[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 155 (Saturday, September 27, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2087-E2088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          EFFECTIVE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY PROSECUTION ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. JUDY BIGGERT

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 25, 2008

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support 
for H.R. 4120, the Effective Child Pornography Prosecution Act. I am 
very pleased to be the lead Republican cosponsor, and I thank the 
gentlewoman from Kansas for all of her hard work on this legislation 
that will close an unacceptable loophole in the Federal criminal code.
  Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit overturned 
a lower court's decision in U.S. v. Schaefer and freed a defendant who 
had been convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography. The 
case was not overturned for lack of evidence, but rather because the 
prosecution failed to prove that images downloaded from the Internet 
moved across State lines in ``interstate commerce.''
  The judges who decided this case pointed out that the use of the 
phrase ``in commerce'' instead of ``affecting commerce'' in the law 
signaled Congress' intent to limit Federal jurisdiction in the 
prosecution of child pornographers. As co-chair of the Missing and 
Exploited Children's Caucus, I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, nothing 
could be further from the truth. We in Congress know the horrible 
consequences that result from the sexual exploitation of children used 
to create these images. We also take very seriously our duty to do 
everything in our power to protect children, punish predators and deter 
future acts of abuse.
  That is why the bill we are considering today deserves our full 
support. It will close the loophole in current law by replacing the 
phrase ``in commerce'' with the phrase ``affecting commerce'' in the 
child pornography statute.
  I also was pleased that the Senate chose to include additional 
provisions making it easier to prosecute those who willfully access 
child pornography on the Internet. These changes will give prosecutors 
the tools they need to ensure that predators who use the Internet to 
transmit or access child pornography end up behind bars, where they 
belong.
  I would like to take this opportunity to again thank the gentlewoman 
from Kansas, my good friend, Nancy Boyda, for introducing this 
legislation. I also would like to thank the National

[[Page E2088]]

Center for Missing and Exploited Children for their assistance and 
counsel in drafting the bill. Mr. Speaker, as a mother of four and 
grandmother of seven, I know there is nothing more important than 
safeguarding our children from predators. We must not allow those who 
sexually exploit children to avoid prosecution because of a 
technicality.
  I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 4120 and send this important 
bill to the White House for the President's signature.

                          ____________________