[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 27, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6087-H6097]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   INTERNATIONAL MEGAN'S LAW OF 2010

  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5138) to protect children from sexual exploitation by 
mandating reporting requirements for convicted sex traffickers and 
other registered sex offenders against minors intending to engage in 
international travel, providing advance notice of intended travel by 
high interest registered sex offenders outside the United States to the 
government of the country of destination, requesting foreign 
governments to notify the United States when a known child sex offender 
is seeking to enter the United States, and for other purposes, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5138

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the 
     ``International Megan's Law of 2010''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and declaration of purposes.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Sex offender travel reporting requirement.
Sec. 5. Foreign registration requirement for sex offenders.
Sec. 6. International Sex Offender Travel Center.
Sec. 7. Center sex offender travel guidelines.
Sec. 8. Authority to restrict passports.
Sec. 9. Immunity for good faith conduct.
Sec. 10. Sense of Congress provisions.
Sec. 11. Enhancing the minimum standards for the elimination of 
              trafficking.
Sec. 12. Special report on international mechanisms related to 
              traveling child sex offenders.
Sec. 13. Assistance to foreign countries to meet minimum standards for 
              the elimination of trafficking.
Sec. 14. Congressional reports.
Sec. 15. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 16. Budget compliance.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) Megan Nicole Kanka, who was 7 years old, was abducted, 
     sexually assaulted, and murdered in 1994, in the State of New 
     Jersey by a violent predator living across the street from 
     her home. Unbeknownst to Megan Kanka and her family, he had 
     been convicted previously of a sex offense against a child.
       (2) In 1996, Congress adopted Megan's Law (Public Law 104-
     145) as a means to encourage States to protect children by 
     identifying the whereabouts of sex offenders and providing 
     the means to monitor their activities.
       (3) The sexual exploitation of minors is a global 
     phenomenon. The International Labour Organization estimates 
     that 1.8 million children worldwide are exploited each year 
     through prostitution and pornography.
       (4) According to End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography 
     and Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT 
     International), all children are adversely affected by being 
     commercially sexually exploited. Commercial sexual 
     exploitation can result in serious, lifelong, even life-
     threatening consequences for the physical, psychological, 
     spiritual, emotional and social development and well-being of 
     a child.
       (5) ECPAT International reports that children who are 
     commercially sexually exploited are at great risk of 
     contracting HIV or AIDS and are unlikely to receive adequate 
     medical care. These children are also at great risk of 
     further physical violence--those who make an attempt to 
     escape or counter their abuse may be severely injured or 
     killed. The psychological effects of child sexual 
     exploitation and threats usually plague the victims for the 
     rest of their lives.
       (6) ECPAT International further reports that children who 
     have been exploited typically report feelings of shame, 
     guilt, and low self-esteem. Some children do not believe they 
     are worthy of rescue; some suffer from stigmatization or the 
     knowledge that they were betrayed by someone whom they had 
     trusted; others suffer from nightmares, sleeplessness, 
     hopelessness, and depression--reactions similar to those 
     exhibited in victims of torture. To cope, some children 
     attempt suicide or turn to substance abuse. Many find it 
     difficult to reintegrate successfully into society once they 
     become adults.
       (7) According to ECPAT International, child sex tourism is 
     a specific form of child prostitution and is a developing 
     phenomenon. Child sex tourism is defined as the commercial 
     sexual exploitation of children by people who travel from one 
     place to another and there engage in sexual acts with minors. 
     This type of exploitation can occur anywhere in the world and 
     no country or tourism destination is immune.
       (8) According to research conducted by The Protection 
     Project of The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School 
     of Advanced International Studies, sex tourists from the 
     United States who target children form a significant 
     percentage of child sex tourists in some of the most 
     significant destination countries for child sex tourism.
       (9) According to the National Center for Missing and 
     Exploited Children (NCMEC), most victims of sex offenders are 
     minors.
       (10) Media reports indicate that known sex offenders who 
     have committed crimes against children are traveling 
     internationally, and that the criminal background of such 
     individuals may not be known to local law enforcement prior 
     to their arrival. For example, in April 2008, a United States 
     registered sex offender received a prison sentence for 
     engaging in illicit sexual activity with a 15-year-old United 
     States citizen girl in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico in 
     exchange for money and crack cocaine.
       (11) United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
     (ICE) has taken a leading role in the fight against the 
     sexual exploitation of minors abroad, in cooperation with 
     other United States agencies, law enforcement from other 
     countries, INTERPOL, and nongovernmental organizations. In 
     addition to discovering evidence of and investigating child 
     sex crimes, ICE has provided training to foreign law 
     enforcement and NGOs, as appropriate, for the prevention, 
     detection, and investigation of cases of child sexual 
     exploitation.
       (12) Between 2003 and 2009, ICE obtained 73 convictions of 
     individuals from the United States charged with committing 
     sexual crimes against minors in other countries.
       (13) While necessary to protect children and rescue 
     victims, the detection and investigation of child sex 
     predators overseas is costly. Such an undercover operation 
     can cost approximately $250,000. A system that would aid in 
     the prevention of such crimes is needed to safeguard 
     vulnerable populations and to reduce the cost burden of 
     addressing crimes after they are committed.

[[Page H6088]]

       (14) Sex offenders are also attempting to enter the United 
     States. In April 2008, a lifetime registered sex offender 
     from the United Kingdom attempted to enter the United States 
     with the intention of living with a woman who he had met on 
     the Internet and her young daughters. Interpol London 
     notified Interpol United States National Central Bureau 
     (USNCB) about the sex offender's status. Interpol USNCB 
     notified the United States Customs and Border Protection 
     officers, who refused to allow the sex offender to enter the 
     country.
       (15) Foreign governments need to be encouraged to notify 
     the United States as well as other countries when a known sex 
     offender is entering our borders. For example, Canada has a 
     national sex offender registry, but Canadian officials do not 
     notify United States law enforcement when a known sex 
     offender is entering the United States unless the sex 
     offender is under investigation.
       (16) Child sex tourists may travel overseas to commit 
     sexual offenses against minors for the following reasons: 
     perceived anonymity; law enforcement in certain countries is 
     perceived as scarce, corrupt, or unsophisticated; perceived 
     immunity from retaliation because the child sex tourist is a 
     United States citizen; the child sex tourist has the 
     financial ability to impress and influence the local 
     population; the child sex tourist can ``disappear'' after a 
     brief stay; the child sex tourist can target children meeting 
     their desired preference; and, there is no need to expend 
     time and effort ``grooming'' the victim.
       (17) Individuals who have been arrested in and deported 
     from a foreign country for sexually exploiting children have 
     used long-term passports to evade return to their country of 
     citizenship where they faced possible charges and instead 
     have moved to a third country where they have continued to 
     exploit and abuse children.
       (18) In order to protect children, it is essential that 
     United States law enforcement be able to identify high risk 
     child sex offenders in the United States who are traveling 
     abroad and child sex offenders from other countries entering 
     the United States. Such identification requires cooperative 
     efforts between the United States and foreign governments. In 
     exchange for providing notice of sex offenders traveling to 
     the United States, foreign authorities will expect United 
     States authorities to provide reciprocal notice of sex 
     offenders traveling to their countries.
       (19) ICE and other Federal law enforcement agencies 
     currently are sharing information about sex offenders 
     traveling internationally with law enforcement entities in 
     some other countries on an ad hoc basis through INTERPOL and 
     other means. The technology to detect and notify foreign 
     governments about travel by child sex offenders is available, 
     but a legal structure and additional resources are needed to 
     systematize and coordinate these detection and notice 
     efforts.
       (20) Officials from the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, 
     and other countries have expressed interest in working with 
     the United States Government for increased international 
     cooperation to protect children from sexual exploitation, and 
     are calling for formal arrangements to ensure that the risk 
     posed by traveling sex offenders is combated most 
     effectively.
       (21) The United States, with its international law 
     enforcement relations, technological and communications 
     capability, and established sex offender registry system, 
     should now take the opportunity to lead the global community 
     in the effort to save thousands of potential child victims by 
     notifying other countries of travel by sex offenders who pose 
     a high risk of exploiting children, maintaining information 
     about sex offenders from the United States who reside 
     overseas, and strongly encouraging other countries to 
     undertake the same measures to protect children around the 
     world.
       (b) Declaration of Purposes.--The purpose of this Act and 
     the amendments made by this Act is to protect children from 
     sexual exploitation by preventing or monitoring the 
     international travel of sex traffickers and other sex 
     offenders who pose a risk of committing a sex offense against 
     a minor while traveling by--
       (1) establishing a system in the United States to notify 
     the appropriate officials of other countries when a sex 
     offender who is identified as a high interest registered sex 
     offender intends to travel to their country;
       (2) strongly encouraging and assisting foreign governments 
     to establish a sex offender travel notification system and to 
     inform United States authorities when a sex offender intends 
     to travel or has departed on travel to the United States;
       (3) establishing and maintaining non-public sex offender 
     registries in United States diplomatic and consular missions 
     in order to maintain critical data on United States citizen 
     and lawful permanent resident sex offenders who are residing 
     abroad;
       (4) providing the Secretary of State with the discretion to 
     revoke the passport or passport card of an individual who has 
     been convicted overseas for a sex offense against a minor, or 
     limit the period of validity of a passport issued to an 
     individual designated as a high interest registered sex 
     offender;
       (5) including whether a country is investigating and 
     prosecuting its nationals suspected of engaging in severe 
     forms of trafficking in persons abroad in the minimum 
     standards for the elimination of human trafficking under 
     section 108 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
     (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.);
       (6) mandating a report from the Secretary of State, in 
     consultation with the Attorney General, about the status of 
     international notifications between governments about child 
     sex offender travel; and
       (7) providing assistance to foreign countries under section 
     134 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152d) 
     to establish systems to identify sex offenders and provide 
     and receive notification of child sex offender international 
     travel.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--Except as 
     otherwise provided, the term ``appropriate congressional 
     committees'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
     the Judiciary of the House of Representatives; and
       (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
     the Judiciary of the Senate.
       (2) Center.--The term ``Center'' means the International 
     Sex Offender Travel Center established pursuant to section 
     6(a).
       (3) Convicted as excluding certain juvenile 
     adjudications.--The term ``convicted'' or a variant thereof, 
     used with respect to a sex offense of a minor, does not 
     include--
       (A) adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for that offense; 
     or
       (B) convicted as an adult for that offense, unless the 
     offense took place after the offender had attained the age of 
     14 years and the conduct upon which the conviction took place 
     was comparable to or more severe than aggravated sexual abuse 
     (as described in section 2241 of title 18, United States 
     Code), or was an attempt or conspiracy to commit such an 
     offense.
       (4) High interest registered sex offender.--The term ``high 
     interest registered sex offender'' means a sex offender as 
     defined under paragraph (8) who the Center, pursuant to 
     section 7 and based on the totality of the circumstances, has 
     a reasonable belief presents a high risk of committing a sex 
     offense against a minor in a country to which the sex 
     offender intends to travel.
       (5) Jurisdiction.--The term ``jurisdiction'' means any of 
     the following:
       (A) A State.
       (B) The District of Columbia.
       (C) The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
       (D) Guam.
       (E) American Samoa.
       (F) The Northern Mariana Islands.
       (G) The United States Virgin Islands.
       (H) A federally recognized Indian tribe that maintains a 
     sex offender registry, or another jurisdiction to which an 
     Indian tribe has delegated the function of maintaining a sex 
     offender registry on its behalf.
       (I) A United States diplomatic or consular mission that 
     maintains a sex offender registry pursuant to section 5 of 
     this Act.
       (6) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an individual who has 
     not attained the age of 18 years.
       (7) Passport card.--The term ``passport card'' means a 
     document issued by the Department of State pursuant to 
     section 7209 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism 
     Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-458; 8 U.S.C. 1185 
     note).
       (8) Sex offender.--Except as provided in sections 12 and 
     13, the term ``sex offender'' means a United States citizen 
     or lawful permanent resident who is convicted of a sex 
     offense as defined in this Act, including a conviction by a 
     foreign court, and who, independently of this Act, is legally 
     required to register in the United States with a 
     jurisdiction, or who is legally required to register outside 
     the United States with a jurisdiction in accordance with 
     section 5.
       (9) Sex offense.--
       (A) In general.--The term ``sex offense'' means a criminal 
     offense against a minor, including any Federal offense, that 
     is punishable by statute by more than one year of 
     imprisonment and involves any of the following:
       (i) Solicitation to engage in sexual conduct.
       (ii) Use in a sexual performance.
       (iii) Solicitation to practice prostitution (whether for 
     financial or other forms of remuneration).
       (iv) Video voyeurism as described in section 1801 of title 
     18, United States Code.
       (v) Possession, production, or distribution of child 
     pornography.
       (vi) Criminal sexual conduct involving a minor, or the use 
     of the Internet to facilitate or attempt such conduct.
       (vii) Conduct that would violate section 1591 (relating to 
     sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion) 
     of title 18, United States Code, if the conduct had involved 
     interstate or foreign commerce and where the person 
     recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, or 
     obtained had not attained the age of 18 years at the time of 
     the conduct.
       (viii) Any other conduct that by its nature is a sex 
     offense against a minor.
       (B) Exceptions.--The term ``sex offense'' does not 
     include--
       (i) a foreign conviction, unless the conviction was 
     obtained with sufficient safeguards for fundamental fairness 
     and due process for the accused; or
       (ii) an offense involving consensual sexual conduct if the 
     victim was at least 13 years old and the offender was not 
     more than 4 years older than the victim.
       (C) Special rule for determining whether sufficient 
     safeguards exist.--For the purposes of subparagraph (B)(i), 
     compliance

[[Page H6089]]

     with the guidelines or regulations established under section 
     112 of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 
     U.S.C. 16911) creates a rebuttable presumption that the 
     conviction was obtained with sufficient safeguards for 
     fundamental fairness and due process for the accused.

     SEC. 4. SEX OFFENDER TRAVEL REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

       (a) Duty To Report.--
       (1) In general.--A sex offender who is a United States 
     citizen or alien lawfully admitted to the United States for 
     permanent residence shall notify a jurisdiction where he or 
     she is registered as a sex offender of his or her intention 
     to travel either from the United States to another country or 
     from another country to the United States, subject to 
     subsection (f) and in accordance with the rules issued under 
     subsection (b). The sex offender shall provide notice--
       (A) not later than 30 days before departure from or arrival 
     in the United States; or
       (B) in individual cases in which the Center determines that 
     a personal or humanitarian emergency, business exigency, or 
     other situation renders the deadline in subparagraph (A) to 
     be impracticable or inappropriate, as early as possible.
       (2) Transmission of notice from the jurisdiction to the 
     center.--A jurisdiction so notified pursuant to paragraph (1) 
     shall transmit such notice to the Center within 24 hours or 
     the next business day, whichever is later, of receiving such 
     notice.
       (3) Period of reporting requirement.--The duty of the sex 
     offender to report required under paragraph (1) shall take 
     effect on the date that is 425 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act or after a sex offender has been duly 
     notified of the duty to report pursuant to subsection (d), 
     whichever is later, and terminate at such time as the sex 
     offender is no longer required to register in any 
     jurisdiction for a sex offense.
       (4) Notice to jurisdictions.--Not later than 395 days after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act, the Center shall 
     provide notice to all jurisdictions of the requirement to 
     receive notifications regarding travel from sex offenders and 
     the means for informing the Center about such travel 
     notifications pursuant to paragraph (1).
       (b) Rules for Reporting.--Not later than one year after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security, in coordination with the Attorney General and the 
     Secretary of State, shall issue rules to carry out subsection 
     (a) in accordance with the purposes of this Act. Such rules--
       (1) shall establish procedures for reporting by the sex 
     offender under subsection (a), including the method of 
     payment and transmission of any fee to United States 
     Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pursuant to 
     subsection (c);
       (2) shall set forth the information required to be reported 
     by the sex offender, including--
       (A) complete name(s);
       (B) address of residence and home and cellular numbers;
       (C) all e-mail addresses;
       (D) date of birth;
       (E) social security number;
       (F) citizenship;
       (G) passport or passport card number, date and place of 
     issuance, and date of expiration;
       (H) alien registration number, where applicable;
       (I) information as to the nature of the sex offense 
     conviction;
       (J) jurisdiction of conviction;
       (K) travel itinerary, including the anticipated length of 
     stay at each destination, and purpose of the trip;
       (L) if a plane ticket or other means of transportation has 
     been purchased, prior to the submission of this information, 
     the date of such purchase;
       (M) whether the sex offender is traveling alone or as part 
     of a group; and
       (N) contact information prior to departure and during 
     travel; and
       (3) in consultation with the jurisdictions, shall provide 
     appropriate transitional provisions in order to make the 
     phase-in of the requirements of this Act practicable.
       (c) Fee Charge.--ICE is authorized to charge a sex offender 
     a fee for the processing of a notice of intent to travel 
     submitted pursuant to subsection (a)(1). Such fee--
       (1) shall initially not exceed the amount of $25;
       (2) may be increased thereafter not earlier than 30 days 
     after consultation with the appropriate congressional 
     committees;
       (3) shall be collected by the jurisdiction at the time that 
     the sex offender provides the notice of intent to travel;
       (4) shall be waived if the sex offender demonstrates to the 
     satisfaction of ICE, pursuant to a fee waiver process 
     established by ICE, that the payment of such fee would impose 
     an undue financial hardship on the sex offender;
       (5) shall be used only for the activities specified in 
     sections 4, 6, and 7; and
       (6) shall be shared equitably with the jurisdiction that 
     processes the notice of intent to travel.
       (d) Criminal Penalty for Failure To Register or Report.--
       (1) New offense.--Section 2250 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(d) Whoever knowingly fails to register with United 
     States officials in a foreign country or to report his or her 
     travel to or from a foreign country, as required by the 
     International Megan's Law of 2010, after being duly notified 
     of the requirements shall be fined under this title or 
     imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.''.
       (2) Amendment to heading of section.--The heading for 
     section 2250 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
     inserting ``or report international travel'' after 
     ``register''.
       (3) Conforming amendment to affirmative defense.--Section 
     2250(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
     inserting ``or (d)'' after ``(a)''.
       (4) Conforming amendment to federal penalties for violent 
     crimes.--Section 2250(c) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by inserting ``or (d)'' after ``(a)'' each place it 
     appears.
       (5) Clerical amendment.--The item relating to section 2250 
     in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 109B of 
     title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``or 
     report international travel'' after ``register''.
       (e) Duty to Notify Sex Offenders of Reporting and 
     International Registration Requirement.--
       (1) In general.--When an official is required under the law 
     of a jurisdiction or under the rules established pursuant to 
     subsection (b) to notify a sex offender (as defined in 
     section 3(8)) of a duty to register as a sex offender under 
     the law of such jurisdiction, the official shall also, at the 
     same time--
       (A) notify the offender of such offender's duties to report 
     international travel under this section and to register as a 
     sex offender under section 5, and the procedure for 
     fulfilling such duties; and
       (B) require such offender to read and sign a form stating 
     that such duties to report and register, and the procedure 
     for fulfilling such duties, have been explained and that such 
     offender understands such duties and such procedure.
       (2) Sex offenders convicted in foreign countries.--When a 
     United States citizen or lawful permanent resident is 
     convicted in a foreign country of a sex offense and the 
     United States diplomatic or consular mission in such country 
     is informed of such conviction and is informed of, or is 
     otherwise aware of, the location of the sex offender, such 
     diplomatic or consular mission shall--
       (A) notify such sex offender of such offender's duties to 
     report travel to the United States and to register as a sex 
     offender under this Act and the procedure for fulfilling such 
     duties; and
       (B) obtain from such offender a signed form stating that 
     such duties to report and register, and the procedure for 
     fulfilling such duties, have been explained and that such 
     offender understands such duties and such procedure.
       (3) Requirements relating to form.--The form required by 
     paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B) shall be maintained by the 
     entity that maintains the sex offender registry in the 
     jurisdiction in which the sex offender was convicted.
       (f) Procedures With Respect to Sex Offenders Who Regularly 
     Transit Across the United States Borders.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
     shall establish a system for identifying and monitoring, as 
     appropriate and in accordance with the purposes of this Act, 
     sex offenders who, for legitimate business, personal, or 
     other reasons regularly transit across the border between the 
     United States and Mexico or the border between the United 
     States and Canada.
       (2) Report.--Not later than the date of the establishment 
     of the border system pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary 
     of Homeland Security shall transmit to the appropriate 
     congressional committees a report on the implementation of 
     such system.

     SEC. 5. FOREIGN REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT FOR SEX OFFENDERS.

       (a) Foreign Registration Requirement.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 395 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, a designated United States 
     diplomatic or consular mission in each foreign country shall 
     establish and maintain a countrywide nonpublic sex offender 
     registry for sex offenders (as defined in section 3(8)) who 
     are United States citizens or aliens lawfully admitted to the 
     United States for permanent residence who remain in such 
     country for the time period specified in subsection (b). Such 
     registry shall include the information specified in 
     subsection (d).
       (2) Regional registries.--If there are fewer than ten sex 
     offenders residing in a country, the Secretary of State, in 
     the Secretary's sole discretion, may designate a United 
     States diplomatic or consular mission in the same region as 
     such country to maintain the sex offender registry for sex 
     offenders in such country.
       (b) International Registry Requirement for Sex Offenders.--
       (1) In general.--A sex offender who is a United States 
     citizen or alien lawfully admitted to the United States for 
     permanent residence--
       (A) who remains in a foreign country for more than 30 
     consecutive days; or
       (B) who remains in a foreign country for more than 30 days 
     within a six-month period,
     shall register, and keep such registration current, at the 
     designated United States diplomatic or consular mission for 
     such country.

[[Page H6090]]

       (2) Period of registration requirement.--The registration 
     requirement specified in paragraph (1) shall--
       (A) begin when the sex offender registry has been 
     established at the designated diplomatic or consular mission 
     in the country in which a sex offender is staying and such 
     sex offender has received notice of the requirement to 
     register pursuant to this section; and
       (B) end on the sooner of--
       (i) such time as the sex offender departs such country and 
     has provided notice of all changes of information in the sex 
     offender registry as required under paragraph (3);
       (ii) in the case of a conviction in the United States, such 
     time has elapsed as the sex offender would have otherwise 
     been required to register in the jurisdiction of conviction 
     for the applicable sex offense; or
       (iii) in the case of a foreign conviction, such time as the 
     sex offender would have otherwise been required to register 
     under section 115 of the Sex Offender Registration and 
     Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 16915) for the applicable sex 
     offense.
       (3) Keeping the registration current.--Subject to the 
     period of registration requirement under paragraph (2), not 
     later than five business days after each change of name, 
     residence, or employment or student status, or any change in 
     any of the other information specified in subsection (d)(1), 
     a sex offender residing in a foreign country shall notify a 
     United States diplomatic or consular mission in such country 
     for the purpose of providing information relating to such 
     change for inclusion in the sex offender registry maintained 
     by the designated diplomatic or consular mission in such 
     country under subsection (a). If the diplomatic or consular 
     mission is not the mission that maintains the registry for 
     that country, the mission shall forward the changed 
     information to the appropriate diplomatic or consular 
     mission.
       (4) Registration and notification procedure.--Not later 
     than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney 
     General and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall issue 
     regulations for the establishment and maintenance of the 
     registries described in subsection (a), including--
       (A) the manner in which sex offenders who are convicted in 
     a foreign country of a sex offense, whose conviction and 
     location in the foreign country are known by the United 
     States Government, and who are required to register pursuant 
     to United States law, including this Act, will be notified of 
     such requirement;
       (B) the manner for registering and changing information as 
     specified in paragraphs (1) and (3);
       (C) the manner for disclosing information to eligible 
     entities as specified in subsection (h)(2); and
       (D) a mechanism by which individuals listed on the sex 
     offender registry can notify the diplomatic or consular 
     mission of any errors with respect to such listing and by 
     which the Department of State shall correct such errors.
       (c) Cross Reference for Criminal Penalties for 
     Nonregistration.--Criminal penalties for nonregistration are 
     provided in section 2250(d) of title 18, United States Code, 
     which was added by section 4(d)(1) of this Act.
       (d) Information Required in Registration.--
       (1) Provided by the sex offender.--A sex offender described 
     in subsection (b) shall provide the following information:
       (A) Complete name (including any alias), date of birth, and 
     current photograph.
       (B) Passport or passport card number, date and place of 
     issuance, date of expiration, and visa type and number, if 
     applicable.
       (C) Alien registration number, where applicable.
       (D) Social Security number of the sex offender.
       (E) Address of each residence at which the sex offender 
     resides or will reside in that country, the address of any 
     residence maintained in the United States, and home and 
     cellular phone numbers.
       (F) Purpose for the sex offender's residence in the 
     country.
       (G) Name and address of any place where the sex offender is 
     an employee or will be or has applied to be an employee and 
     will have regular contact with minors.
       (H) Name and address of any place where the sex offender is 
     a student or will be or has applied to be a student and will 
     have regular contact with minors.
       (I) All e-mail addresses.
       (J) Most recent address in the United States and State of 
     legal residence.
       (K) The jurisdiction in which the sex offender was 
     convicted and the jurisdiction or jurisdictions in which the 
     sex offender was most recently legally required to register.
       (L) The license plate number and a description of any 
     vehicle owned or operated by the sex offender in the country 
     in which the sex offender is staying.
       (M) The date or approximate date when the sex offender 
     plans to leave the country.
       (N) Any other information required by the Secretary of 
     State.
       (2) Provided by the attorney general and the jurisdiction 
     of conviction.--
       (A) In general.--The United States diplomatic or consular 
     mission shall notify the Attorney General that a sex offender 
     is registering with such mission pursuant to subsection (b). 
     Upon receipt of such notice, the Attorney General shall 
     obtain the information specified in subparagraph (C) and 
     transmit it to the mission within 15 business days.
       (B) Information provided by the jurisdiction of 
     conviction.--If the only available source for any of the 
     information specified in subparagraph (C) is the jurisdiction 
     in which the conviction of the sex offender occurred, the 
     Attorney General shall request such information from the 
     jurisdiction of conviction. The jurisdiction shall provide 
     the information to the Attorney General within 15 business 
     days of receipt of the request.
       (C) Information.--The information specified in this 
     subparagraph is the following:
       (i) The sex offense history of the sex offender, 
     including--

       (I) the text of the provision of law defining the sex 
     offense;
       (II) the dates of all arrests and convictions related to 
     sex offenses; and
       (III) the status of parole, probation, or supervised 
     release.

       (ii) The most recent available photograph of the sex 
     offender.
       (iii) The time period for which the sex offender is 
     required to register pursuant to the law of the jurisdiction 
     of conviction.
       (3) Provided by the diplomatic or consular mission.--The 
     United States diplomatic or consular mission at which a sex 
     offender registers shall collect and include the following 
     information in the registry maintained by such mission:
       (A) Information provided by the sex offender and Attorney 
     General pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2).
       (B) A physical description of the sex offender.
       (C) Any other information required by the Secretary of 
     State.
       (e) Periodic in Person Verification.--Not less often than 
     every six months, a sex offender who is registered under 
     subsection (b) shall appear in person at a United States 
     diplomatic or consular mission in the country where the sex 
     offender is staying to verify the information in the sex 
     offender registry maintained by the designated diplomatic or 
     consular mission for such country under subsection (a) to 
     allow such mission to take a current photograph of the sex 
     offender if the photograph on file no longer accurately 
     depicts the sex offender. If such diplomatic or consular 
     mission is not the mission that maintains the registry for 
     such country, such mission shall forward to the appropriate 
     mission any new or changed information and any new 
     photograph.
       (f) Transmission of Registry Information to the Attorney 
     General.--For the purposes of updating the National Sex 
     Offender Registry and keeping domestic law enforcement 
     informed as to the status of a sex offender required to 
     register under this section, when a United States diplomatic 
     or consular mission receives new or changed information about 
     a sex offender pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (3) of 
     subsection (b) for the sex offender registry maintained by 
     such mission under subsection (a), such mission shall, not 
     later than 24 hours or the next business day, whichever is 
     later, after receipt of such new or changed information, 
     transmit to the Attorney General such new or changed 
     information. Not later than 24 hours or the next business 
     day, whichever is later, after the receipt of such new or 
     changed information, the Attorney General shall transmit such 
     new or changed information to the State of legal residence or 
     the State of last known address, as appropriate, of such sex 
     offender.
       (g) Access to Registry Information by United States Law 
     Enforcement.--Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial 
     law enforcement shall be afforded access for official 
     purposes to all information on a sex offender registry 
     maintained by a United States diplomatic or consular mission 
     pursuant to subsection (a).
       (h) Other Access to Registry Information.--
       (1) In general.--Information on a registry established 
     pursuant to subsection (a) shall not be made available to the 
     general public except as provided in paragraph (2).
       (2) Exception for eligible entities.--
       (A) In general.--An eligible entity described in 
     subparagraph (B) may request certain information on the sex 
     offender registry maintained by the United States diplomatic 
     or consular mission for the country where the eligible entity 
     is located, in accordance with this paragraph.
       (B) Eligible entities described.--An eligible entity 
     referred to in subparagraph (A) is--
       (i) an entity that provides direct services to minors;
       (ii) an official law enforcement entity; or
       (iii) an investigative entity that is affiliated with an 
     official law enforcement entity for the purpose of 
     investigating a possible sex offense.
       (C) Information request process.--An eligible entity may 
     request information on the sex offender registry from the 
     United States Government official designated for this purpose 
     by the head of the diplomatic or consular mission in which 
     the sex offender registry is maintained. The official, in 
     consultation with the head of such diplomatic or consular 
     mission, shall have the sole discretion whether and to what 
     extent to provide information about a particular registered 
     sex offender on the sex offender registry as designated in 
     subparagraph (D). Before providing an eligible entity with 
     such information, the official shall first obtain from the 
     eligible entity a written certification that--

[[Page H6091]]

       (i) the eligible entity shall provide access to the 
     information only to the persons as designated in the 
     certificate who require access to such information for the 
     purpose for which the information is provided;
       (ii) the information shall be maintained and used by the 
     eligible entity in a confidential manner for employment or 
     volunteer screening or law enforcement purposes only, as 
     applicable;
       (iii) the information may not otherwise be disclosed to the 
     public either by the eligible entity or by the employees of 
     the eligible entity who are provided access; and
       (iv) the eligible entity shall destroy the information or 
     extract it from any documentation in which it is contained as 
     soon as the information is no longer needed for the use for 
     which it was obtained.
       (D) Information to be disclosed.--
       (i) To service providers.--An eligible entity described in 
     paragraph (2)(B) may request necessary and appropriate 
     information on the registry with respect to an individual who 
     is listed on the registry and is applying for or holds a 
     position within the entity that involves contact with 
     children.
       (ii) To law enforcement and investigative entities.--An 
     eligible entity described in paragraph (2)(B) may request 
     necessary and appropriate information on the registry that 
     may assist in the investigation of an alleged sex offense 
     against a minor.
       (E) Fee charge.--The diplomatic or consular mission that 
     maintains a sex offender registry from which an eligible 
     entity seeks information may charge such eligible entity a 
     reasonable fee for providing information pursuant to this 
     subsection.
       (F) Notification of possible access to information.--The 
     diplomatic or consular mission that maintains a sex offender 
     registry should make a reasonable effort to notify law 
     enforcement entities and other entities that provide services 
     to children, particularly schools that hire foreign teachers, 
     within the country in which the mission is located, or within 
     the countries where sex offenders on the mission's registry 
     are staying, as applicable, of the possibility of limited 
     access to registry information and the process for requesting 
     such information as provided in this subsection.
       (G) Denial of access to information.--An eligible entity 
     that fails to comply with the certificate provisions 
     specified in subparagraph (C) may be denied all future access 
     to information on a sex offender registry at the discretion 
     of the designated official.
       (i) Actions To Be Taken if a Sex Offender Fails To 
     Comply.--When a United States diplomatic or consular mission 
     determines that a sex offender has failed to comply with the 
     requirements of this section, such mission shall notify the 
     Attorney General and revise the sex offender registry 
     maintained by such mission under subsection (a) to reflect 
     the nature of such failure.
       (j) Federal Assistance Regarding Violations of Registration 
     Requirements.--The first sentence of subsection (a) of 
     section 142 of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification 
     Act (Public Law 109-248; 42 U.S.C. 16941) is amended by 
     inserting before the period at the end the following: ``, 
     including under the International Megan's Law of 2010''.

     SEC. 6. INTERNATIONAL SEX OFFENDER TRAVEL CENTER.

       (a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the President shall establish 
     the International Sex Offender Travel Center to carry out the 
     activities specified in subsection (d).
       (b) Participants.--The Center shall include representatives 
     from the following departments and agencies:
       (1) The Department of Homeland Security, including United 
     States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States 
     Customs and Border Protection, and the Coast Guard.
       (2) The Department of State, including the Office to 
     Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the Bureau of 
     Consular Affairs, the Bureau of International Narcotics and 
     Law Enforcement Affairs, and the Bureau of Diplomatic 
     Security.
       (3) The Department of Justice, including the Interpol-
     United States National Central Bureau, the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation, the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, 
     Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking, the 
     Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 
     and the United States Marshals Service's National Sex 
     Offender Targeting Center.
       (4) Such other officials as may be determined by the 
     President.
       (c) Leadership.--The Center shall be headed by the 
     Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for United States 
     Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
       (d) Activities.--The Center shall carry out the following 
     activities:
       (1) Prior to the implementation of the sex offender travel 
     reporting requirement under section 4, cooperate with each 
     jurisdiction to implement the means for transmitting travel 
     reports from that jurisdiction to the Center.
       (2) Prior to the implementation of the sex offender travel 
     reporting system under section 4, offer to provide training 
     to officials within each jurisdiction who will be responsible 
     for implementing any aspect of such system.
       (3) Establish a means to receive, assess, and respond to an 
     inquiry from a sex offender as to whether he or she is 
     required to report international travel pursuant to this Act.
       (4) Conduct assessments of sex offender travel pursuant to 
     section 7.
       (5) Establish a panel to review and respond within seven 
     days to appeals from sex offenders who are determined to be 
     high interest registered sex offenders. The panel shall 
     consist of individuals who are not involved in the initial 
     assessment of high interest registered sex offenders, and 
     shall be from the following agencies:
       (A) The Department of Justice.
       (B) The Department of State.
       (C) The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the 
     Department of Homeland Security.
       (6) Transmit notice of impending or current international 
     travel of high interest registered sex offenders to the 
     Secretary of State, together with an advisory regarding 
     whether or not the period of validity of the passport of the 
     high interest registered sex offender should be limited to 
     one year or such period of time as the Secretary of State 
     shall determine appropriate.
       (7) Establish a system to maintain and archive all relevant 
     information related to the assessments conducted pursuant to 
     paragraph (4) and the review of appeals conducted by the 
     panel established pursuant to paragraph (5).
       (8) Establish an annual review process to ensure that the 
     Center Sex Offender Travel Guidelines issued pursuant to 
     section 7(a) are being consistently and appropriately 
     implemented.
       (9) Establish a means to identify sex offenders who have 
     not reported travel as required under section 4 and who are 
     initiating travel, currently traveling, or have traveled 
     outside the United States.
       (e) Additional Activity Related to Transmission of 
     Notice.--The Center may, in its sole discretion, transmit 
     notice of impending or current international travel of high 
     interest registered sex offenders to the country or countries 
     of destination of such sex offenders as follows:
       (1) If a high interest registered sex offender submits an 
     appeal to the panel established pursuant to subsection 
     (d)(5), no notice may be transmitted to the destination 
     country prior to the completion of the appeal review process, 
     including transmission of the panel's decision to the sex 
     offender.
       (2) The notice may be transmitted through such means as 
     determined appropriate by the Center, including through an 
     ICE attache, INTERPOL, or such other appropriate means as 
     determined by the Center.
       (3) If the Center has reason to believe that transmission 
     of the notice poses a risk to the life or well-being of the 
     high interest registered sex offender, the Center shall make 
     every reasonable effort to issue a warning to the high 
     interest registered sex offender of such risk in the travel 
     report receipt confirmation provided to the high interest 
     registered sex offender pursuant to section 7(c)(2) prior to 
     the transmission of such notice to the country or countries.
       (f) Attorney General Complaint Review.--The Attorney 
     General, in coordination with the Center, shall establish a 
     mechanism to receive complaints from sex offenders negatively 
     affected by the high interest registered sex offender 
     assessment process pursuant to subsection (d)(4), the high 
     interest registered sex offender determination review process 
     pursuant to subsection (d)(5), or the travel report 
     confirmation process pursuant to section 7(c). A summary of 
     these complaints shall be included in the annual report to 
     Congress required under section 14(c)(4).
       (g) Consultations.--The Center shall engage in ongoing 
     consultations with--
       (1) NCMEC, ECPAT-USA, Inc., World Vision, and other 
     nongovernmental organizations that have experience and 
     expertise in identifying and preventing child sex tourism and 
     rescuing and rehabilitating minor victims of international 
     sexual exploitation;
       (2) the governments of countries interested in cooperating 
     in the creation of an international sex offender travel 
     notification system or that are primary destination or source 
     countries for international sex tourism; and
       (3) Internet service and software providers regarding 
     available and potential technology to facilitate the 
     implementation of an international sex offender travel 
     notification system, both in the United States and in other 
     countries.
       (h) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary of Homeland 
     Security and the Secretary of State may provide technical 
     assistance to foreign authorities in order to enable such 
     authorities to participate more effectively in the 
     notification program system established under this section.

     SEC. 7. CENTER SEX OFFENDER TRAVEL GUIDELINES.

     (a) Issuance of Center Sex Offender Travel Guidelines.--Not 
     later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act, the Center shall issue the Center Sex Offender Travel 
     Guidelines for the assessment of sex offenders--
       (1) who report international travel from the United States 
     to another country pursuant to section 4(a), or
       (2) whose travel is reported pursuant to subsection (b),
     for purposes of determining whether such sex offenders are 
     considered high interest registered sex offenders by United 
     States law enforcement.
       (b) Law Enforcement Notification.--
       (1) In general.--Federal, State, local, tribal, or 
     territorial law enforcement entities or officials from within 
     the United States who

[[Page H6092]]

     have reasonable grounds to believe that a sex offender is 
     traveling outside the United States and may engage in a sex 
     offense against a minor may notify the Center and provide as 
     much information as practicable in accordance with section 
     4(b)(2).
       (2) Notice to law enforcement entities.--Not later than 425 
     days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Center 
     shall provide notice to all known, official law enforcement 
     entities within the United States of they possibility of 
     notifying the Center of anticipated international travel by a 
     sex offender pursuant to paragraph (1).
     (c) Travel Report Receipt Confirmation.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than seven days before the date 
     of departure indicated in the sex offender travel report, the 
     Center shall provide the sex offender with written 
     confirmation of receipt of the travel report. The written 
     communication shall include the following information:
       (A) The sex offender should have the written communication 
     in his or her possession at the time of departure from or 
     return to the United States.
       (B) The written communication is sufficient proof of 
     satisfactory compliance with the travel reporting requirement 
     under this Act if travel is commenced and completed within 
     seven days before or after the dates of travel indicated in 
     the travel report.
       (C) The procedure that the sex offender may follow to 
     request a change, at the sole discretion of the Center, of 
     the time period covered by the written confirmation in the 
     event of an emergency or other unforeseen circumstances that 
     prevent the sex offender from traveling within seven days of 
     the dates specified in the sex offender's travel report.
       (D) The requirement to register with a United States 
     diplomatic or consular mission if the sex offender remains in 
     a foreign country for more than 30 consecutive days or for 
     more than 30 days within a 6-month period pursuant to section 
     5.
       (E) Any additional information that the Center, in its sole 
     discretion, determines necessary or appropriate.
       (2) Departure from the united states.--
       (A) In general.--If the sex offender is traveling from the 
     United States, the written communication shall indicate, in 
     addition to the information specified in paragraph (1), 
     either--
       (i) that the destination country or countries indicated in 
     the travel report are not being notified of the sex 
     offender's travel; or
       (ii)(I) that such country or countries are being notified 
     that the sex offender is a high interest registered sex 
     offender and intends to travel to such countries; and
       (II) that a review of such notification is available by the 
     panel established pursuant to section 6(d)(5), together with 
     an explanation of the process for requesting such a review, 
     including the means for submitting additional information 
     that may refute the Center's determination that the sex 
     offender is a high interest registered sex offender.
       (B) Certain risk.--If the high interest registered sex 
     offender is traveling from the United States and the Center 
     has reason to believe that the transmission of the notice 
     poses a risk to the life or well-being of the high interest 
     registered sex offender, the Center shall warn, in the 
     written communication provided to the high interest 
     registered sex offender, of such risk if the high interest 
     registered sex offender travels as intended.
     (d) Report to Congress.--Upon the issuance of the Center Sex 
     Offender Travel Guidelines under subsection (a), the Center 
     shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
     report containing the guidelines in a manner consistent with 
     the protection of law enforcement-sensitive information.

     SEC. 8. AUTHORITY TO RESTRICT PASSPORTS.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of State is authorized to--
       (1) revoke the passport or passport card of an individual 
     who has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction 
     in a foreign country of a sex offense; and
       (2) limit to one year or such period of time as the 
     Secretary of State shall determine appropriate the period of 
     validity of a passport issued to an individual designated as 
     a high interest registered sex offender.
       (b) Limitation for Return to United States.--
     Notwithstanding subsection (a), in no case shall a United 
     States citizen convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction 
     in a foreign country of a sex offense be precluded from 
     entering the United States due to a passport revocation under 
     such subsection.
       (c) Reapplication.--An individual whose passport or 
     passport card was revoked pursuant to subsection (a)(1) may 
     reapply for a passport or passport card at any time after 
     such individual has returned to the United States.

     SEC. 9. IMMUNITY FOR GOOD FAITH CONDUCT.

       The Federal Government, jurisdictions, political 
     subdivisions of jurisdictions, and their agencies, officers, 
     employees, and agents shall be immune from liability for good 
     faith conduct under this Act.

     SEC. 10. SENSE OF CONGRESS PROVISIONS.

       (a) Bilateral Agreements.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     the President should negotiate memoranda of understanding or 
     other bilateral agreements with foreign governments to 
     further the purposes of this Act and the amendments made by 
     this Act, including by--
       (1) establishing systems to receive and transmit notices as 
     required by section 4;
       (2) requiring Internet service providers and other private 
     companies located in foreign countries to report evidence of 
     child exploitation; and
       (3) establishing mechanisms for private companies and 
     nongovernmental organizations to report on a voluntary basis 
     suspected child pornography or exploitation to foreign 
     governments, the nearest United States embassy in cases in 
     which a possible United States citizen may be involved, or 
     other appropriate entities.
       (b) Minimum Age of Consent.--In order to better protect 
     children and young adolescents from domestic and 
     international sexual exploitation, it is the sense of 
     Congress that the President should strongly encourage those 
     foreign countries that have an age of consent to sexual 
     activity below the age of 16 to raise the age of consent to 
     sexual activity to at least the age of 16 and those countries 
     that do not criminalize the appearance of persons below the 
     age of 18 in pornography or the engagement of persons below 
     the age of 18 in commercial sex transactions to prohibit such 
     activity.
       (c) Notification to the United States of Sex Offenses 
     Committed Abroad.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
     President should formally request foreign governments to 
     notify the United States when a United State citizen has been 
     arrested, convicted, sentenced, or completed a prison 
     sentence for a sex offense against a minor in the foreign 
     country.

     SEC. 11. ENHANCING THE MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION 
                   OF TRAFFICKING.

       Section 108(b)(4) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 
     of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7106(b)(4)) is amended by adding at the 
     end before the period the following: ``, including cases 
     involving nationals of that country who are suspected of 
     engaging in severe forms of trafficking of persons in another 
     country''.

     SEC. 12. SPECIAL REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL MECHANISMS RELATED 
                   TO TRAVELING CHILD SEX OFFENDERS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 
     consultation with the Attorney General, shall submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a report containing the 
     following information (to the extent such information is 
     available from the government concerned or from other 
     reliable sources):
       (1) A list of those countries that have or could easily 
     acquire the technological capacity to identify sex offenders 
     who reside within the country.
       (2) A list of those countries identified in paragraph (1) 
     that utilize electronic means to identify and track the 
     current status of sex offenders who reside within the 
     country, and a summary of any additional information 
     maintained by the government with respect to such sex 
     offenders.
       (3)(A) A list of those countries identified in paragraph 
     (2) that currently provide, or may be willing to provide, 
     information about a sex offender who is traveling 
     internationally to the destination country.
       (B) With respect to those countries identified in 
     subparagraph (A) that currently notify destination countries 
     that a sex offender is traveling to that country:
       (i) The manner in which such notice is transmitted.
       (ii) How many notices are transmitted on average each year, 
     and to which countries.
       (iii) Whether the sex offenders whose travel was so noticed 
     were denied entry to the destination country on the basis of 
     such notice.
       (iv) Details as to how frequently and on what basis notice 
     is provided, such as routinely pursuant to a legal mandate, 
     or by individual law enforcement personnel on a case-by-case 
     basis.
       (v) How sex offenders are defined for purpose of providing 
     notice of travel by such individuals.
       (vi) What international cooperation or mechanisms currently 
     are unavailable and would make the transmission of such 
     notifications more efficacious in terms of protecting 
     children.
       (C) With respect to those countries identified in 
     subparagraph (A) that are willing but currently do not 
     provide such information, the reason why destination 
     countries are not notified.
       (4)(A) A list of those countries that have an established 
     mechanism to receive reports of sex offenders intending to 
     travel from other countries to that country.
       (B) A description of the mechanism identified in 
     subparagraph (A).
       (C) The number of reports of arriving sex offenders 
     received in each of the past 5 years.
       (D) What international cooperation or mechanisms currently 
     are unavailable and would make the receipt of such 
     notifications more efficacious in terms of protecting 
     children.
       (5) A list of those countries identified in paragraph (4) 
     that do not provide information about a sex offender who is 
     traveling internationally to the destination country, and the 
     reason or reasons for such failure. If the failure is due to 
     a legal prohibition within the country, an explanation of the 
     nature of the legal prohibition and the reason for such 
     prohibition.
       (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``sex offender'' 
     means an individual who has been convicted of a criminal 
     offense against a minor that involves any of the acts 
     described in clauses (i) through (viii) of section 3(9)(A).

[[Page H6093]]

     SEC. 13. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO MEET MINIMUM 
                   STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF TRAFFICKING.

       (a) In General.--The President is strongly encouraged to 
     exercise the authorities of section 134 of the Foreign 
     Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152d) to provide 
     assistance to foreign countries directly, or through 
     nongovernmental and multilateral organizations, for programs, 
     projects, and activities, including training of law 
     enforcement entities and officials, designed to establish 
     systems to identify sex offenders and provide and receive 
     notification of child sex offender international travel.
       (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``sex offender'' 
     means an individual who has been convicted of a criminal 
     offense against a minor that involves any of the acts 
     described in clauses (i) through (viii) of section 3(9)(A).

     SEC. 14. CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS.

       (a) Initial Consultations.--Not less than 30 days before 
     the completion of the activities required pursuant to 
     sections 4(b), 5(b)(4), 6(a), and 7(a), the entities 
     responsible for the implementation of such sections shall 
     consult with the appropriate congressional committees 
     concerning such implementation.
       (b) Initial Report.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to 
     the appropriate congressional committees a report on the 
     implementation of this Act, including--
       (A) how the International Sex Offender Travel Center has 
     been established under section 6(a), including the role and 
     responsibilities of the respective departments and agencies 
     that are participating in the Center, and how those roles are 
     being coordinated to accomplish the purposes of this Act and 
     the amendments made by this Act;
       (B) the procedures established for implementing section 7 
     regarding the Center Sex Offender Travel Guidelines;
       (C) the rules regarding sex offender travel reports issued 
     pursuant to section 4(b);
       (D) the establishment of registries at United States 
     diplomatic missions pursuant to section 5, including the 
     number and location of such registries and any difficulties 
     encountered in their establishment or operation;
       (E) the consultations that are being conducted pursuant to 
     section 6(g), and a summary of the discussions that have 
     taken place in the course of those consultations; and
       (F) what, if any, assistance has been provided pursuant to 
     section 6(h) and section 13.
       (2) Form.--The report required under paragraph (1) may be 
     transmitted in whole or in part in classified form if such 
     classification would further the purposes of this Act or the 
     amendments made by this Act.
       (c) Annual Report.--Not later than one year after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, and every year for 4 years 
     thereafter, the President shall transmit to the appropriate 
     congressional committees a report on the implementation of 
     this Act and the amendments made by this Act, including--
       (1)(A) the number of United States sex offenders who have 
     reported travel to or from a foreign country pursuant to 
     section 4(a);
       (B) the number of sex offenders who were identified as 
     having failed to report international travel as required by 
     section 4(a); and
       (C) the number of those identified in each of subparagraphs 
     (A) and (B) who reported travel or who traveled from the 
     United States without previously reporting and whose travel 
     was noticed to a destination country;
       (2) the number of United States sex offenders charged, 
     prosecuted, and convicted for failing to report travel to or 
     from a foreign country pursuant to section 4(a);
       (3) the number of sex offenders who were determined to be 
     high interest registered sex offenders by the Center, the 
     number of appeals of such determinations received by the 
     panel established pursuant to section 6(d)(5), the length of 
     time between the receipt of each such appeal and transmission 
     of the response, the extent and nature of any information 
     provided to the sex offender in response to the appeal, the 
     reason for withholding any information requested by the sex 
     offender, and the number of high interest registered sex 
     offender determinations by the Center that were reversed by 
     the review panel;
       (4) with respect to the complaints received by the Attorney 
     General pursuant to section 6(f)--
       (A) the number of such complaints received; and
       (B) a summary of the nature of such complaints;
       (5) if ICE charges a fee pursuant to section 4(c)--
       (A) the amount of the fee;
       (B) a description of the process to collect the fee and to 
     transfer a percentage of the fee to the jurisdiction that 
     processed the report;
       (C) the percentage of the fee that is being shared with the 
     jurisdictions, the basis for the percentage determination, 
     and which jurisdictions received a percentage of the fees;
       (D) how the revenues from the fee have been expended by 
     ICE; and
       (E) the fee waiver process established pursuant to section 
     4(c)(4), how many fee waiver requests were received, and how 
     many of those received were granted;
       (6) the results of the annual review process of the use of 
     the Center Sex Offender Guidelines conducted pursuant to 
     section 6(d)(6);
       (7) what immediate actions have been taken, if any, by 
     foreign countries and territories of destination following 
     notification pursuant to section 6(d)(3), to the extent such 
     information is available;
       (8)(A) the number of United States citizens or lawful 
     permanent residents arrested overseas and convicted in the 
     United States for sex offenses, and in each instance--
       (i) the age of the suspect and the number and age of 
     suspected victims;
       (ii) the country of arrest;
       (iii) any prior criminal conviction or reported criminal 
     behavior in the United States;
       (iv) whether the individual was required to and did report 
     pursuant to section 4; and
       (v) if the individual reported travel pursuant to section 4 
     prior to the commission of the crime, whether the individual 
     was deemed not to be a high interest registered sex offender 
     by the Center; and
       (B) for purposes of this paragraph, the term ``sex 
     offense'' means a criminal offense involving sexual conduct 
     against a minor or an adult, including the activities listed 
     in clauses (i) through (viii) in section 3(9)(A);
       (9) which countries have been requested to notify the 
     United States when a United States citizen has been arrested, 
     convicted, sentenced, or completed a prison sentence for a 
     sex offense in that country, and of those countries so 
     requested, which countries have agreed to do so, through 
     either formal or informal agreement;
       (10) any memoranda of understanding or other bilateral 
     agreements that the United States has negotiated with a 
     foreign government to further the purposes of this Act 
     pursuant to section 10(a); and
       (11) recommendations as to how the United States can more 
     fully participate in international law enforcement 
     cooperative efforts to combat child sex exploitation.
       (d) Inspector General Audit and Report.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than three years after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Inspectors General of the 
     Department of Justice and the Department of State shall 
     perform a comprehensive audit of and submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a report on the 
     implementation of sections 4, 5, 6, and 7.
       (2) Contents.--The report required under paragraph (1) 
     shall include the following:
       (A) An assessment of all the complaints received by the 
     Department of Justice pursuant to section 6(f), and a 
     description as to what, if any, action was taken to resolve 
     each complaint.
       (B) A description of any instances in which a United States 
     citizen or lawful permanent resident was mistakenly 
     identified as a sex offender who failed to comply with the 
     requirements of this Act and was confronted with such 
     failure.
       (C) A description of any instances in which a United States 
     citizen or lawful permanent resident was prevented from 
     travelling to or from the United States as a consequence of 
     the implementation of this Act.
       (D) A description of any instances in which a sex offender 
     was charged with violating the travel reporting requirement 
     under section 4 or the registration requirement under section 
     5 prior to such sex offender being duly noticed of the 
     relevant requirement.
       (E) A description of any physical or substantial emotional 
     harm suffered by a high interest registered sex offender in a 
     destination country as a result of notice being given to such 
     destination country pursuant to section 6(e).
       (F) A description of any instances in which information 
     about a sex offender on a registry at a United States 
     diplomatic or consular mission was disclosed in a manner not 
     authorized by this Act.
       (G) A description and assessment of high interest 
     registered sex offender determination reviews conducted 
     pursuant to section 6(d), including the number of such 
     determinations that were overturned.
       (H) A description and assessment of any other substantive 
     or administrative challenges identified in implementing and 
     administering sections 4, 5, 6, and 7.

     SEC. 15. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       To carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act, 
     there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
     necessary for each of the fiscal years 2011 through 2015.

     SEC. 16. BUDGET COMPLIANCE.

       The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
     complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall 
     be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 
     ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, 
     submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the 
     Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the House of 
     Representatives, provided that such statement has been 
     submitted prior to the vote on passage.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Nevada (Ms. Berkley) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Nevada.


                             General Leave

  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise

[[Page H6094]]

and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill 
under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Nevada?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. BERKLEY. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in very strong support of this bill.
  I would like to first commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Smith) and the ranking member from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for their 
hard work and dedication to this bill, International Megan's Law of 
2010.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a product of a 2-year investigation into 
international child sex tourism and exploitation. Staffs on both sides 
of the aisle, including staff from the Judiciary Committee, have worked 
very hard to craft a bill that would serve as an important tool in 
protecting children abroad from child sex predators.
  Some child sex offenders, who are really perverts, travel from the 
United States to other countries solely for the purpose of committing 
sexual acts with children. Others decide to stay abroad, taking 
advantage of their anonymity where laws against these sex acts are weak 
or are rarely enforced.
  International Megan's Law would establish a system for providing 
advance notice to foreign countries when a convicted child sex offender 
travels to that country. It also mandates a registration requirement 
for child sex offenders from the United States who reside or stay 
abroad.
  Worldwide, over 2 million children are sexually exploited each year 
through trafficking, prostitution, and child sex tourism. The damage 
inflicted on these children by sexual crimes can be incredibly severe 
and beyond comprehension to most of us. Not only are exploited children 
at risk of physical trauma and diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, but they 
suffer very serious psychological, emotional, and spiritual damage that 
can last for the remainder of their lives.
  Between 2003 and 2009, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
cooperated with INTERPOL and foreign law enforcement agencies to 
investigate cases of the sexual exploitation of children abroad, 
obtaining 73 convictions for such crimes committed in other countries.
  This bill will strengthen that enforcement capability and will 
discourage child sex tourism by requiring these offenders to notify 
relevant authorities of their intentions to travel abroad. It will also 
establish a nonpublic registry at U.S. consular and diplomatic missions 
where U.S. citizens and residents who live abroad and who have been 
convicted of sex offenses against minors will be required to register.
  To know that an individual poses a danger to children and to do 
nothing simply because that person leaves our territory is 
unconscionable. We have the capability to help other governments 
protect their citizens, and we need to do all we can to prevent these 
predators from circumventing our laws to prey on children of foreign 
countries.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise as a strong and proud original cosponsor of H.R. 
5138, the International Megan's Law of 2010.
  The innocence of childhood is a sacred trust that deserves to be 
protected always and everywhere. Sexual crimes against children are 
especially deplorable because they violate that trust, rob children of 
their childhoods and, in some cases, begin a cycle of abuse that ruins 
multiple lives by turning victims into future abusers.
  In recent decades, Mr. Speaker, we have grown in our understanding of 
these crimes and of the compulsions of their perpetrators, so our laws 
have also evolved to better protect the young. In most cases, convicted 
offenders who pose risks to children are required to register in the 
localities in which they reside.
  Just 2 months ago, my home State of Florida enacted additional 
safeguards, barring predators from loitering near schools and other 
places where children congregate. But right now, such protections do 
not effectively extend beyond national borders, and so an alarming 
number of child predators use the anonymity that comes with 
international travel to help them find new victims.
  Far away from the jurisdictions in which their crimes are known, 
these offenders enter unsuspecting communities to groom and exploit 
young boys and girls. This heartbreaking pattern occurs all around the 
world. It can involve something as simple as illicit travel to a known 
sex tourism destination, such as Cuba, where that brutal regime remains 
classified by our State Department as a tier 3 entity that fails to 
meet even the minimum standards for combating human trafficking. Or it 
can entail a ruse as sophisticated as establishing a front charity or 
an orphanage in economically depressed areas, such as southeast Asia, 
to secure ready access to vulnerable children.
  These criminals are ruthless in their hunt for new victims, but as 
things stand today, no country, including the United States, receives 
adequate warning when dangerous child predators are coming to visit. 
Thus, many crimes remain undeterred and undetected, and many young 
lives are permanently scarred as a result. The International Megan's 
Law will help protect the children of the world from these dangers in 
two major ways:
  First, it will establish a system for providing advance notice to 
officials when a sex offender who poses a high risk to children is 
traveling to their country.
  Second, it will require U.S. child sex offenders who live overseas to 
register and periodically reverify their presence with local U.S. 
diplomatic or consular missions.
  This bill also grants the State Department clear authority to 
restrict the passports of convicted child sex offenders so that they 
cannot jump from country to country indefinitely to avoid returning to 
the U.S.
  While the bill is simple in its basic concept, it provides a 
carefully constructed mechanism to ensure that the full range of 
operational, legal, and constitutional interests are protected.

                              {time}  1320

  I want to thank my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his 
leadership on this bill, which is the culmination of years of research, 
field visits and consultations with U.S. and foreign law enforcement 
officials.
  Child predators do not become less dangerous when they cross 
international borders. They must not be allowed to use their passports 
as a disguise.
  I urge my colleagues to support this basic protection of our 
children.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith), the author of this bill, and I ask unanimous 
consent that he control the time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the International Megan's Law is the culmination of over 
3 years of extensive negotiations and research by multiple parties. Mr. 
Payne and I are deeply grateful to all who have helped craft this 
legislation.
  I want to thank the majority leader, Steny Hoyer, for scheduling this 
legislation today and for his commitment to mitigating the crime, the 
heinous crime, of human trafficking. He and I have worked on that for 
years. And the International Megan's Law, which is a corollary to the 
trafficking work, has as its singular goal the protection of children 
from sex predators.
  Special thanks to Chairman Berman and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for their 
strong support for International Megan's Law, for helping to shepherd 
it through the committee, and for their staffs for being so helpful in 
terms of words and phrases, as well as important concepts in the bill.
  I would also like to thank Chairman Payne and Ranking Member Lamar 
Smith and Bobby Scott for their support and their recommendations that 
are included in the bill as well.
  I would especially like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Daniel E. Lungren), former Attorney General, now Congressman, an expert 
on Megan's Law, for his enormous contribution because he was at the 
forefront in his State in implementing the

[[Page H6095]]

Megan's Law; and Ted Poe, who is the co-chairman of the Victims' Rights 
Caucus, for his work and for his compassion for those who are 
victimized by any number of crimes, including the crimes that we are 
talking about today.
  I also would like to thank Sheri Rickert, Kristin Wells, and Janice 
Kaguyutan, staffers who have really done yeoman's work on this 
legislation. I am very, very grateful for that. And the NGOs that have 
also collaborated with us, the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children, who have endorsed the bill, the Covenant House, 
which has done a petition drive, and World Vision, and my distinguished 
friend from Nevada (Ms. Berkley), I thank her for her leadership as 
well.
  This is a bipartisan bill and, hopefully, it will become law for one 
reason: to protect children.
  Mr. Speaker, our national and various State versions of Megan's Law 
have revolutionized how we deal with child predators. Maureen and 
Richard Kanka of my hometown wrote the book on neighborhood 
notification and protection of children and families through 
information. We all owe an enormous debt to Maureen and Richard for 
taking a horrific tragedy, the sexual abuse and murder of their 7-year-
old daughter, Megan, back in 1994, and turning it into the noble cause 
of protecting children throughout the United States.
  But now it's imperative that we take the lessons learned on how to 
protect our children from known child sex predators within our borders 
and expand those protections globally.
  Child predators, Mr. Speaker, thrive on secrecy and lack of any 
meaningful accountability. The secrecy they thrive on allows them to 
commit heinous crimes, crimes against children, and to do so with 
impunity. Megan's Law, with its emphasis on notification and knowing 
who is doing what and where, not only protects American children, but 
it also will protect children worldwide.
  Just last month, Mr. Speaker, the GAO issued a deeply disturbing 
report entitled ``Current Situation Results in Thousands of Passports 
Issued to Registered Sex Offenders.'' The GAO found that at least 4,500 
U.S. passports were issued to known registered sex offenders in fiscal 
year 2008 alone. The GAO emphasized that this number is probably 
understated due to the limitations of the data that it was able to 
analyze and to access.
  Let me also remind--we all know it--passports last for 10 years, so, 
again, this number would grow every year.
  What is even more disturbing are the details about 30 of those sex 
offenders, passport recipients the GAO selected for further 
investigation. One registered sex offender solicited trips to Mexico to 
find and prey on young boys. The FBI found cameras in a medical bag 
with a Spanish language flyer advertising lice removal for children, a 
procedure that requires children to undress. This offender, who is 
currently serving a prison sentence for possession of child 
pornography, applied for a passport because he plans to live in Mexico 
after he serves his sentence to avoid registering as a sex offender.
  Another sex offender in the GAO report has multiple convictions for 
sexual contact with 11-year-olds. The offender had traveled to the 
Philippines, a known child sex tourism destination, as well as to 
Germany and France, since receiving his passport. He was recently 
indicted for possession of child pornography and for attempting to have 
sex with a two-year-old little girl.
  Several of the registered sex offenders used their passports to 
travel to known child sex tourism destinations, including Mexico, the 
Philippines and the Caribbean islands. The victims of several of these 
offenders range from the ages of 7 to 11 years old.
  Mr. Speaker, the ILO estimates that there are about 1.8 million 
children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation around the 
world each year. The GAO's report confirms that American sex offenders 
are a significant part of this outrage.
  According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, each year 
about 10,000 sex offenders covered by the bill before us travel 
internationally. We have information and the technology at our disposal 
to determine what constitutes a high-risk registered sex offender and 
to ensure that appropriate government officials are noticed in a timely 
fashion. And, frankly, if the country wants to say, ``you don't get a 
visa, you don't come,'' or ``if you do come, our law enforcement will 
keep an eye on you,'' that's what we hope will happen if this becomes 
law.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5138 would establish the legal framework that is 
required to accomplish this very achievable goal of noticing. Pursuant 
to the bill, registered sex offenders would notify our law enforcement 
30 days before they travel, allowing experts in the newly created 
international sex offender travel center, led by ICE, to ascertain 
whether the individual poses a high risk of sexually exploiting 
children in the destination country. If the answer is in the 
affirmative, our law enforcement would be able to notify officials in 
that country who could either monitor the activities when he enters or 
prevent him from entering all together.
  The legislation would also establish sex offender registries at U.S. 
diplomatic missions for U.S. child sex offenders who reside in other 
countries. This foreign registration system would allow U.S. law 
enforcement to track the location of sex offenders and to better 
ascertain if and when they re-enter the United States.
  Clearly, the goals of this legislation do not stop at protecting 
children overseas from U.S. predators. Sex offenders from around the 
world are now able to cross borders and oceans to carry out their 
nefarious activity under the cloak of anonymity and disappear before a 
child is willing or able to reveal the terrible crime.
  The International Megan's Law would establish the model needed for 
the Administration to pressure other countries to take action to stop 
child sex tourism originating within their borders and threatening 
children in the United States and everywhere else.
  I have finally, Mr. Speaker, had so many conversations with people 
from other countries, foreign dignitaries who have asked me when the 
United States Congress is going to do something about American sex 
offenders traveling to their countries to rape their children. The 
International Megan's Law is the answer to that question, and I hope my 
colleagues will support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), 
an esteemed member of both the Foreign Affairs Committee and the 
Judiciary Committee, and founder and co-chair of the Congressional 
Victims Rights Caucus.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the work the gentleman, 
Mr. Smith, has done on human trafficking throughout his career here in 
Congress to make the Congress and the American people aware of this 
horrible tragedy that's taking place throughout the world. And I 
especially appreciate his work on this legislation, International 
Megan's Law.
  Mr. Speaker, slavery is alive and, unfortunately, doing very well in 
this world today. We see it in the form of human trafficking, sex 
trafficking, slavery of children who are taken from different parts of 
the world by these slave traders and, for money, they exploit these 
children, and they make money because there are consumers that want to 
abuse children.

                              {time}  1330

  Unfortunately, 25 percent of the consumers who use sex trade victims 
are from the United States. They leave this country. They go to foreign 
countries. They find some child, and they abuse that child, and they 
pay some slave trader for that service. A million people a year are 
involved as victims of human trafficking. Fifty percent of them are 
children. Most of them are under the age of 18. It is the scourge that 
is taking place in our world today. And it's about time we let the 
world know about it. And it's about time we do something about it.
  I am founder and cochair, along with my friend Mr. Costa from 
California, of the Victims Rights Caucus. Children that are exploited, 
that are taken and they are used for sex trafficking, first of all are 
not criminals. They are victims of criminal conduct. The criminals are 
the slave traders and the criminals are those who pay to exploit those 
children.

[[Page H6096]]

  It's important that we first take care and find out who those victims 
are. We should treat them as victims, those children that have been 
exploited. The second thing we do, we find out who those slave traders 
are and we put them in jails throughout the world. Lock them up. That's 
where they belong, no matter where they do their dirty deeds. And the 
third thing is those consumers, those who pay to exploit children, some 
of those 25 percent from the United States, we not only lock them up, 
we let people know who they are. We publish their names, we put their 
photographs on the Internet, we let people know who these individuals 
are.
  This legislation goes a long way in helping the children. So when 
some predator gets out of our penitentiary for molesting a kid and 
wants to leave the country to continue their evil ways, they've got to 
tell us about it so we can tell that other country, Watch out, this 
this guy's coming to your country. And so that country can be on 
notice, so we can be on notice, so we can keep up with these people.
  Based on my experience as a judge in Texas for over 20 years, 
unfortunately most of these child molesters, when they leave the 
penitentiary, they do it again, and they continue those devilish ways. 
And it's important we know who they are. This legislation is excellent. 
I support it.
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank Judge Poe for his extraordinary 
statement and his observation that they recommit. That is what this is 
all about.
  I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E. 
Lungren), ranking member on the House Committee on Administration, an 
original cosponsor of this bill, and former Attorney General of 
California.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. I thank the gentleman for the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, in the mid-1990s, when I was privileged to serve the 
State of California as its Attorney General, we looked to New Jersey 
for inspiration to change our laws. At that time, if you were a sex 
offender convicted of a sex offense and you had served your time, even 
though that was public information, it was almost impossible for the 
public at large to know who you were and where you were living. So we 
decided to follow the New Jersey law in California and adopt Megan's 
Law, which gave information more readily accessible to the public about 
where these predators live. It has worked enormously well.
  The claims of those who thought we would somehow deprive those who 
had served their time of their privacy rights, or that we would somehow 
instill the seeds of vigilantism, have been proven wrong. It has worked 
very, very effectively.
  Since that time we have adopted laws such as Jessica's Laws, which 
says that those who are registered sex offenders cannot live near 
children, they cannot live near schools where children go, they cannot 
live close to the parks where they may play. And that has worked well.
  So some of these sex offenders have decided that they will ply their 
vicious trade, so to speak, beyond our shores. And those are the ones 
that this International Megan's Law directs its attention to. No longer 
will they have the mask of anonymity when they go looking for children 
to exploit in foreign countries.
  This is a simple law. It is a law based on information. It is a law 
based on the knowledge of those who have already committed and are 
likely to recommit. It makes eminent sense. We hope there will be a 
unanimous vote in favor of International Megan's Law.
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), the ranking member of the Foreign 
Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia and one of the 
original sponsors of this legislation.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I want to thank everybody that's been involved 
in this legislation, Mr. Poe; my colleague from California (Mr. 
Lungren); and I especially want to say something about Chris Smith.
  Chris Smith, who is the sponsor of this bill, has been one of the 
hardest working Congressmen that I have ever seen in my life. He has 
worked very hard on the rights of the unborn since he came to Congress 
what, 25 or so years ago. He has worked very hard on things like 
Megan's Law. We have had a lot of great legislators in this body 
throughout history, but I don't know of anybody who has been more 
dedicated, more committed to doing the right things for children, both 
born and unborn, than Chris Smith.
  And I think in the Bible, and I may misquote this, but Paul the 
Apostle said, ``I have fought the fight, I have kept the faith, 
henceforth the crown of righteousness is laid up for me in Heaven.'' 
And that fits you too, Chris. I really mean that.
  Let me just say this about Megan's Law. There should be no place in 
the world for these people to hide. There should be no place where 
they're not prosecuted or persecuted for what they do to these 
children. And so I think this law is so important because there have 
been literally planeloads of perverts, pedophiles that travel around 
the world to ply their evil when they can't do it here in the United 
States because we've started passing laws that deal with them so 
severely.
  No matter what we do in this legislation or with this legislation, in 
my opinion it's not enough. It's just not enough. And I don't think I 
want to be redundant and say anything more than that except for all of 
you who have worked so hard on this legislation, you have my undying 
gratitude.
  Ms. BERKLEY. I continue to reserve my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I again thank my 
friends on the majority side for their courtesy and for working so 
closely with us on this legislation. It truly is a bipartisan bill.
  You know, in 2000 I was the prime sponsor of the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act, and added the three Ps, prevention, prosecution, and 
protection. And a very comprehensive effort was made. We are now 10 
years into implementation of that law. The TIP report that comes out 
every year comes out pursuant to that law.
  One of the things we did in that law was to try to get every other 
country to pass laws that look a lot like ours, and maybe better and 
then we will borrow from their ideas. In this legislation as well there 
is a real admonition to the President and the State Department to try 
to get other countries to enact Megan's Laws in their own countries--a 
few have them, most don't--so we can protect our kids from these 
pedophiles when they come to our shores.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote.

                                     National Center for Missing &


                                           Exploited Children,

                                                    July 21, 2010.
     Hon. Chris Smith,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative Smith: On behalf of the National Center 
     for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), I commend you for 
     introducing H.R. 5138, the International Megan's Law of 2010. 
     This important piece of legislation will help protect 
     children around the world from registered sex offenders who 
     seek to victimize them.
       Sex tourism is an insidious practice whereby offenders 
     travel to other countries for the purpose of sexually 
     victimizing a child. According to an estimate from the U.S. 
     Department of State, 1 million children are exploited by the 
     global commercial sex trade each year. Currently, there are 
     very few limitations regulating the international travel of 
     registered sex offenders. Simply requiring registration 
     within an offender's country of residence does nothing to 
     protect children in other countries from victimization. It is 
     imperative that we do everything we can to provide U.S. and 
     international law enforcement with information that might 
     prevent a child from being victimized.
       We are grateful for your leadership and your steadfast 
     commitment to the most vulnerable members of our society.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Ernie Allen,
                                                  President & CEO.

  I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5138, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the

[[Page H6097]]

rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________