[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 125 (Tuesday, October 10, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H9537-H9539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SUPPORTING INTERNET SAFETY AWARENESS

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the resolution (H. Res. 575) supporting Internet safety awareness, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 575

       Whereas the Internet provides citizens of the United States 
     with the technology for research, education, entertainment, 
     and communication;
       Whereas millions of Americans, many school libraries and 
     classrooms, and many public libraries are connected to the 
     Internet;
       Whereas more than 1 out of 5 missing 15- to 17-year-old 
     teenagers have disappeared because of someone they met while 
     chatting on the Internet;
       Whereas there are an estimated 10,000 Internet websites 
     designed for or by individuals who have a sexual preference 
     for children;
       Whereas there are an estimated 200 million pages of 
     pornography, hate, violence, and abuse on the Internet;
       Whereas there are multitudes of strangers who use the 
     Internet to enter homes, talk to and ``groom'' children, and 
     will take indecent advantages of those children if given a 
     chance;
       Whereas children have been raped, assaulted, kidnapped, and 
     deprived of their innocence by individuals they met on the 
     Internet; and
       Whereas September 2000 is Internet Safety Awareness Month: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) urges the citizens of the United States to recognize 
     and support educational programs that make surfing on the 
     Internet safe and fun;
       (2) supports initiatives to educate parents, children, 
     educators, and community leaders about the enormous 
     possibilities and the potential dangers of the Internet;
       (3) urges all Americans to become informed about the 
     Internet and to support proactive efforts that will provide 
     Internet safety for children and for future generations to 
     come; and
       (4) expresses the sincere appreciation of the House of 
     Representatives for the thousands of law enforcement 
     officials who are aggressively working to protect America's 
     children while they are online.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Markey) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).


                             General Leave

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material on the 
resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goode).
  Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 575, a 
resolution to promote Internet safety awareness. As more and more 
Americans are utilizing the Internet and many children in this country 
have access to the Internet, it is important that we raise awareness to 
the dangers that the Internet can pose, especially to children.
  As this resolution reflects, the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children estimates that one out of five missing 15-, 16- and 
17-year-olds in America are due to Internet activity. There are many 
predators that use the Internet to make contact and gain information on 
unsuspecting children. Children have been raped, assaulted and 
kidnapped by individuals they met on the Internet.
  In Bedford County, Virginia, a county that I represent along with the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), we are proud of the diligent 
work that Sheriff Mike Brown and his office have done to combat 
Internet predators. Developing a nationally recognized program called 
Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, Sheriff Brown and his office have 
targeted pedophiles that use the Internet to reach children. While law 
enforcement officials in Bedford County, Virginia and elsewhere have 
been successful in apprehending on-line predators, there is no 
substitute for having parents and children that are aware and educated 
on the dangers that exist on the Internet and how to keep children safe 
from online predators. With the aid of grants from the U.S. Department 
of Justice, the Bedford County sheriff's office has also conducted 
Internet safety programs dubbed Safe Surfin' in the local schools. They 
hope to make children aware of the dangers and teach them how to surf 
the Internet safely.
  I want to commend many of my colleagues who attended the 
demonstration here in the Capitol in September of 1999 on Operation 
Blue Ridge Thunder that was provided by the Bedford County sheriff's 
office. The demonstration showed the extensive presence of pedophiles 
and predators online and illustrated the importance and necessity of 
Internet safety awareness and education.
  The Commonwealth of Virginia recognized September as Internet Child 
Safety Awareness Month and has run public service announcements on 
television and radio warning parents of the dangers that exist on the 
Internet. I commend the Commonwealth for its proactive role in 
promoting Internet safety, and I hope that my colleagues will join me 
in passing this resolution raising awareness to the dangers of the 
Internet and supporting efforts to educate parents and children on the 
safe use of the Internet.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the authors of this very well 
thought out House resolution. As we move deeper and deeper into the 
Internet era, we reach the Dickensian conclusion that it is the best of 
wires and it is the worst of wires simultaneously, that it has the 
ability to enable and to ennoble but it also has the ability to degrade 
and to debase. It is this duality of personality that we are talking 
about here today.
  This resolution is one that basically urges all citizens of the 
country, parents and educators, librarians, law enforcement officials, 
everyone in our society to take a more active role in supporting 
educational programs that help to make Internet surfing safe for young 
people in our country and to generally support all of the programs in 
our country that promote Internet safety.
  It is a straightforward, common sense resolution. The gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Green), a good Democratic Member, added language to this 
bill which also commends the law enforcement community for everything 
that they are doing to help to promote an environment in which children 
are not

[[Page H9538]]

exploited online. We all know that we have a child online privacy act 
that protects children 12 and under in terms of their privacy as they 
use commercial online sites, but we do not have any laws protecting 
anyone over the age of 12. And we cannot really say honestly that a 13-
, a 14-, a 15-, a 16-year-old is not in need of legal protection as 
well. I think that the next Congress is going to be addressing those 
issues.
  But generally speaking, I think that since these children are in a 
situation with a new technology, in many instances with more knowledge 
than their parents have, then it is critical for us to continue to 
reemphasize how important it is that we increase these educational 
programs so that the children of the country derive all of the positive 
benefits from the new technology while minimizing this unfortunate side 
effect which all too often is insinuating itself into the homes of 
families all across the country. I commend the authors of this 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley) be permitted to control the remainder 
of my time for the consideration of this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), the coauthor of the 
legislation.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me 
this time and I thank him and the other members of the Committee on 
Commerce for shepherding this legislation through the committee, but I 
most especially want to thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goode), 
the author of this legislation, who, as a member of the Congressional 
Internet Caucus, has been working very hard to combat this serious 
problem on the Internet and for identifying the need for this 
resolution and working to get it through the House this year.
  The Internet Caucus has been very involved in the issue of Internet 
safety, both from a law enforcement and a prevention perspective. With 
the help of the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goode), the Congress 
hosted a briefing last fall on online sexual predators to present to 
Members of Congress the nature of this problem. Bedford County Sheriff 
Mike Brown and Commonwealth Attorney Randy Krantz demonstrated 
Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, which works to apprehend and prosecute 
sexual predators and traffickers of child pornography on the Internet.
  Child pornographers and sexual predators online are an enormous 
problem for law enforcement agencies. Pedophiles currently operate more 
than 10,000 Web sites and more than 300,000 children are now involved 
in the illegal sex trade. This event was held to assist Members of 
Congress in examining how law enforcement agencies are fighting child 
pornography and sexual predators and exploring ways to improve efforts 
to address this growing national problem.
  Operation Blue Ridge Thunder is one of a handful of agencies 
nationwide to receive a Justice Department grant to surf online chat 
rooms for pedophiles. The success of these agencies has been 
significant, and, in response, over 125 Republican and Democratic 
Members joined together this year to request a significant increase to 
$10 million in funding from House appropriators to help local law 
enforcement programs like Operation Blue Ridge Thunder and other 
similar programs to continue their vital work at ridding our Nation of 
people who prey on our most innocent citizens, our children.
  We were very pleased to see Operation Blue Ridge Thunder profiled on 
the CBS-TV program ``48 Hours.'' In the 2 days after the broadcast, the 
Bedford sheriff's department logged more than 1,000 calls in support of 
what Operation Blue Ridge Thunder is doing. Only three calls criticized 
what is being done. This is vivid proof that the American public 
appreciates the work being done by the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
and local law enforcement programs like Operation Blue Ridge Thunder.
  We cannot rest until each and every person who wishes to harm our 
children with deviant behavior is arrested and prosecuted. We intend on 
continuing to support the efforts of organizations like Operation Blue 
Ridge Thunder in this regard.
  In addition to supporting law enforcement efforts, the Internet 
Caucus has also been very involved with prevention in the form of a 
program called GetNetWise. Last year, in response to a challenge from 
Congress, leading Internet companies, nonprofit organizations, and 
child safety experts created GetNetWise, an Internet resource to help 
parents and caregivers protect children online from unwanted contact 
and content.
  GetNetWise, which can be found at www.getnetwise.org, is an 
innovative and easy-to-use resource that responds to the concerns of 
parents and caregivers. GetNetWise provides parents and caregivers with 
the online resources necessary to protect children. Thus, authority to 
control access to materials on the Internet remains with each family. 
In its first year, more than 1,800,000 unique Web users visited the 
GetNetWise user empowerment resources over 5 million times. Not only 
are we encouraging folks at home to check out GetNetWise, but Members 
of Congress are also being encouraged to link their websites to 
GetNetWise to help get the information to parents and children in their 
districts.
  This legislation calling the importance of this problem to the 
attention of the American people is very valuable. I again commend the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goode) for his leadership on this issue 
and urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  There is unanimous agreement on the Democratic side that this is a 
very good resolution. It is something that does, in fact, capture the 
sense of the Congress and the American people that more has to be done 
in order to ensure that these kinds of predatory practices do not 
endanger the children of the country. My hope is that in the next 
Congress, we can actually begin to pass concrete legislation that can 
ensure that we do more to protect the privacy of all children within 
our country, especially those that are still left unprotected because 
they are over the age of 12. I thank all who were involved, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Goode), and all on our side as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin).
  Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 575 is pretty straightforward. It is 
indeed a good resolution, introduced by the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Goode) and it is designed literally to improve Internet safety 
awareness.
  As we have seen in the last few years, the Internet provides, of 
course, a great new array of opportunities for all of our citizens.

                              {time}  1600

  From buying gifts online to witnessing the miracles of telemedicine, 
to helping to educate children across our country, I think Americans 
are coming to know and understand the important value of the Internet. 
The popularity of the Internet is increasing. People are using it on a 
daily basis across this great country, and they are beginning to 
understand that it holds new and exciting possibilities for their 
children.
  Unfortunately, it is also a technology that can be used by the wrong 
people sometimes, and criminals indeed are looking at it as a new place 
to take advantage of some Americans. Some people are using it, in fact, 
in harmful ways to spread destructive material or to aid in criminal 
activity. There is a spread of obscene material, child pornography, 
child exploitation as the use of the Internet has increased. Every day 
crimes in the analogue world are being diverted now to the Internet 
where the reach of such crimes is, like other things, greatly 
multiplied.
  Over the years, the law enforcement communities have been called upon 
to improve their enforcement of the current law. They have also been 
asked to tell Congress where current law needs to change in order to 
reflect these new technologies. We acknowledge, indeed,

[[Page H9539]]

the hard work of these agencies; but we know that much work needs to be 
done.
  H. Res. 575 will not stop criminal activity. It will not protect our 
citizens from sinister behavior, but it does take this important step: 
it brings to light the relevant issues facing Internet usage, and 
hopefully it will help educate the American people of the need to be 
watchful of Internet activity, especially as it affects our Nation's 
children.
  We have an obligation, indeed, to educate the American people about 
existing problems of Internet use. This resolution will help. It is an 
extremely important one, and I urge all Members to support it.
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I will just sum up briefly with our congratulations to 
the author of the legislation, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Goodlatte). As the other speakers have said, the Internet provides a 
great upside opportunity for education, entertainment and the like, but 
it certainly has its dark side as well. Those of us who worked on the 
Child Online Protection Act understand how difficult some of these 
circumstances can be with children having access to some of this 
terrible material.
  While the Child Online Protection Act, which passed virtually 
unanimously in the 105th Congress, is now undergoing judicial review, 
whether in fact we are successful or not ultimately in getting that 
legislation to be considered constitutional the real issue is how do we 
deal in the meantime with educating our children to the potential 
dangers of the Internet. That is why this legislation has such 
importance, has such broad-based support from both sides of the aisle.
  So that is why it is important that we pass this legislation today.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gibbons). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley) that the House suspend 
the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 575, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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