[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 159 (Wednesday, October 1, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S10300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                KIDS ACT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise today to address a pressing issue 
that deserves our immediate attention: the improved protection of 
children on the Internet. That is why, at the beginning of this 
Congress, I authored and introduced S. 431, the Keeping the Internet 
Devoid of Sexual Predators, or KIDS, Act.
  The increasing popularity of social networking Web sites and their 
ready availability to children has made these sites potential hotbeds 
for sexual predators, who can easily camouflage themselves amidst the 
throng of users on these sites, while furtively pursuing their own 
despicable designs. In the 21st century, just as we protect children in 
our physical neighborhoods, we must protect them in our online 
communities as well. The KIDS Act, S. 431, is a bipartisan bill that 
does just that.
  The KIDS Act requires convicted sex offenders to register their e-
mail addresses, instant message names, and all other Internet 
identifiers with the National Sex Offender Registry. The Department of 
Justice, DOJ, would then make this information, on a qualified basis, 
available to social networking sites to compare the catalogued 
identifiers with those of their users. And it will do so in a way that 
carefully preserves the privacy of the users of any such Web site.
  The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, SORNA, passed as 
part of the Adam Walsh Act, granted the Attorney General the authority 
to require the registration of certain identifying information, 42 
U.S.C. 16914(a). While DOJ recently exercised its authority to collect 
``other information required'' to issue final rules concerning the 
collection and release of Internet identifiers, this legislation 
permanently mandates that certain Internet identifier information be 
required in the registration process.
  The amended bill continues to exempt Internet identifiers from public 
disclosure by States or DOJ.
  The amended legislation requires the Attorney General to ensure that 
there are procedures in place to notify sex offenders of changes in 
requirements.
  The legislation clarifies the definition of ``social networking 
site'' to assure that access to Internet identifiers is targeted to the 
bill's purpose of protecting children from solicitation by sex 
offenders on social networking sites. Sites may obtain information from 
DOJ only if they are focused on social interaction and their users 
include a significant number of minors. A ``significant number'' of 
minors, of course, clearly does not mean that the majority of users, or 
even a substantial minority, must be minors to qualify a Web site to 
participate, nor does it mean any particular quantity. The intent here 
is simply to permit the participation of any Web site that draws many 
minors; otherwise the law's purpose and effectiveness would be 
undermined.
  As amended, the bill further allows social networking sites to employ 
contractors to assist with the checking process, but intends that these 
contractors will be subject to the same requirements that protect 
privacy interests.
  The legislation still sets out a system for checking Internet 
identifiers and includes more robust privacy protections. Web sites may 
obtain a list of offenders' Internet identifiers from DOJ but only in a 
protected and secure form. Only after making a match can the Web site 
view the Internet identifier in unprotected form and request specific 
additional items of personal information about the registered sex 
offender. Web sites will require this additional information in order 
to ensure that people who are not registered offenders are not wrongly 
blocked from using their Web sites.
  Moreover, as a qualification for the use of the checking system, 
social networking Web sites must provide the Attorney General a 
description of policies and procedures for protecting all shared 
information and policies for allowing users the ability to challenge 
their denial of access. This mechanism seeks to ensure a process to 
identify and remove false positives from sex offender registries. If a 
Web site discovers incorrect information, the Web site is required to 
inform DOJ and the State registry so that they can correct the 
information.
  There is now a new section modifying minimum standards required for 
electronic monitoring units used in the sexual offender monitoring 
pilot program established under the Adam Walsh Act. DOJ agrees that 
this change is needed. This will open up program participation to many 
more States and companies.
  The legislation no longer includes the stand-alone criminal offense 
for knowing failure to register an Internet identifier. That provision 
was deemed unnecessary because existing law clearly criminalizes the 
failure to register information that the Attorney General requires 
convicted sex offenders to register under SORNA. The KIDS Act, relying 
on section 114(a)(7) of SORNA, specifically mandates that this required 
information include Internet identifiers. Thus, under the existing 
SORNA framework, as enhanced by the KIDS Act, failure to register 
Internet identifiers as required will be treated as any other 
registration violation punishable under 18 USC Sec. 2250(a)(3).
  This bill represents a vital step toward giving both law enforcement 
and businesses the tools they need to protect children from online 
sexual predators and toward making the Internet a safer place for 
children to communicate with their peers.
  The use of the Internet as a communications tool will continue to 
expand, and it is important that we put safeguards in place, so that 
our children can continue to benefit from advances in communications 
technology without putting them in harm's way.
  I thank the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 
NCMEC, MySpace, Facebook, Enough is Enough, RAINN, the American Family 
Association, the National Association of School Resource Officers, and 
the American Association of Christian Schools for endorsing the KIDS 
Act. I thank my colleagues for their support of this important bill and 
urge the President to sign it quickly into law.

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