[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 21, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H2669-H2676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           DOT KIDS IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFICIENCY ACT OF 2002

  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3833) to facilitate the creation of a new, second-level Internet 
domain within the United States country code domain that will be a 
haven for material that promotes positive experiences for children and 
families using the Internet, provides a safe online environment for 
children, and helps to prevent children from being exposed to harmful 
material on the Internet, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3833

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Dot Kids Implementation and 
     Efficiency Act of 2002''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
       (1) the World Wide Web presents a stimulating and 
     entertaining opportunity for children to learn, grow, and 
     develop educationally and intellectually;
       (2) Internet technology also makes available an extensive 
     amount of information that is harmful to children, as studies 
     indicate that a significant portion of all material available 
     on the Internet is related to pornography;
       (3) young children, when trying to use the World Wide Web 
     for positive purposes, are often presented--either mistakenly 
     or intentionally--with material that is inappropriate for 
     their age, which can be extremely frustrating for children, 
     parents, and educators;
       (4) exposure of children to material that is inappropriate 
     for them, including pornography, can distort the education 
     and development of the Nation's youth and represents a 
     serious harm to American families that can lead to a host of 
     other problems for children, including inappropriate use of 
     chat rooms, physical molestation, harassment, and legal and 
     financial difficulties;
       (5) young boys and girls, older teens, troubled youth, 
     frequent Internet users, chat room participants, online risk 
     takers, and those who communicate online with strangers are 
     at greater risk for receiving unwanted sexual solicitation on 
     the Internet;
       (6) studies have shown that 19 percent of youth (ages 10 to 
     17) who used the Internet regularly were the targets of 
     unwanted sexual solicitation, but less than 10 percent of the 
     solicitations were reported to the police;
       (7) children who come across illegal content should report 
     it to the congressionally authorized CyberTipline, an online 
     mechanism developed by the National Center for Missing and 
     Exploited Children, for citizens to report sexual crimes 
     against children;
       (8) the CyberTipline has received more than 64,400 reports, 
     including reports of child pornography, online enticement for 
     sexual acts, child molestation (outside the family), and 
     child prostitution;
       (9) although the computer software and hardware industries, 
     and other related industries, have developed innovative ways 
     to help parents and educators restrict material that is 
     harmful to minors through parental control protections and 
     self-regulation, to date such efforts have not provided a 
     national solution to the problem of minors accessing harmful 
     material on the World Wide Web;
       (10) the creation of a ``green-light'' area within the 
     United States country code Internet domain, that will contain 
     only content that is appropriate for children under the age 
     of 13, is analogous to the creation of a children's section 
     within a library and will promote the positive experiences of 
     children and families in the United States; and
       (11) while custody, care, and nurture of the child reside 
     first with the parent, the protection of the physical and 
     psychological well-being of minors by shielding them from 
     material that is harmful to them is a compelling governmental 
     interest.
       (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to facilitate the creation of a second-level domain 
     within the United States country code Internet domain for the 
     location of material that is suitable for minors and not 
     harmful to minors; and
       (2) to ensure that the National Telecommunications and 
     Information Administration oversees the creation of such a 
     second-level domain and ensures the effective and efficient 
     establishment and operation of the new domain.

     SEC. 3. NTIA AUTHORITY.

       Section 103(b)(3) of the National Telecommunications and 
     Information Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 
     902(b)(3)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(C) shall assign to the NTIA responsibility for providing 
     for the establishment, and overseeing operation, of a second-
     level Internet domain within the United States country code 
     domain in accordance with section 157.''.

     SEC. 4. CHILD-FRIENDLY SECOND-LEVEL INTERNET DOMAIN.

       The National Telecommunications and Information 
     Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is 
     amended in part C by adding at the end the following new 
     section:

     ``SEC. 157. CHILD-FRIENDLY SECOND-LEVEL INTERNET DOMAIN.

       ``(a) Responsibilities.--The NTIA shall require the 
     registry selected to operate and

[[Page H2670]]

     maintain the United States country code Internet domain to 
     establish, operate, and maintain a second-level domain within 
     the United States country code domain that provides access 
     only to material that is suitable for minors and not harmful 
     to minors (in this section referred to as the `new domain').
       ``(b) Conditions of Contract Renewal.--The NTIA may not 
     renew any contract to operate and maintain the domain with 
     the initial registry, or enter into or renew any such 
     contract with any successor registry, unless such registry 
     enters into an agreement with the NTIA, during the 90-day 
     period beginning upon the date of the enactment of the Dot 
     Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002 in the case of 
     the initial registry or during the 90-day period after 
     selection in the case of any successor registry, as 
     applicable, which provides for the registry to carry out, and 
     the new domain operates pursuant to, the following 
     requirements:
       ``(1) Written content standards for the new domain, except 
     that the NTIA shall not have any authority to establish such 
     standards.
       ``(2) Written agreements with each registrar for the new 
     domain that require that use of the new domain is in 
     accordance with the standards and requirements of the 
     registry.
       ``(3) Written agreements with registrars, which shall 
     require registrars to enter into written agreements with 
     registrants, to use the new domain in accordance with the 
     standards and requirements of the registry.
       ``(4) Rules and procedures for enforcement and oversight 
     that minimize the possibility that the new domain provides 
     access to content that is not in accordance with the 
     standards and requirements of the registry.
       ``(5) A process for removing from the new domain any 
     content that is not in accordance with the standards and 
     requirements of the registry.
       ``(6) A process to provide registrants to the new domain 
     with an opportunity for a prompt, expeditious, and impartial 
     dispute resolution process regarding any material of the 
     registrant excluded from the new domain.
       ``(7) Continuous and uninterrupted service for the new 
     domain during any transition to a new registry selected to 
     operate and maintain new domain or the United States country 
     code domain.
       ``(8) Procedures and mechanisms to promote the accuracy of 
     contact information submitted by registrants and retained by 
     registrars in the new domain.
       ``(9) Operationality of the new domain not later than one 
     year after the date of the enactment of the Dot Kids 
     Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002.
       ``(10) Written agreements with registrars, which shall 
     require registrars to enter into written agreements with 
     registrants, to prohibit two-way and multiuser interactive 
     services in the new domain, unless the registrant certifies 
     to the registrar that such service will be offered in 
     compliance with the content standards established pursuant to 
     paragraph (1) and is specifically constructed and operated to 
     protect minors from harm.
       ``(11) Written agreements with registrars, which shall 
     require registrars to enter into written agreements with 
     registrants, to prohibit hyperlinks in the new domain that 
     take new domain users outside of the new domain.
       ``(12) Any other action that the NTIA considers necessary 
     to establish, operate, or maintain the new domain in 
     accordance with the purposes of this section.
       ``(c) Treatment of Registry and Other Entities.--
       ``(1) In general.--Only to the extent that such entities 
     carry out functions under this section, the following 
     entities are deemed to be interactive computer services for 
     purposes of section 230(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 
     (47 U.S.C. 230(c)):
       ``(A) The registry that operates and maintains the new 
     domain.
       ``(B) Any entity that contracts with such registry to carry 
     out functions to ensure that content accessed through the new 
     domain complies with the limitations applicable to the new 
     domain.
       ``(C) Any registrar for the registry of the new domain that 
     is operating in compliance with its agreement with the 
     registry.
       ``(2) Savings provision.--Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be 
     construed to affect the applicability of any other provision 
     of title II of the Communications Act of 1934 to the entities 
     covered by subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1).
       ``(d) Education.--The NTIA shall carry out a program to 
     publicize the availability of the new domain and to educate 
     the parents of minors regarding the process for utilizing the 
     new domain in combination and coordination with hardware and 
     software technologies that provide for filtering or blocking. 
     The program under this subsection shall be commenced not 
     later than 30 days after the date that the new domain first 
     becomes operational and accessible by the public.
       ``(e) Coordination With Federal Government.--The registry 
     selected to operate and maintain the new domain shall--
       ``(1) consult with appropriate agencies of the Federal 
     Government regarding procedures and actions to prevent minors 
     and families who use the new domain from being targeted by 
     adults and other children for predatory behavior, 
     exploitation, or illegal actions; and
       ``(2) based upon the consultations conducted pursuant to 
     paragraph (1), establish such procedures and take such 
     actions as the registry may deem necessary to prevent such 
     targeting.

     The consultations, procedures, and actions required under 
     this subsection shall be commenced not later than 30 days 
     after the date that the new domain first becomes operational 
     and accessible by the public.
       ``(f) Compliance Report.--The registry shall prepare, on an 
     annual basis, a report on the registry's monitoring and 
     enforcement procedures for the new domain. The registry shall 
     submit each such report, setting forth the results of the 
     review of its monitoring and enforcement procedures for the 
     new domain, to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
     House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
     Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
       ``(g) Selection of Contractor.--
       ``(1) Withdrawal of registry.--
       ``(A) Election by registry.--Upon a good faith showing by 
     the registry of the new domain to the NTIA of extreme 
     financial hardship in the operation of the new domain 
     occurring any time after the date of the enactment of the Dot 
     Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002, the registry 
     may elect to relinquish the right to operate and maintain the 
     new domain. Notwithstanding the time of occurrence of such 
     extreme financial hardship or the time of such election, the 
     registry may not relinquish such right before the expiration 
     of the 3-year period beginning upon such date of enactment.
       ``(B) Selection of new contractor.--If the registry elects 
     to relinquish such right pursuant to subparagraph (A), the 
     NTIA shall select a contractor to operate and maintain the 
     new domain under the competitive bidding process established 
     pursuant to paragraph (2).
       ``(C) Extreme financial hardship.--For purposes of this 
     paragraph, the term `extreme financial hardship' means that 
     each quarter, for a period of 6 or more consecutive quarters, 
     the costs of establishing, operating, and maintaining the new 
     domain exceed the revenues generated from registrants by more 
     than 25 percent.
       ``(2) Competitive bid selection process.--The NTIA shall 
     establish a process for soliciting applications and selecting 
     a contractor to operate and maintain the new domain pursuant 
     to this subsection), which process shall comply with the 
     following requirements:
       ``(A) Timing.--The selection process shall commence and 
     complete not later than (i) 120 days after the registry 
     elects to relinquish the new domain for extreme financial 
     hardship, or (ii) the expiration of a contract referred to in 
     paragraph (4), as applicable.
       ``(B) Notice.--The selection process shall provide adequate 
     notice to prospective applicants of--
       ``(i) the opportunity to submit such an application; and
       ``(ii) the criteria for selection under subparagraph (C).
       ``(C) Criteria.--The selection shall be made pursuant to 
     written, objective criteria designed to ensure--
       ``(i) that the new domain is operated and maintained in 
     accordance with the requirements under subsection (b); and
       ``(ii) that the contractor selected to operate and maintain 
     the new domain is the applicant most capable and qualified to 
     do so.
       ``(D) Review.--Not more than 60 days after the conclusion 
     of the period established for submission of applications, the 
     NTIA shall--
       ``(i) review and apply the selection criteria established 
     under subparagraph (C) to each application submitted; and
       ``(ii) based upon such criteria and subject to submission 
     of an application meeting such criteria, select an 
     application and award to the applicant a subcontract for the 
     operation and maintenance of the new domain.
       ``(E) Failure to find contractor.--If the NTIA fails to 
     find a suitable contractor pursuant to the process under this 
     paragraph, the NTIA shall permit the registry to cease 
     operation of the new domain.
       ``(3) Rights and duties.--A contractor selected pursuant to 
     this subsection shall have all of the rights and duties of 
     the registry specified under this section, except that such 
     duties shall not include the technical maintenance of the new 
     domain.
       ``(4) Conditions of contract renewal.--In the case of the 
     expiration of a contract for operation and maintenance of the 
     new domain with a contractor selected pursuant to paragraph 
     (2), the NTIA may renew such contract or, subject to 
     paragraph (2), rebid the contract to a new contractor. 
     Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the 
     registry of the United States country code Internet domain 
     from bidding to become the contractor of the new domain.
       ``(h) Suspension of New Domain.--If the NTIA finds, 
     pursuant to its own review or upon a good faith petition by 
     the registry, that the new domain is not serving its intended 
     purpose, the NTIA shall instruct the registry to suspend 
     operation of the new domain until such time as the NTIA 
     determines that the new domain can be operated as intended.
       ``(i) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the 
     following definitions shall apply:
       ``(1) Harmful to minors.--The term `harmful to minors' 
     means, with respect to material, that--
       ``(A) the average person, applying contemporary community 
     standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and 
     with respect to minors, that it is designed to appeal to, or 
     is designed to pander to, the prurient interest;

[[Page H2671]]

       ``(B) the material depicts, describes, or represents, in a 
     manner patently offensive with respect to minors, an actual 
     or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, an actual or 
     simulated normal or perverted sexual act, or a lewd 
     exhibition of the genitals or post-pubescent female breast; 
     and
       ``(C) taken as a whole, the material lacks serious, 
     literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for 
     minors.
       ``(2) Minor.--The term `minor' means any person under 13 
     years of age.
       ``(3) Registry.--The term `registry' means the registry 
     selected to operate and maintain the United States country 
     code Internet domain
       ``(4) Suitable for minors.--The term `suitable for minors' 
     means, with respect to material, that it--
       ``(A) is not psychologically or intellectually 
     inappropriate for minors; and
       ``(B) serves--
       ``(i) the educational, informational, intellectual, or 
     cognitive needs of minors; or
       ``(ii) the social, emotional, or entertainment needs of 
     minors.''.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and to insert extraneous material on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, sometimes I think that the World Wide Web should be 
renamed perhaps the World's Wicked Web. I woke up this morning 
listening to the Today Show, and I heard this very sad case of a young 
girl in Danbury, Connecticut. I read from CNN: ``The body of a 13-year-
old girl missing since Friday has been found. The FBI has arrested a 
Brazilian national living in Connecticut who allegedly met the girl on 
the Internet, the agency said Monday. Christina Long's body was found 
Monday. She had been missing since Friday evening.'' She had been 
contacted through a chat room on the Internet.
  Last week in Kalamazoo, Michigan, we held a hearing on chat rooms. We 
know as parents that there is no better way to watch over our children 
than with parental involvement. The story, whether it be in Danbury 
Connecticut, or other communities across the country, is a nightmare 
waiting to happen in virtually anyplace in the country.
  Last Friday, I visited an elementary school just outside of 
Kalamazoo, Northeastern Elementary School, where I spoke to about 80 or 
90 sixth grade children. I asked the question, as I often do as I go to 
an elementary school, how many of you use the Internet on a fairly 
routine basis? They all raised their hands, every one of them.
  I then asked the question: How many of you have seen something that 
is inappropriate coming into your house or your classroom on that 
Internet? And again, virtually every hand went up.
  Mr. Speaker, what this legislation does is creates a new domain for 
the Internet. Like we have a dot-org and a dot-com and a dot-gov, we 
are now going to have a dot-kids. Actually, it may be a dot-kids dot-
U.S. It may be a dot-Disney dot-kids; it may be a dot-Boy Scouts or 
dot-Girl Scouts, it may be a dot-games. But whatever it is, it will be 
aimed and earmarked towards children that are 12 and under. In essence, 
it will be a children's section of the library.
  When my 10-year-old son, Stephen, goes to the library in my hometown, 
I know that that children's library in the basement of the Maud Preston 
Palenske Memorial Library has children's books and he is safe in that 
area. We know that as 10- and 12-year-olds and even 9-year-old 
children, they often have their own Internet identity name. They use 
the Internet for their school and home. They chat with their friends.
  As parents, we want to make sure that they are safe, because that 
Internet will be their tool of learning for business and school the 
rest of their lives. But obviously, for so many of those young minds, 
they are not ready for some of those folks that would like to lure and 
prey on them.
  That is what this legislation does. By setting up a new domain, we as 
parents will know that that road map for them is a safe, safe place.

                              {time}  1030

  This legislation, Mr. Speaker, is bipartisan. It passed in the 
subcommittee and full committee without dissent. We had great 
leadership from the author of the bill, the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Shimkus), the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the 
ranking member of the subcommittee, my chairman, the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the 
ranking member, the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry) and other 
members of the subcommittee who were very involved in making sure this 
legislation passed and moved.
  I would note that the bill has been endorsed by the National Center 
for Missing and Exploited Children, the Family Research Council, the 
American Center for Law and Justice, the National Law Center for 
Children and Families and a Safe America for Everyone, SAFE. And I want 
to thank them all for their support.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation is needed. As parents, as members in a 
community, we know that we can stop some of this awful stuff that comes 
to our homes. Mr. Speaker, when someone rings the doorbell or knocks on 
a door, often as we go to that door we look through the peephole, we 
look through the windows to see who is there before they come in. On 
the Internet you are not able to do that.
  In so many cases we see other folks masquerading maybe as 12 or 13 or 
15-year-old children. Maybe they are in their 40s or 50s looking to 
prey on our kids. We had an arrest last week in Kalamazoo, and they 
found out just in 72 hours that that individual had 20 other victims 
that he will probably be charged with as he moved across county lines 
to try and seek and prey on kids just like this very sad story of the 
young girl in Danbury, Connecticut.
  Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce 
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, I rise in strong 
support of H.R. 3833, the ``Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act 
of 2002''. This bill was introduced by the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. 
Shimkus, the gentleman from Massachusetts, the ranking member of the 
Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee, Mr. Markey, and myself--
and the bill has 40 bipartisan cosponsors.
  Mr. Speaker, more and more parents have recognized that they are 
losing some control over what enters their home as their children spend 
more and more time on the home computer surfing the Internet. While the 
Internet is an excellent tool for children to learn, there are all 
sorts of inappropriate material that--with just one wrong click--comes 
right into your living room, den, or bedroom--wherever the computer is 
located. I visit a school every week in my district, and at every 
middle school I ask for a show of hands about how many kids use the 
Internet, and about every hand goes up. I then ask how many have seen 
inappropriate material--pornography or bad language--and virtually 
every time about 80 percent of the hands stay in the air. This has got 
to stop.
  While there is no substitute for proper parental supervision, 
responsible parents want more tools to assist them in protecting their 
kids on the Internet. Filters are one solution, but we believe more 
must be done to help.
  The ``Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002'' (H.R. 
3833), would enable the establishment of a kid-friendly space on the 
Internet. We have made passage of this important bipartisan 
legislation, a top priority of the House Energy and Commerce Committee 
and its Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee, and I want to 
thank Chairman Tauzin and Ranking Member Dingell for their assistance 
in moving this legislation forward.
  Just like ``.com'', or ``.gov'', or ``.org''--``.kids'' will be an 
Internet address code, but the difference is that only websites with 
content which is both ``not harmful to minors'' and ``suitable for 
minors'' could get access. Under the bill, a ``minor'' is defined as a 
person 12 years old and under. The ``.kids'' space would be a safe 
place devoted solely to material which is appropriate for kids--where 
parents could choose to send their kids. This is really no different in 
concept than the children's section at the public library--which is the 
only part of the library where kids are allowed to check out books.
  More specifically, the ``.kids'' space would be housed within our 
country's Internet code, otherwise known as ``.us'', which would result 
in ``.kids.us.''. For instance, if the Boy Scouts of America, whose 
website currently is: www.scouting.org, decided to set up an additional 
mirror site in the ``.kids.us'' space it

[[Page H2672]]

would be: www.scouting.kids.us. The U.S. Department of Commerce's 
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) would 
oversee the implementation of ``.kids.us'', and while the bill 
stipulates that only websites with content that is ``not harmful to 
minors'' and is ``suitable for minors'' can get into the ``.kids.us'' 
space, the written content standards and rules of the road would be 
developed and enforced by the private sector, under the direction of 
the registry which has the contract from the Department of Commerce to 
manage the ``.us'' country code.
  While the Supreme Court has cited the First Amendment as the basis 
for striking down previous efforts by Congress to protect kids on the 
Internet, H.R. 3833 is drafted in a manner which is consistent with the 
First Amendment. First, the proposal doesn't affect anyone's ability to 
put whatever kind of speech they want on the World Wide Web, on a ``dot 
com,'' ``dot net,'' ``dot org'' or anywhere else. This bill only 
addresses a subset of Internet--the ``dot us'' space. Moreover, it 
doesn't even curtail speech throughout the entirety of the ``dot us'' 
space. Speech more appropriate for adults or teenagers will not be 
affected by this bill and can appear elsewhere in the ``dot us'' space. 
The bill solely says that if you want to operate in the ``dot kids'' 
area--a subset of the ``dot us'' country code domain--you have entered 
a kid-friendly zone--where the content is suitable for children 12 and 
under. Again, this is completely voluntary for parents to use if they 
wish and content providers to avail themselves of if they are so 
inclined.
  Moreover, now more than ever, parents recognize the dangers posed to 
their children in Internet chat rooms, where pedophiles can prey on 
children right in the comfort of the family living room. This is why 
the bill also bans chat rooms and instant messaging in the ``.kids.us'' 
space--unless such can be done without jeopardizing the safety of kids, 
through effective monitoring for example. Also, hyperlinks, which would 
take kids outside of the ``.kids.us'' space, would be banned.
  Mr. Speaker, I would note that this bill has been endorsed by the 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Family Research 
Council, the American Center for Law and Justice, the National Law 
Center for Children and Families, and a Safer America For Everyone 
(SAFE), and I want to thank all of them for their support.
  Again, I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois and the gentleman 
from Massachusetts for all of their hard work and perseverance on this 
bill, and I urge an ``aye'' vote on the bill on this measure which will 
help protect children and families on-line.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill. I am an original 
co-sponsor, along with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus), of 
this legislation as well as many other Members. I want to commend the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), the ranking member, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) and everyone else who is involved 
with this excellent process that has led to a consensus, a bipartisan 
proposal.
  The bill was approved unanimously by the House Committee on Energy 
and Commerce, and I want to congratulate the subcommittee chairman, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) for his fine work in the processing 
of this legislation. It is, in fact, a very good bill.
  As many parents today know, the Internet often appears to be a 
veritable jungle of websites. When a child logs on to search for games, 
stories or educational material, search engines often churn up pages 
for kids laden with pornography, violence or other content that is 
simply not appropriate for young children. To give children their own 
playground on the Internet and to facilitate the easier browsing and 
filtering of contents that many parents desire, we have introduced H.R. 
3833, the Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act. This bill directs 
the Department of Commerce through the National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration to accelerate the creation of a dot kids 
domain by making it a secondary domain under our Nation's country code 
top level domain which is dot U.S. The Department of Commerce awarded a 
free contract last October to authorize private sector management and 
commercialization of dot U.S. Therefore, what we are talking about here 
today is the creation of a place on the Internet for websites that end 
in dot kids-dot U.S.; for example, www.example.Kids.U.S. The proposed 
``dot kids'' domain will be a cyber space sanctuary for content that is 
suitable for kids and will be an area devoid of content that is harmful 
to such minors.
  I want to address at this point very briefly some of the free speech 
concerns that any endeavor of this type will inevitably raise. First, 
let me emphasize how this approach departs from previous congressional 
activities in this policy area. First, the proposed legislation will 
not subject all of the Internet communications to a harmful-to-minors 
standard. If you are in Tennessee, Taiwan, or Timbuktu, you can publish 
or speak any content you want on the Internet. This proposal does not 
affect your ability to do so on a dot com, dot net, dot org or anywhere 
else. This proposal now only addresses a subset of Internet commerce, 
the dot U.S. space.
  Moreover, it does not even curtail speech through the entirety of the 
dot U.S. country code domain. If you are in Providence, Rhode Island or 
Provo, Utah, under this bill you are free to exercise your 
constitutional rights and this legislation contains no proposal which 
would subject anyone utilizing the dot U.S. space to a standard 
suitable only for kids. Speech more appropriate for adults or teenagers 
will not be affected by this bill and can appear anywhere else in the 
dot U.S. domain.
  The bill solely stipulates that if you want to operate in the dot 
kids areas, a subset of dot U.S. country code domain, you have entered 
a kid-friendly zone, a green light district, where the content is 
suitable for children 12 and under. The dot kids proposal is not aimed 
at censoring Internet contents, per se; rather, it is crafted to help 
organize content suitable for kids in a safe and secure cyber zone 
where the risk of young children clicking outside of that zone to 
suitable contents or being preyed upon or exploited online by adults 
posing as kids is vastly diminished.
  Organizing kid-friendly contents in this manner will enhance the 
effectiveness of filtering software and enable parents to set their 
children's browsers so their kids only surf within the dot kids domain. 
I also want to emphasize that use of the dot kids domain is not 
compulsory. Signing up for a dot kids domain or parents sending their 
kids to websites in that location remains completely voluntary and the 
free choice of both speakers and parents.
  Finally, I want to note that this bill is not meant in any way to 
diminish or thwart the many laudable private sector efforts to create 
new and affirmative ways for kids to have a safe and educational online 
experience. Our efforts here today are meant to supplement, not 
supplant, initiatives underway elsewhere by ensuring that our dot kids 
country code reflects our public interest goals as a society in a way 
that hopefully can harness the best of advanced technology for kids 
across the country.
  Again, I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) for 
his leadership on this legislation, and I want to thank the gentleman 
from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), 
and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) for his excellent work in 
this area.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), the chairman of the full committee.
  Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to join my friend, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) in congratulating the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) and the gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Upton) for the loving care they have given this legislation. And I 
think it is going to be landmark legislation for the kids of America in 
dealing with the Internet. And I want to thank the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Dingell) in particular for the great assistance they have played in 
putting this together and making something very good happen for the 
families of America.
  Like other filtering tools, this is just another great tool that 
American families will have to have their children go to a site that is 
monitored and where they can enjoy, indeed, the tremendous potential of 
the Internet without being assaulted by so many of the bad features we 
find on the Internet. And I think this is exactly the right kind of 
response to the Supreme Court which

[[Page H2673]]

has recently ruled that virtual pornography is somehow protected under 
our Constitution. When you live on the Internet in a digital age, 1's 
and O's can be real. They can be virtual. They can be anything. And to 
say while one form of presentation is legally protected while another 
is not was a rather strange decision for our high court.
  This is a good answer. This says regardless of what the court says 
about it, here is going to be a safe place for kids to go and enjoy, 
indeed, the tremendous educational entertainment features of the 
Internet without running into the bad features that somehow afflict 
their lives.
  Again, I want to thank the chairman of our subcommittee, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), for his great work in working with 
us and, most importantly, to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) 
and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for the excellent 
work they have done in putting this together.
  We should also thank Senator Byron and Senator Dorgan on the Senate 
side who have done such a great job in advancing this legislation and 
give them great credit for, again, working across the two bodies and 
perfecting it.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, that is a good day for kids in America, and I 
think the Committee on Energy and Commerce, particularly its 
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, deserves a great 
deal of credit for bringing this legislation to the floor. I commend it 
to all Members. It deserves passage.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Silicon Valley, California (Ms. Eshoo).
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I thank my wonderful colleague, the gentleman 
from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, the Dot Kids 
Implementation and Efficiency Act. I think it takes a very important 
step of trying to provide a kid-safe zone on the Internet. We know that 
in raising our children that we always wanted to keep them out of 
tough, rough neighborhoods, and I think that this important step will 
do that on the Internet for our Nation's children.
  When we considered this bill at the subcommittee, I expressed my 
support for the intent of the bill, but I also raised some questions as 
to whether this approach was totally realistic. Through the efforts and 
the cooperation of the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) and the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), and the bill's sponsors, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) and the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), changes were made that in my view make the 
dot kids space a safe and more effective domain. And that is the way it 
should be as we work these bills from subcommittee to full committee to 
the floor.
  To make the site more secure, the bill now contains language that 
prohibits interactive services in the domain. This protects users, the 
young children under the age of 13, from inappropriate emails, online 
discussions in chatrooms, and from intentionally or unintentionally 
being able to hyperlink their way to inappropriate contents.
  For the agency and the companies charged with establishing the 
standards and securing the site, this is a monumental task. They must 
find a way to operate a domain that is educational and entertaining for 
young children and at the same time keep it secure from inappropriate 
outside influences. I am very pleased that the substitute now gives 
NTIA the authority to suspend operation of the new domain if it is not 
serving its intended purposes. The revised bill also gives Neustar the 
ability to relinquish its right to operate the domain if it suffers 
from extreme financial hardship. Because the costs of maintaining this 
domain are still imprecise, I think the allowance of an exit strategy 
is an important addition to the bill.
  As this very well intended bill stands, it is still my strong belief 
that one of the best Internet filters for children is an involved 
parent. Nothing takes the place of that, not even government action and 
legislation. So I want to thank the sponsors of the bill, the work of 
the committee, certainly the full committee chairman, the ranking 
member, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), certainly the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), one of the most eloquent and 
knowledgeable Members of Congress in this area, and the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Shimkus). I think we are taking an important and a 
correct step today.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Shimkus), the sponsor of the legislation, the one who 
shepherded this bill through the subcommittee and full committee. We 
appreciate his leadership on this with so many others.
  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise today to 
speak on H.R. 3833, the Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 
2002.
  First, I would like to thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman 
from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for his great work 
and efforts in education as we move this process forward.

                              {time}  1045

  Of course, my chairman, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), for 
believing in this concept and joining the team, I appreciate that, 
along with the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) and the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) for their great work.
  We do our best work in the committee when we work together; and this 
floor, this House, does our best work together when we work together; 
and this is a perfect example of doing that.
  Of course, we are only as good as the other members of our team. I 
have said this before in the committee briefings. Full committee staff 
Kelly Zerzan and Mike O'Rielly, I want to thank them. Chairman Upton's 
staff, Will Nordwind, I thank him for his help; of course, the 
impeccable Collin Crowell from the staff of the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Markey); Brendan Kelsay from the gentleman from 
Michigan's (Mr. Dingell) staff; and my own Courtney Anderson who did a 
lot of lifting. Again, we are only as good as those people around us, 
and we have got a good team of staffers that do that well.
  The development of the Internet has been a mixed blessing. It has 
moved our economy forward and provides us with a wealth of information 
after only a few strokes of the keyboard. Unfortunately, this new 
medium also has a dark side that holds a lot of danger for kids 12 and 
under.
  In addition to adult content and violence that kids inadvertently 
stumble on as they surf the net, the recent well-publicized FBI sting 
of the Candyman child porn news group reminds us that child predators 
are running rampant in chat rooms and other places where they have the 
opportunity to interact and entice minors.
  Following the logic of a child's section of a library, the Dot Kids 
Act will create a safe place for children on the Internet. H.R. 3833 
facilitates the subdomain ``.KIDS.US,'' on our Nation's country code 
that will host content that is especially intended for children.
  A number of safeguards were put in this bill. ``.KIDS.US'' will be 
monitored for content and safety; and should objectionable material 
appear, it will be taken down immediately. The legislation does not 
allow chat rooms, instant messaging or e-mails unless the entity 
hosting the site certifies that they will be done safely. Furthermore, 
hyperlinks, which would take children out of the safe ``.KIDS.US'' base 
are expressly prohibited.
  Knowing that this child-friendly subdomain is a grand experiment, we 
have embedded in the bill an opt-out provision. If ``.KIDS.US'' turns 
into something it was not intended to be, the bill requires the 
Department of Commerce to take it down. While I believe strongly that 
there is a huge demand for a child friendly domain, if ``.KIDS.US'' is 
a place no one visits, then it can be eventually taken down.
  Finally, ``.KIDS.US'' will cost the taxpayers nothing. When it comes 
to the Internet, there is no replacement for good parenting. However, 
``.KIDS.US'' will promote good Internet content for children and will 
be a tool for parents to use to help keep their children safe online.
  I urge my colleagues to join me this morning in voting to pass H.R. 
3833. Again, I want to thank everyone that

[[Page H2674]]

has been involved, especially my good friend and colleague, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey). It has been a long road. We 
still have additional hurdles to overcome, but I am confident that we 
can get our friends in the other body to take this up expeditiously, 
get it passed, and get it to the President's desk.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  The goal of this legislation is to try to harness the best of the new 
technology and to put it at the fingertips of kids and parents and 
teachers across the country.
  One of the things we have to remember about technology and innovation 
is that the technology itself is neither good nor bad in and of itself. 
It only becomes so after it is animated by human values. The great 
truth of the Information Age is that the wondrous wire that brings 
cyberspace into the home or the school or the business will have a 
certain Dickensian quality to it. It will be both the best of wires and 
the worst of wires simultaneously.
  The Internet can debilitate and debase core values, but it also can 
educate and ennoble us as well. The bill is designed to create a haven, 
a cyberspace playground to ennoble, educate and entertain children 12 
and under in a safe and secure way. It is an additional tool that we 
can put into the hands of parents, and then each parent who decides to 
do so can use it as another weapon to fight off the debasing effect 
that parts of our culture can have upon children as they are growing 
up.
  It is about time that Congress and the Federal Government put 
something on the books that gives this kind of a tool to the parents of 
the country.
  My friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus), already went 
down the litany of saints, the staff who worked on this bill: Kelly 
Zerzan, Will Nordwind, Brendan Kelsay, Mike O'Rielly, and on my staff, 
Collin Crowell, who worked very closely with the majority in crafting 
this bill, and he mentioned Courtney Anderson on their side. My mother 
was a Courtney, and she always told me that the Courtneys are very 
intelligent people. And we have Courtney Johnson on our side who worked 
with Courtney Anderson on this bill, and I just did not want there to 
be a Courtney intelligence gap that opened up between the Democrats and 
Republicans on this bill. We were equally represented by these highly-
intelligent people.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, might I inquire how much time is remaining on 
both sides.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). The gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Upton) has 9 minutes remaining. The gentleman from Massachusetts 
(Mr. Markey) has 7\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Nebraska (Mr. Terry), a co-sponsor of the legislation, a very valuable 
member of the subcommittee.
  (Mr. TERRY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, I am an enthusiastic supporter and original 
cosponsor. In fact, this is one of the reasons why I joined the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Subcommittee on 
Telecommunications and the Internet is trying to find a safe harbor, a 
constitutional way of protecting our children on the Internet; and I 
was proud that two of my colleagues, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Shimkus) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), were 
already lapping me in there and allowed me to join them in that 
process, and I thank them for that because it is important that we 
establish a safe haven, a secure area for our children on the Internet.
  We have heard of a story of an 11-year-old boy looking for computer 
games, typed in fun.com and unknowingly brought up a pornographic Web 
site. Two elections ago, my opponent was Michael Scott and any junior 
high physics class that typed in MichaelScott.com got a porn site. My 
7-year-old, yes, 7-year-old, loves to get on the Internet, especially 
this weekend after we saw ``Spiderman.'' I stand over him. I type it in 
first because I fear that typing in something as simple as 
``Spiderman'' or ``fun'' or a political name may bring up a 
pornographic Web site.
  Nearly 24 million youths today use the Internet. By the year 2005, it 
is expected that 77 million youth will regularly log on. This bill will 
help preserve our children's innocence and prevent these types of 
sexual encounters and predators and pornography online. It will create 
a child-friendly zone within the United States. All contents of this 
zone will be appropriate for children 12 and under.
  An independent firm will methodically monitor and immediately remove 
any content which is harmful to minors. No access to chat rooms, and 
this is an important fact, because it is not that we were just putting 
all the children in one safe, what we believe is a safe, area, so all 
the predators know where they are. We bar that. That is an important 
part of this bill, that there will not be any interactive component 
here where a predator can break in. This is so our children can have a 
safe haven.
  Sexual predators, not only is it the pornographic Web sites that we 
are trying to keep away from our children, but it is the predators.
  In my closing remarks here, I want to point out to my colleagues that 
the Crimes Against Children Research Center reported that one in five 
teenagers who regularly use the Internet have received an unwanted 
sexual solicitation, and one out of 33 youths have received what is 
classified as an aggressive sexual solicitation where they are directly 
trying to solicit a sexual meeting with a teenager. That is what we are 
trying to prevent with this legislation; and I appreciate the efforts 
of the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Shimkus), and our chairman.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Nebraska (Mr. Osborne), a fellow member of the Committee on Education 
and the Workforce, and one who is also very supportive of this 
legislation.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Upton) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) 
and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) and others on the 
committee for this legislation.
  Yesterday, a young woman who had been sexually assaulted asked me 
what Congress was going to do to address the problem. I mentioned my 
support of the Dot Kids legislation. As was made mention, Dot Kids 
provides a safe haven for children from Internet predators and sexually 
explicit material.
  Certainly this legislation is a step in the right direction. However, 
it does not address the whole problem.
  A few months ago my name, used as an Internet search vehicle, brought 
up a porn site. Children wanting to find out about their Congressman 
were exposed to graphic material.
  We have done a good job of proving the link between smoking and 
cancer and heart disease, and we have aggressively attacked the tobacco 
problem with advertising, higher taxes and legislation. The connection 
between pornography and sexual abuse of women and children is equally 
clear. Yet we have done very little until now to address the problem.
  Fifteen years ago, a Nebraska senator, Jim Exon, sponsored 
legislation to outlaw pornography on the Internet. He was laughed at at 
the time and the legislation went nowhere. Today, pornography is a $15 
billion industry per year in the United States. It is the most 
lucrative endeavor on the Internet of all other projects and commercial 
attempts.
  In attempting to protect free speech, we have badly trampled the 
rights of women and children to be protected from exploitation and 
physical harm. Dot Kids is an excellent start. I urge its support. I 
also hope that this is just a beginning in attacking the pornography 
industry.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Wamp), someone who is just as equally concerned about 
kids and their lives, a cosponsor of the legislation.
  Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, it is an awesome responsibility to serve in 
this House, but I have no more awesome a responsibility in my life than 
to be a father of a 15-year-old son and a 13-

[[Page H2675]]

year-old daughter. The Internet is a powerful tool. It is also a very 
dangerous tool.
  I was reminded of F.S. Oliver's poem about politics when he speaks of 
it being a noble profession. He says, and I paraphrase, there is no 
other profession where someone can do more good for their fellow man 
nor is there another profession where you can do such widespread harm, 
and the Internet has the same potential for good or bad.
  Dot Kids Act gives young people a domain for use under tight 
guidelines with standards for content and registration; and as has been 
stated, it is like a children's section in a library. It is only 
appropriate. Recent Supreme Court rulings underscore the need to pursue 
multiple approaches to protecting our children from pornographers and 
demented individuals like pedophiles.
  This is illegal pornography that we are trying to protect people 
from. There is a difference between what is legal and protected under 
the first amendment and what is illegal and not protected. It needs to 
be pursued. It is a cancer on our culture that requires aggressive 
treatment.
  A journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step and this is just 
one step, but it is an important step; and we have got miles to go to 
continue coming to this floor and finding new, creative and innovative 
ways to protect our children from the dangers of the Internet.
  I applaud the authors of this legislation and the committees for 
working together in a bipartisan way to do what is right for the 
children of America in a very dangerous world.

                              {time}  1100

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Again I want to recommend to all the Members that they support this 
legislation. It is a real step forward in giving parents a tool they 
can use to protect their kids under 12 when they are on-line. The 
sooner we pass this is the sooner we can put this additional protection 
in place.
  I want to thank again the majority for their cooperation in working 
with us in a way in which we can craft a bill that we can honestly 
recommend to every Member, Democrat, Republican, liberal or 
conservative, that will move forward to help the families in our 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  I would note that at our very first hearing as chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, we talked about 
``I Can'' and the various domain names that were out there. All of us 
jumped on the name of Dot Kids and how it could be protective of our 
kids. The stories we hear virtually every day, whether it be this 
morning, this young girl killed in Danbury, Connecticut, stories in our 
own districts across the country, we know that we need something that 
can protect our children from a nightmare that no family, no community 
ever wants to experience. I would reiterate that groups who spend 
literally every waking hour trying to protect families across this 
country, groups like the National Center for Missing and Exploited 
Children, Family Research Council, American Center for Law and Justice, 
the National Law Center for Children and Families, a Safer America For 
Everyone, all of them as well as every parent that serves in this 
House, every Member of Congress that has watched some of this junk that 
has come in unasked for, we know that Dot Kids can be a savior for all 
of us. We compliment those Members of the Senate that are wishing to 
pursue this legislation. We look forward to when this can be enacted 
into law by President Bush. We know that the administration supports 
this legislation.
  Mr. WYNN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the House of Representatives 
is considering H.R. 3833, the ``Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency 
Act of 2002.'' I am a cosponsor of this legislation, which is important 
to parents and their young children exploring the Internet.
  This legislation makes good sense. As a parent of a 7-year-old who 
surfs the net, I am concerned, as many parents across this Nation are, 
about the unseemlier side of the Internet, which our children can be 
exposed to, through a couple of mouse clicks, or the misspelling of a 
website name.
  Where monitoring our children's use and installing filtering software 
helps, in the real world neither method is perfect. By creating the 
domain ``.kids.us'' and setting up guidelines on what is unacceptable 
in this domain, we go a long way to improving the safety of our 
children on the Internet. This bill creates a safe space on the 
Internet for our children, which is free from stalkers and free from 
the harmful imagery to which we do not want our children exposed.
  I applaud the work of the sponsors of this bill for this valuable 
legislation that will help make the Internet safer for our kids.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, as a parent, grandparent, and ob-gyn who has 
delivered over three thousand babies, I certainly share the desire to 
protect children from pornography and other inappropriate material 
available on the internet. However, as a United States Congressman, I 
cannot support measures which exceed the limitations on constitutional 
power contained in Article one, Section 8 of the Constitution. The 
Constitution does not provide Congress with the authority to spend 
taxpayer funds to create new internet domains.
  Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, the federal government is singularly 
unqualified to act as the arbiter of what material is inappropriate for 
children. Instead, this is a decision that should be made by parents. 
Most of the problems pointed to by proponents of increased government 
control of the internet are the result of a lack of parental, not 
governmental, control of children's computer habits. Expanding the 
government's control over the Internet may actually encourage parents 
to disregard their responsibility to monitor their child's computer 
habits. After all, why should parents worry about what websites their 
children is viewing when the government has usurped this parental 
function?
  The market is already creating solutions to many of these problems 
through the development of filtering software that responsible parents 
can use to protect their children from inappropriate materials. The 
best way to address this problem is by allowing this market process to 
develop, not by creating new government regulations.
  In addition to creating new Internet domains, Congress is also 
expanding federal wiretapping powers. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues should 
also remember that the Constitution creates only three federal crimes, 
namely treason, piracy, and counterfeiting. Expansion of federal police 
power for crimes outside these well-defined areas thus violates the 
Constitution. In addition, expansion of federal wiretapping powers 
raises serious civil liberties concerns, as such powers easily can be 
abused by federal officials.
  I therefore hope my colleagues will respect the constitutional 
limitations on federal power. Instead of usurping powers not granted 
the federal government, Congress should allow state and local law 
enforcement, schools, local communities, and most of all responsible 
parents to devise the best measures to protect children.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as we enter the new millennium 
the Internet has become a playground for our children. In today's' 
playground there are many dangers, some examples are child pornography 
and sexual predators to name a few. In the past we have drafted 
legislation to insure the safety of our most precious resources, 
children. The Dot-Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act is this 
House's attempt to safeguard children.
  The bill before the House today will go far to create a safer 
environment for children to explore the Internet. The legislation will 
create, within the United States a top-level ``dot-us'' country code 
domain and a ``dot-kids'' subdomain. The Web address of any site 
registered under the new subdomain would end with a ``.kid.us'' suffix. 
The dot-kids subdomain would ban sexually explicit material and other 
content deemed harmful for children under 13. The bill's definition of 
``harmful'' includes any material that ``lacks serious, literally, 
artistic, political or scientific value'' for children.
  The legislation would authorize the Commerce Department's National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration to remove from the 
dot-kids subdomain any content that does not meet the bill's ``child-
friendly'' standards. That means that NeuStar, Inc.--the company that 
manages the dot-us domain under a contract with Department's National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration--would be required to 
monitor the content of all Web sites registered with a ``.kid.us'' 
address.
  According to the Congressional Budget Office there are no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act. The Act would impose no costs of state, local, or 
tribal governments. Based on information from the Department of 
Commerce, CBO estimates that launching a publicity and education 
campaign for the new domain would cost less than $500,000 per year, 
subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

[[Page H2676]]

  Another provision in the bill would permit the Department's National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration to pull the plug on 
the subdomain if it fails to adequately protect children. This gives 
the Department of Commerce the needed enforcement mechanism to maintain 
a safe Internet environment for children. As the Chair of the 
Children's Caucus and a mother I rise to support the passage of H.R. 
3833.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3833, the 
``Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act.'' I am proud to be a 
cosponsor of this important legislation, which was introduced by 
Representatives Shimkus and Markey, and commend the efforts of this 
House to protect our children on the Internet.
  While the Internet has afforded our children amazing opportunities 
for learning and discovery, it has also posed serious dangers. The 
Internet makes it easy for children to gain access to inappropriate 
materials, turning simple searches into avenues for pornographic or 
violent web pages. As a parent of a young daughter, my hope is that she 
will be able to search the Internet freely and use it as a tool to 
explore books, stories, and educational games without worrying about 
what might turn up. This bill will make this possible.
  H.R. 3833 creates a safehaven for children using the Internet by 
creating a separate domain name for content that is appropriate for 
kids under 13, while filtering any subject matter that may be harmful 
or threatening to this audience. By directing the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish 
and oversee the structure and rules for the new domain name, we are 
ensuring that the criteria for the ``dot.kids'' domain meet the 
necessary standards to protect children using the Internet. Further, 
this bill requires that the NTIA publicize the availability of the new 
domain and educate parents on how filter and block inappropriate 
material.
  In today's web-based environment, it is vitally important that we 
work together with parents to ensure that our kids are safe in 
cyberspace. Congress is taking a remarkable step forward in this 
endeavor by passing this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support 
the ``Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act'' on the House floor 
today.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3833, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________