imagine anyone in this House on either side of the aisle not supporting a measure such as this. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. First of all, I want to thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) for the hard work that he has put in on this measure. We appreciate the cooperation that we've had in the course of this. And of course we yield to no one in recognizing him as the Congress' foremost expert on the Internet, and thus his being involved in this kind of legislation for quite a few years. Earlier versions of this bill required registration of online identifiers of sex offenders. And as the gentleman knows, a sex offender can change his user name and IP address in about two seconds, so we didn't feel that was particularly helpful. We thought monitoring sex offenders before they ever got on the Internet was a better way to go, and we're glad that we've been able to reach some closure with him on that subject. Now, on the criminal provisions, I want to tactfully suggest that we've got a better way here in this bill, and I think most of the lawyers and those who followed this shall agree with us. There is no point in overburdening prosecutors. What we've done with reference to criminal provisions is that the practice of grooming, where sex predators lie about their age on the Internet to entice minors into sexual activity, obviously is horrific and widespread, but the other approach would have required prosecutors to prove a new and separate offense in order to get a higher sentence for offenses involving grooming. We didn't think that would be the better way to proceed. Under the minority approach, a prosecutor would have had to prove all the elements of this new crime beyond a reasonable doubt. This is, I think, unnecessary and probably a very high burden to reach, given that there exists in criminal law a law against enticement that covers grooming activity. And so the approach we finally settled on directs the sentencing commission to provide tougher sentences for predatory behavior that involves grooming. And you don't get the chairman of this committee talking about tougher sentencing on very many things around here; this is one that I can support without qualification. So what we've done is deal with a serious problem of grooming and get to the same place as other approaches that have been suggested to us in what we believe, from a criminal justice point of view, is far more efficient. And with the new provisions that would fight financial facilitation of child pornography, we think we've got a bill. And we thank Mr. Pomeroy for helping us get there. And with that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I have the final closing speaker, Mr. Pomeroy, to whom I will yield the balance of our time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Members of the committee, H.R. 4120, the Effective Child Pornography Prosecution Act, addresses a truly unfortunate and, in my view, wrongly decided decision by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of United States v. Schaefer. Now, while the defendant was found to be in the possession of child pornography, the court nevertheless reversed his conviction because it concluded that the statute required, and the government had failed to prove, that the contraband had actually crossed State lines. This statute in question makes it illegal to possess child pornography ``in commerce.'' The court held that this phrase, ``in commerce,'' meant that Congress intended that the contraband had to actually cross State lines. Had the statute instead used the phrase ``in or affecting interstate commerce,'' the court held, the conviction would have been upheld, as that phrase is well understood as reflecting Congress' intent to use the full reach of its constitutional commerce clause power. H.R. 4120 makes clear that the Congress intends that the prohibitions against child pornography reach the full extent of its constitutional authority. And as hearings in the Judiciary Committee hearing demonstrated, the child pornography business is no respecter of national or international borders. Even conduct that may appear to be wholly localized in its manifestation can nevertheless have an unmistakable effect in interstate commerce. So let there be no mistake that Congress intends to use its full commerce clause authority to reach activities concluded by this odious business. And we want to make it so clear that even the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals cannot be mistaken by that. And so I urge my colleagues to fully support this bill, as I expect that they will. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I want to again extend my compliments and express my gratefulness to the gentleman from Virginia for his support on this measure. And as usual, he points out perhaps small items that only a person with his experience would want to bring to the attention of the Members of the House. The author of this bill is Nancy Boyda of Kansas, our distinguished colleague, to whom I am proud to yield as much time as she may consume.

Mr. CONYERS. I couldn't agree with the gentleman more.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Kansas.

Mr. CONYERS. I thank the author (Mrs. Boyda) and her Republican cosponsor. I return the balance of our time. There are no further speakers.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4134) to direct the Attorney General to provide grants for Internet crime prevention education programs.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill now under consideration.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Members of the House, there are many ways to address criminal behavior on the Internet as reflected by the measures that we have already passed this afternoon. Without question, it is critical that Internet sex offenders be identified, arrested, prosecuted and punished as the law provides. Nevertheless, Internet safety must begin with prevention, especially with our children. They must be taught how to use the Internet safely and how to avoid Internet behavior that puts them at risk. So H.R. 4134 authorizes that the Department of Justice administer grants for the purpose of teaching our children Internet safety. This is an excellent measure that deserves our support. I commend the chairman of our fifth committee in Judiciary, Linda Sanchez of California, for her leadership on this very critical issue, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4136, the Enhancing the Effective Prosecution of Child Pornography Act, addresses two gaps in the criminal statutes that punish those who trade in, profit from, and create the market for child pornography. First, the bill provides that those who launder proceeds from the business of child pornography may be charged with money laundering. This is obviously common sense, and a provision supported by the Department of Justice. Then, it clarifies the definition of possession in the child pornography laws so that knowingly accessing child pornography on the Internet with intent to view it constitutes possession, even if the user does not download or otherwise save the images. Some defendants have claimed that they did not intend to possess the images, even when they clearly intended to view them, and some courts have said the reach of the statute is unclear in this regard. This measure removes any ambiguity from the law. We are grateful to Chris Carney, our colleague from Pennsylvania, who has authored this measure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, we are happy to get the support and concurrence of the gentleman from Virginia on this measure. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Carney), the author of the legislation.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time and thank the floor manager for his excellent work on all these measures.