[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 131 (Monday, September 27, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7509-S7510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KYL (for himself, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Burr):
  S. 3841. A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit 
the creation, sale, distribution, advertising, marketing, and exchange 
of animal crush videos that depict obscene acts of animal cruelty, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, today, Senators Merkley and Burr and I are 
introducing the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010. The bill 
would criminalize the creation, sale, distribution, advertising, 
marketing, and exchange of animal crush videos. Representative Gallegly 
has sponsored a House companion bill, the Prevention of Interstate 
Commerce in Animal Crush Videos Act, H.R. 5566.
  Animal crush videos often depict obscene, extreme acts of animal 
cruelty designed to appeal to a specific, prurient sexual fetish. These 
crush videos were the target of a 1999 Federal statute that the United 
States Supreme Court struck down earlier this year in U.S. v. Stevens. 
In Stevens, the Supreme Court overturned the 1999 Act banning 
depictions of animal cruelty on the basis that it was 
unconstitutionally overbroad, in violation of the First Amendment.
  The Stevens case did not involve crush videos and the Court 
specifically stated that it was not deciding whether a statute limited 
to crush videos would be constitutional. Instead it left the door open 
for Congress to enact a narrowly tailored ban on animal crush videos.
  Our legislation would ban animal crush videos that fit squarely 
within

[[Page S7510]]

the obscenity doctrine, a well-established exception to the First 
Amendment. The Senate Judiciary Committee received testimony earlier 
this month on the obscene nature of crush videos. Dr. Kevin Volkan, a 
psychology professor with an expertise in atypical psychopathologies, 
testified about the sexual nature of crush videos and the specific 
paraphilias associated with them. He stated that in his professional 
opinion the crush videos contain elements of specific forms of 
paraphilia in varying degrees and that people, usually men, watch crush 
videos for sexual gratification. The Humane Society's two crush video 
investigations also confirm the inherent sexual nature of many crush 
videos. Those investigations also found a growing market for custom-
made videos for those with crush paraphilia.
  The United States also has a long-history of prohibiting speech that 
is essential to criminal conduct. In the case of animal crush videos, 
the videos themselves drive the criminal conduct depicted in them. 
Every State and the District of Columbia have laws criminalizing the 
animal cruelty depicted in the videos, but these laws are hard to 
enforce. The acts of extreme animal cruelty are committed secretively 
and anonymously. The nature of the videos also makes it difficult to 
determine when and where the crimes occurred or that the crime occurred 
within the relevant statute of limitations. These prosecutorial 
difficulties are confirmed by the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. 
Given the difficulty in prosecuting the underlying conduct using state 
law, the integral connection between the video and the criminal 
conduct, and the recent proliferation of animal crush videos on the 
Internet since the Stevens decision, it is necessary for Congress to 
enact a new Federal law targeting the interstate distribution network 
for animal crush videos.
  This measure will also take an important step by banning non-
commercial distribution of animal crush videos. We believe this is 
necessary given the nature of the Internet and the propagation of file-
sharing and peer-to-peer networks that exist today. Similar to other 
Federal criminal statutes that prohibit non-commercial distribution, 
there is an exception for law enforcement purposes.
  I want to thank Senators Leahy and Sessions and their staffs for 
their assistance in addressing this important issue and holding a 
hearing on the topic in the Senate Judiciary Committee. I also want to 
thank the Humane Society for bringing this issue to Congress' attention 
and working tirelessly to address it.
  I urge my Senate colleagues to support this legislation and work with 
me to swiftly enact it.
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