[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 95 (Monday, June 12, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8130-S8131]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPETITION AND DEREGULATION ACT

  Mr. EXON. Mr. President, today, and very probably tomorrow, almost 
definitely we will be back into debating a very important part, if not 
a critical part, of the rewrite of the telecommunications laws of our 
country. They obviously need rewriting because we have not done 
anything about it since 1934, and we all know what has happened to 
communications and the distribution of information since that time.
  In the mind of this Senator from Nebraska, who has been involved in 
telecommunications and distributions of information for 17 years on the 
Commerce Committee, and before that in other pursuits, a very important 
part of that legislation, as reported out of the Commerce Committee, 
dealt directly with something that is sweeping this country, and that 
is pornography, directed at children primarily, on the information 
superhighway, generally called the Internet. Too many people are 
sweeping this aside and saying everything is constitutionally 
guaranteed, and there is nothing we can do without violating the 
Constitution. That is nonsense, Mr. President.
  I am up this morning just briefly to address this matter and alert 
every Member of the U.S. Senate, all 100 Senators, to this growing 
peril in America that needs the direct attention and action, in a 
constitutional manner, by the U.S. Senate.
  A measure cosponsored by Senator Gorton and myself was unanimously 
adopted in the committee and incorporated in the telecommunications 
bill before the body. At the time of that action, I said this was not a 
perfect piece of legislation. I felt it had to be very carefully 
drafted in great detail to make certain that we did not pass a piece of 
legislation that would almost immediately be ruled unconstitutional by 
the courts.
  I had amendments to that measure that I was principal sponsor of, 
along with the Senator from Washington State, in the committee that 
will further clarify, further define, and further alleviate any 
legitimate concern for anyone about trampling on the Constitution.
  I would simply recite once again the statement of presentation made 
at some point on this floor on Friday last. It is printed in the 
Congressional Record of Friday, June 9, 1995, starting on page S8089 
and running through page S8092. I would like my colleagues that are not 
on the floor at this particular moment, or their staffs, to take 
[[Page S8131]] a look at that presentation and bring themselves up to 
date on what is going on on this very important matter, and have an 
independent judgment made by every U.S. Senator as to what is right and 
what is wrong in this area.
  I was especially taken, Mr. President, by the prayer of the Chaplain 
of the U.S. Senate that was offered this morning as we began our 
deliberations. The Chaplain prayed for guidance and prayed for action 
on this matter that he and others see as a very, very, serious threat, 
especially to our youngsters.
  Therefore, I say, Mr. President, I hope that there will be some study 
given to this. I hope that my colleagues and their staffs will listen 
to this Senator and others, who try and make our case for doing 
something constructive about this menace that is engulfing the 
Internet; statements to the contrary by those who do not agree, 
notwithstanding.
  I simply say, Mr. President, that this is something that needs our 
definite attention. It is something that needs some study. I would hope 
that my colleagues and their staffs would do some study and make 
certain individual judgments on this matter, because I am sure that 
whether they agree completely with this Senator or not, they cannot 
help but be concerned about this very real threat that is out there 
today that I happen to feel is the greatest polluter of the minds of 
our children and grandchildren, that must have some rules and 
regulations.
  In short, Mr. President, what this Senator from Nebraska is 
attempting to do is to merely copy the legislation that we have had on 
the books for a long, long time with regard to the spread of 
pornography and obscenity, especially addressing the many court 
decisions that have said that the community standard rules, and 
basically rules in law have been recognized for a long time, that we 
have the right, and I think the responsibility, to make sure that our 
children do not have instant access to material on the Internet. That 
we prohibit them by law and constitutionally to see or read or view on 
our magazine stands, even in our motion pictures, certainly in our sex 
shops around the country.
  The law that we have in place now that I am attempting to get into 
the legislation with regard to the Internet basically says that we 
should have the same laws in place with regard to pornography and 
obscenity that we have had for a long, long time, that everyone seems 
to generally agree with.
  We have laws at the present time to prevent pornography and obscenity 
in our telephone system. We have laws on our books to prohibit the 
mailing, through the U.S. mails, of pornography and obscenity. I do not 
mean that those laws have eliminated any and all type of material, of 
the type that I am suggesting, of getting through.
  I simply say, Mr. President, that without those laws, there would be 
much more of it, and particularly our children would be placed in 
harm's way from all of this sex sickness that is rampant on the 
Internet today.
  I will have more to say about this in some more detail as the debate 
moves forward.
  Once again, I would like to reference pages in last Friday's 
Congressional Record that I hope might be of interest to my colleagues 
and members of their staff. I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.


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