[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 150 (Friday, October 31, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11547-S11548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FAIRCLOTH:
  S. 1356. A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit 
Internet service providers from providing accounts to sexually violent 
predators; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.


     the internet service providers account prohibition act of 1997

  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, in the past few years, I have been 
shocked by the number of crimes I have read about that are connected to 
the Internet.
  This was a problem that did not even exist just a few years ago, but 
now it has become very prevalent.
  What is happening is that sex offenders and pedophiles are using the 
Internet to recruit children.
  I think I have a solution that can help this situation.
  Today, I am introducing legislation that would prevent a convicted 
sex offender from having an Internet account. Under my bill, the on-
line service provider would be barred from providing an account to 
anyone who is a sexually violent predator or who has registered under 
Megan's law.
  I do not think this would be difficult to enforce, because convicted 
sex offenders are already on a data base.
  A background check on that data base could keep them offline.
  Mr. President, we all know that proper parental supervision is the 
best defense against this type of crime, but I am finding that some 
parents aren't as computer literate as their children and it is almost 
impossible to watch children every minute of every day.
  In my view, it is time to pull the plug on sex offenders and take 
them offline.
  Mr. President, as I said, this problem has been growing year by year. 
It has grown to the point where the FBI has set up a special task force 
to track down computer sex offenders.
  In 1993, the FBI formed a task force known as Innocent Images.
  It was created after a 10-year-old boy was declared missing in 
Maryland. Unfortunately, he has never been found. But the FBI did come 
across two neighbors who have an elaborate computer network--where they 
were recruiting young victims over the Internet. The key suspect is in 
jail, but has never told the police anything about the disappearance.
  This is what one agent said about the program:

       Generally we would come across people trying to trade 
     (illicit pictures) within five to ten minutes . . . It was 
     like coming across a person at every street corner trying to 
     sell you crack.

  Just 2 weeks ago, the Washington Post reported on a man that had 
contacted over 100 underage girls via a computer. He was arrested and 
received 2 years in jail. I have no doubt, he will be back on the 
Internet when he gets out of jail. My bill is designed to stop him 
again.
  The task force has conducted over 330 searches that have resulted in 
200 indictments and 150 convictions. Another 135 have been arrested.
  If we do not stop sex offenders on the Internet, I believe the number 
of crimes will grow.
  Tragically, just a few weeks ago, an 11-year-old boy was murdered in 
New Jersey by a teenager who himself had been molested by a man he met 
on the Internet. The man was a twice convicted sex offender.
  We have got to stop this activity and stop it now.
  Mr. President, there will be critics who call this unconstitutional. 
They can certainly tie themselves up in knots about the legalities, but 
my

[[Page S11548]]

main concern is for the safety of our children.
  I think we have ample precedent for doing something like this. First, 
we have Megan's Law that requires registration of sex offenders. 
Second, the Supreme Court, in Kansas versus Hendricks, upheld a State 
statute that kept a sexual predator committed in a State mental 
institution, after his criminal sentence had run. I think it is clear 
that for sexual predators--they do not enjoy the rights that all of us 
enjoy. There is a difference.
  More simply put, is this any different than denying a felon the right 
to own a gun. Is it different than barring a habitual drunk driver from 
having a driver's license?
  The Internet is the new weapon of the sexual predator. It is their 
key to invading our homes.
  We have to send a clear message that the Internet will not become the 
favored tool of the pedophile. Instead of roaming the streets, the sex 
offenders of the 1990's are roaming chat rooms and the Internet looking 
for victims.
  This legislation will put a stop to that.
  I hope that we can have hearings on this bill and that we can 
consider it next session.
                                 ______