[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 116 (Wednesday, August 1, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1379]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ADAM WALSH REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2012

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. MIKE PENCE

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 31, 2012

  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Adam Walsh 
Reauthorization Act of 2012 (H.R. 3796). I would like to recognize 
Representative Sensenbrenner for a career spent protecting our nation's 
children, including this bill before the House today.
  Six years ago I stood with my then 15-year old son and 13-year old 
daughter in the Rose Garden at the White House when President George W. 
Bush signed into law the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 
2006.
  Title V of the Adam Walsh legislation contains my bill, the Child 
Pornography Prevention Act. My bill set forth new findings to protect 
children against so-called ``home pornographers'' to better enable 
federal prosecutors to proceed with cases against them. It also 
provided increased protection to victims of child pornography and 
strengthened the hand of law enforcement in investigating and bringing 
charges in obscenity and child pornography cases. Finally, it closed a 
loophole that allowed pornographers to exploit children by using them 
in productions with simulated sexual activity or lascivious sexually 
explicit content and then claim that they believed the children to be 
over age eighteen.
  The Adam Walsh legislation had many other good initiatives that have 
protected our nation's children by improving sex offender registration 
and providing local law enforcement officials with tools needed to 
track those who prey upon children. Some of these provisions require 
reauthorization, and I am pleased today that we are moving forward with 
this reauthorization, especially of the two key programs that fund the 
U.S. Marshall's fugitive apprehension program and the grants that help 
states comply with the national sex offender registry requirements, in 
a fiscally responsible manner.
  I consider myself fortunate to have been able to contribute to the 
Adam Walsh bill, as well as the 2003 Child Abduction Prevention Act 
(later renamed the PROTECT Act), which setup the Amber Alert system. 
That legislation also included the Truth in Domain Names Act that I 
authored. The Truth in Domain Names Act made it a criminal act to 
knowingly use a misleading domain name with the intent to deceive a 
child into viewing harmful material on the Internet, and it has made a 
difference in protecting children from Internet pornography.
  Congress over the years has faced many very difficult issues, but we 
always have kept the best interest of children at the forefront of our 
work. As we move to reauthorize these important programs in the Adam 
Walsh bill today, I want to thank my colleagues for coming together to 
put our children first.

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