[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 13, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H13594-H13595]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVE PROSECUTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ACT OF 2007

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4136) to amend title 18 of the United States Code to clarify 
the scope of the child pornography laws and for other purposes, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4136

       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 ``Enhancing the Effective 
     Prosecution of Child Pornography Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. MONEY LAUNDERING PREDICATE.

       Section 1956(c)(7)(D) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by inserting ``2252A (relating to child pornography) 
     where the child pornography at issue involves minors, 2260 
     (production of certain child pornography for importation into 
     the United States),'' before ``section 2280''.

     SEC. 3. POSSESSION OFFENSES INCLUDE INTENTIONAL VIEWING ON 
                   THE INTERNET.

       (a) Section 2252.--Section 2252 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(d) Definition.--As used in this section with respect to 
     a visual depiction, the term `possess' includes accessing by 
     computer with the intent to view.''.
       (b) Section 2252A.--Section 2252A of title 18, United 
     States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(g) Definition.--As used in this section with respect to 
     child pornography, the term `possess' includes accessing by 
     computer with intent to view.''.

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

                              {time}  1715


                             General Leave

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members

[[Page H13595]]

have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4136, the Enhancing the Effective Prosecution of 
Child Pornography Act, addresses two gaps in the criminal statutes that 
punish those who trade in, profit from, and create the market for child 
pornography. First, the bill provides that those who launder proceeds 
from the business of child pornography may be charged with money 
laundering. This is obviously common sense, and a provision supported 
by the Department of Justice.
  Then, it clarifies the definition of possession in the child 
pornography laws so that knowingly accessing child pornography on the 
Internet with intent to view it constitutes possession, even if the 
user does not download or otherwise save the images. Some defendants 
have claimed that they did not intend to possess the images, even when 
they clearly intended to view them, and some courts have said the reach 
of the statute is unclear in this regard. This measure removes any 
ambiguity from the law.
  We are grateful to Chris Carney, our colleague from Pennsylvania, who 
has authored this measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4136, the Enhancing the 
Effective Prosecution of Child Pornography Act of 2007. This bill adds 
child pornography offenses as money laundering predicates and clarifies 
existing law to prohibit knowingly accessing child pornography with the 
intent to view it. Child pornography is a multibillion-dollar worldwide 
industry. It is despicable in its scope, and it is vicious in its 
victimization of children. Money is what fuels this horrific crime.
  The majority's proposal in H.R. 4136 takes a limited step to prohibit 
money laundering offenses as part of a child pornography scheme. But 
much more is needed. Legislation proposed by our ranking member, Lamar 
Smith, and Mr. Chabot, a member of the Judiciary Committee, contains a 
host of proposals to increase penalties for child predators and 
pornographers and provides law enforcement tools for combating these 
heinous crimes in a virtual universe. Unfortunately, the majority chose 
to ignore the improvements proposed by many Republican members.
  However, H.R. 4136 does enact Representative Marilyn Musgrave's 
proposals in H.R. 3148, which was introduced on July 24, 2007, the 
Child Pornography Elimination Act. I commend Mrs. Musgrave for her 
legislative efforts. This closes a loophole in the law that child 
pornographers use to avoid possession of child pornography by not 
downloading the material. This provision will prohibit accessing such 
material with the intent to view it and will not require an offender to 
actually download the material.
  This provision is a good one, and we support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, we are happy to get the support and 
concurrence of the gentleman from Virginia on this measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Carney), the author of the legislation.
  Mr. CARNEY. Mr. Speaker, I am proud here today to stand with my 
colleagues to consider a number of child safety bills on the floor. I 
especially want to thank the House Judiciary Committee and particularly 
Chairman Conyers and his staff for their help.
  As a proud father of five, I know how important the safety and well-
being of our children is for our Nation. That is why I have introduced 
the Enhancing the Effective Prosecution of Child Pornography Act of 
2007. This legislation will allow the Department of Justice to more 
effectively prosecute people who produce child pornography or knowingly 
access child pornography repeatedly with the intent to view it.
  We are trying to dry up the source of demand for child pornographers. 
This legislation addresses a component of the problem that has been 
difficult for prosecutors to combat, the repeat consumer. We need to 
stop child pornography at the source and we need to stifle the demand. 
This is not about playing ``gotcha'' games with anyone accidentally 
stumbling across a mistyped Web address. Rather, this is going after 
those who repeatedly seek out child pornography and those that continue 
to produce it.
  No one disagrees that we need to protect our children and we need to 
stop pornography at its source, especially child pornography. I want to 
encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers and urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation. I thank the chairman of the 
committee for his hard work on all of these series of bills and hope to 
have the opportunity to continue to work with him to perhaps make some 
perfecting improvements as we move forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for speakers, 
and I yield back the balance of my time and thank the floor manager for 
his excellent work on all these measures.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4136, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CONYERS. 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.

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