[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 12 (Monday, January 26, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H542-H546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTERNATIONAL MEGAN'S LAW TO PREVENT DEMAND FOR CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 515) to protect children from exploitation, especially sex 
trafficking in tourism, by providing advance notice of intended travel 
by registered child-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.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 515

       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 to Prevent Demand for Child Sex 
     Trafficking''.
       (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.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Angel Watch Center.
Sec. 5. Sense of Congress provisions.
Sec. 6. Enhancing the minimum standards for the elimination of 
              trafficking.
Sec. 7. Assistance to foreign countries to meet minimum standards for 
              the elimination of trafficking.
Sec. 8. Rules of construction.

     SEC. 2. 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) In 2006, Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child 
     Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-248) to 
     protect children and the public at large by establishing a 
     comprehensive national system for the registration and 
     notification to the public and law enforcement officers of 
     convicted sex offenders.
       (4) Law enforcement reports indicate that known child-sex 
     offenders are traveling internationally, and that the 
     criminal background of such individuals may not be known to 
     local law enforcement prior to their arrival.
       (5) The commercial sexual exploitation of minors in child 
     sex trafficking and pornography is a global phenomenon. The 
     International Labour Organization has estimated that 1.8 
     million children worldwide are victims of child sex 
     trafficking and pornography each year.
       (6) Child sex tourism, where an individual travels to a 
     foreign country and engages in sexual activity with a child 
     in that country, is a form of child exploitation and, where 
     commercial, child sex trafficking.
       (7) 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.
       (8) In order to protect children, it is essential that 
     United States law enforcement be able to identify 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 child-sex offenders 
     traveling to the United States, foreign authorities will 
     expect United States authorities to provide reciprocal notice 
     of child-sex offenders traveling to their countries.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:

[[Page H543]]

       (1) Center.--The term ``Center'' means the Angel Watch 
     Center established pursuant to section 4(a).
       (2) Child-sex offender.--
       (A) In general.--The term ``child-sex offender'' means an 
     individual who is a sex offender described in paragraph (3) 
     or (4) of section 111 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 
     Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16911) by reason of being 
     convicted of a child-sex offense.
       (B) Definition of convicted.--In this paragraph, the term 
     ``convicted'' has the meaning given the term in paragraph (8) 
     of section 111 of such Act.
       (3) Child-sex offense.--
       (A) In general.--The term ``child-sex offense'' means a 
     specified offense against a minor, as defined in paragraph 
     (7) of section 111 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 
     Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16911), including--
       (i) an offense (unless committed by a parent or guardian) 
     involving kidnapping;
       (ii) an offense (unless committed by a parent or guardian) 
     involving false imprisonment;
       (iii) solicitation to engage in sexual conduct;
       (iv) use in a sexual performance;
       (v) solicitation to practice prostitution;
       (vi) video voyeurism as described in section 1801 of title 
     18, United States Code;
       (vii) possession, production, or distribution of child 
     pornography;
       (viii) criminal sexual conduct involving a minor, or the 
     use of the Internet to facilitate or attempt such conduct; 
     and
       (ix) any conduct that by its nature is a sex offense 
     against a minor.
       (B) Other offenses.--The term ``child-sex offense'' 
     includes a sex offense described in paragraph (5)(A) of 
     section 111 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act 
     of 2006 that is a specified offense against a minor, as 
     defined in paragraph (7) of such section.
       (C) Foreign convictions; offenses involving consensual 
     sexual conduct.--The limitations contained in subparagraphs 
     (B) and (C) of section 111(5) of the Adam Walsh Child 
     Protection and Safety Act of 2006 shall apply with respect to 
     a child-sex offense for purposes of this Act to the same 
     extent and in the same manner as such limitations apply with 
     respect to a sex offense for purposes of the Adam Walsh Child 
     Protection and Safety Act of 2006.
       (4) 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) To the extent provided in, and subject to the 
     requirements of, section 127 of the Adam Walsh Child 
     Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16927), a 
     federally recognized Indian tribe.
       (5) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an individual who has 
     not attained the age of 18 years.

     SEC. 4. ANGEL WATCH CENTER.

       (a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 
     Security shall establish within the Child Exploitation 
     Investigations Unit of United States Immigration and Customs 
     Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security a 
     Center, to be known as the ``Angel Watch Center'', to carry 
     out the activities specified in subsection (d).
       (b) Leadership.--The Center shall be headed by the Director 
     of ICE, in collaboration with the Commissioner of United 
     States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and in 
     consultation with the Attorney General.
       (c) Members.--The Center shall consist of the following:
       (1) The Director of ICE.
       (2) The Commissioner of CBP.
       (3) Individuals who are designated as analysts in ICE or 
     CBP.
       (4) Individuals who are designated as program managers in 
     ICE or CBP.
       (d) Activities.--
       (1) In general.--The Center shall carry out the following 
     activities:
       (A) Receive information on travel by child-sex offenders.
       (B) Establish a system to maintain and archive all relevant 
     information, including the response of destination countries 
     to notifications under subsection (e) where available, and 
     decisions not to transmit notification abroad.
       (C) Establish an annual review process to ensure that the 
     Center is consistent in procedures to provide notification to 
     destination countries or not to provide notification to 
     destination countries, as appropriate.
       (2) Information required.--The United States Marshals 
     Service's National Sex Offender Targeting Office shall make 
     available to the Center information on travel by child-sex 
     offenders in a timely manner for purposes of carrying out the 
     activities described in paragraph (1) and subsection (e).
       (e) Notification.--
       (1) To countries of destination.--
       (A) In general.--The Center may transmit notice of 
     impending or current international travel of a child-sex 
     offender to the country or countries of destination of the 
     child-sex offender, including to the visa-issuing agent or 
     agents in the United States of the country or countries.
       (B) Form.--The notice under this paragraph may be 
     transmitted through such means as determined appropriate by 
     the Center, including through an ICE attache.
       (A) General notification.--
       (i) In general.--If the Center transmits notice under 
     paragraph (1) of impending international travel of a child-
     sex offender to the country or countries of destination of 
     the child-sex offender, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
     in conjunction with any appropriate agency, shall make 
     reasonable efforts to provide constructive notice through 
     electronic or telephonic communication to the child-sex 
     offender prior to the child-sex offender's arrival in the 
     country or countries.
       (ii) Exception.--The requirement to provide constructive 
     notice under clause (i) shall not apply in the case of 
     impending international travel of a child-sex offender to the 
     country or countries of destination of the child-sex offender 
     if such constructive notice would conflict with an existing 
     investigation involving the child-sex offender.
       (B) Specific notification regarding risk to life or well-
     being of offender.--If the Center has reason to believe that 
     to transmit notice under paragraph (1) poses a risk to the 
     life or well-being of the child-sex offender, the Center 
     shall make reasonable efforts to provide constructive notice 
     through electronic or telephonic communication to the child-
     sex offender of such risk.
       (C) Specific notification regarding probable denial of 
     entry to offender.--If the Center has reason to believe that 
     a country of destination of the child-sex offender is highly 
     likely to deny entry to the child-sex offender due to 
     transmission of notice under paragraph (1), the Center shall 
     make reasonable efforts to provide constructive notice 
     through electronic or telephonic communication to the child-
     sex offender of such probable denial.
       (3) Sunset.--The authority of paragraph (1) shall terminate 
     with respect to a child-sex offender beginning as of the 
     close of the last day of the registration period of such 
     child-sex offender under section 115 of the Adam Walsh Child 
     Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16915).
       (f) Complaint Review.--The Center shall establish a 
     mechanism to receive complaints from child-sex offenders 
     affected by notifications of destination countries of such 
     child-sex offenders under subsection (e).
       (g) Consultations.--The Center shall seek to engage in 
     ongoing consultations with--
       (1) nongovernmental organizations, including faith-based 
     organizations, that have experience and expertise in 
     identifying and preventing child sex tourism and rescuing and 
     rehabilitating minor victims of international sexual 
     exploitation and trafficking;
       (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. 5. 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 title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 
     Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.); and
       (2) 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) Notification to the United States of Child-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 States citizen has 
     been arrested, convicted, sentenced, or completed a prison 
     sentence for a child-sex offense in the foreign country.

     SEC. 6. 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 severe 
     forms of trafficking in persons related to sex tourism''.

     SEC. 7. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO MEET MINIMUM 
                   STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF TRAFFICKING.

       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

[[Page H544]]

     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.

     SEC. 8. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

       (a) Department of Justice.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
     construed to preclude or alter the jurisdiction or authority 
     of the Department of Justice under the Adam Walsh Child 
     Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.), 
     including section 113(d) of such Act, or any other provision 
     of law, or to affect the work of the United States Marshals 
     Service with INTERPOL.
       (b) Angel Watch Center.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
     construed to preclude the Angel Watch Center from 
     transmitting notice with respect to any sex offender 
     described in paragraph (3) or (4) of section 111 of the Adam 
     Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 
     16911) or with respect to any sex offense described in 
     paragraph (5) of such section.
       (c) Department of Homeland Security Investigations.--
     Activities carried out under this Act shall not impede, 
     hinder, or otherwise impact negatively any investigations of 
     the Department of Homeland Security.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. 
Cicilline) each will control 20 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include any extraneous material in the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for 
Child Sex Trafficking will strengthen law enforcement efforts to combat 
this rather horrific crime that damages hundreds of thousands of young 
children worldwide every year.
  This bill before us today was passed unanimously by the House in the 
last Congress in substantially the same form. This year, we hope to 
engage the Senate and get it to the President's desk.
  Over the years, Congress has passed laws, including Megan's Law and 
the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, to require the 
registration and require the public notification of convicted sex 
offenders. These steps have helped families and communities protect 
their children and have helped law enforcement officials investigate 
and certainly prosecute domestic cases involving repeat sex offenders.
  A growing problem, however, is the appalling industry of child sex 
``tourism,'' in which adults travel overseas to exploit children in 
other countries. Unfortunately, a significant number of Americans are 
engaging in this practice and engage in it while the countries of 
destination lack sufficient resources to deal with the rising number of 
child predators.
  Many children victimized by this terrible crime have also been 
trafficked--that is, recruited or transferred to be exploited for 
someone else's profit. The International Megan's Law helps us fight 
back.
  At present, there are multiple U.S. agencies seeking to combat human 
trafficking and combat child sex tourism. By better coordinating their 
efforts, we can be much more effective. Importantly, our proactive 
efforts to help countries identify incoming child predators will also 
encourage them to alert us when those foreigners convicted of sex 
offenses against children attempt, themselves, to enter into the United 
States.
  In particular, this bill officially recognizes an Angel Watch center 
within the Department of Homeland Security's Child Exploitation 
Investigations Unit. Operation Angel Watch originated as a partnership 
with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and currently collects and 
analyzes the foreign travel data of convicted child sex offenders to 
determine whether notification to U.S. officials or foreign governments 
is warranted.
  Last year alone, Angel Watch sent over 2,000 leads to nearly 100 
countries as part of this effort to proactively and strategically alert 
international law enforcement.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill solidifies the Angel Watch center as an 
important part of the U.S. response to child sex tourism. Importantly, 
it improves the timeliness of the information that the center receives 
by requiring the Justice Department to share its travel records 
promptly. This will allow Angel Watch to better detect and report the 
travel of child predators.
  Now, we do have one change in the bill from last year, and that 
change is an additional rule of construction which states that nothing 
in this act will impede any investigations being carried out by the 
Department of Homeland Security.
  This was added at the request of nongovernmental organizations who 
were concerned that the bill's activities could divert resources from 
the Department's other investigative work. To avoid any confusion, I 
want to make clear that this rule of construction does not supersede 
the bill's general notification provisions which require the Department 
of Homeland Security to attempt to alert a convicted offender whose 
travel is reported to their country of destination.
  These general notification provisions were the product of a 
bipartisan agreement, and I want to state my appreciation for the good 
work of those staffers who came together from across the aisle and from 
different committees to develop them.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the bill's author, the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Smith), for his persistent leadership and his 
persistent dedication to this issue.
  I would also like to recognize the chairman and ranking member of the 
Committee on the Judiciary, as well as Ranking Member Engel and Mr. 
Cicilline for their collaboration on this bill, which I encourage all 
Members to support.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

                                         House of Representatives,


                                   Committee on the Judiciary,

                                 Washington, DC, January 26, 2015.
     Hon. Ed Royce,
     Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Royce, I am writing with respect to H.R. 515, 
     the ``International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child 
     Sex Trafficking,'' which was referred to the Committee on 
     Foreign Affairs and in addition to the Committee on the 
     Judiciary. As a result of your having consulted with us on 
     provisions in H.R. 515 that fall within the Rule X 
     jurisdiction of the Committee on the Judiciary, I agree to 
     discharge our Committee from further consideration of this 
     bill so that it may proceed expeditiously to the House floor 
     for consideration.
       The Judiciary Committee takes this action with our mutual 
     understanding that by foregoing consideration of H.R. 515 at 
     this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over subject 
     matter contained in this or similar legislation, and that our 
     Committee will be appropriately consulted and involved as 
     this bill or similar legislation moves forward so that we may 
     address any remaining issues in our jurisdiction. Our 
     Committee also reserves the right to seek appointment of an 
     appropriate number of conferees to any House-Senate 
     conference involving this or similar legislation, and asks 
     that you support any such request.
       I would appreciate a response to this letter confirming 
     this understanding with respect to H.R., and would ask that a 
     copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be included in 
     the Congressional Record during Floor consideration of H.R. 
     515.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Bob Goodlatte,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                                 Committee on Foreign Affairs,

                                 Washington, DC, January 26, 2015.
     Hon. Bob Goodlatte,
     Chairman, House Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for consulting with the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs on H.R. 515, the International 
     Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking, and 
     for agreeing to be discharged from further consideration of 
     that bill.
       I agree that your forgoing further action on this measure 
     does not in any way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of the 
     Committee on the Judiciary, or prejudice its jurisdictional 
     prerogatives on this bill or similar legislation in the 
     future. I would support your effort to seek appointment of an 
     appropriate number of conferees to any House-Senate 
     conference involving this legislation.
       I will seek to place our letters on H.R. 515 into the 
     Congressional Record during floor consideration of the bill. 
     I appreciate your cooperation regarding this legislation and 
     look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on the 
     Judiciary as this measure moves through the legislative 
     process.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Edward R. Royce,
                                                         Chairman.

  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 515, 
known as the International Megan's Law, and yield myself such time as I 
might consume.
  I would first like to commend my colleague, the chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,

[[Page H545]]

Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), for his leadership on human rights and 
anti-trafficking issues and for his hard work and the hard work of his 
staff on this bill, as well as Ranking Member Karen Bass of California.
  I also want to recognize the contributions of the Judiciary Committee 
to this legislation. I am pleased that the two committees, Foreign 
Affairs and Judiciary, were able to come together to work on this 
important piece of legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, around the world, as many as 27 million people are 
victims of human trafficking. The United Nations Office on Drugs and 
Crime reported that among reported incidents of human trafficking, one 
in three is a child. Many sex offenders target children in regions with 
extreme poverty and low levels of law enforcement and prosecution. 
These repulsive acts violate our deepest moral values, and we have a 
responsibility to respond appropriately.
  The International Megan's Law would help prevent child sex offenders 
and traffickers from exploiting vulnerable children when they cross an 
international border. The bill would establish an Angel Watch center 
within Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of 
Homeland Security that would provide advance notice to foreign 
countries when a convicted child sex offender travels to that country. 
The bill also calls on the President to negotiate agreements with 
foreign governments that would encourage information sharing on known 
child sex offenders.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important to encourage governments around the 
world to devote their respective resources toward combating this issue. 
Protecting trafficked children provides timely victim identification, 
placing victims in a safe environment, and providing them with 
widespread support services, such as physical and mental health care, 
educational opportunities, legal assistance, and reintegration with 
their families and communities.
  Unfortunately, a single law cannot abolish child sex tourism or child 
sex trafficking, but the International Megan's Law represents a huge 
step in the right direction by protecting victims and potential victims 
from terrifying harm.

                              {time}  1600

  Mr. Speaker, we passed the same bill last Congress, and I urge my 
colleagues to do so again.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Human Rights 
Subcommittee and the author of this bill.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Royce for 
yielding me this time, and I thank him for his leadership and for 
marking this bill up in the last Congress. We went through it in 
regular order. Chairman Royce, Eliot Engel, and staff were outstanding.
  I also want to thank Bob Goodlatte, who has been a very strong 
proponent of this legislation, as well as Albio Sires, who is the chief 
Democratic sponsor, and our other cosponsors: Mrs. Hartzler, Carolyn 
Maloney, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Pittenger, Mr. Poe of Texas, Ms. McCollum, 
and Mr. Yoho.
  Mr. Speaker, there is no higher duty or responsibility of government 
than to protect children from violence and predatory behavior. We have 
a duty to protect the weakest and the most vulnerable. The 
International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking, 
H.R. 515, will protect children from child sex tourism by notifying 
destination countries when convicted pedophiles plan to travel. And to 
protect American children, the bill encourages the President to use 
bilateral agreements and assistance to establish reciprocal 
notification so we will know when convicted child sex offenders are 
coming here.
  Mr. Speaker, I actually got the idea of International Megan's Law in 
a conversation with a Trafficking in Persons delegation from Thailand 
during a meeting in my office in 2007. I asked the Thai officials what 
would they do if we were to notify them of travel by a convicted 
pedophile. Each of the dozen officials said they would bar entry into 
their nation of such a predator.
  Today will mark the third time in 8 years that this bill has passed 
the House--and I do hope it will pass--with strong support from both 
sides of the aisle, the second in its present, more streamlined form. 
The only change in this version is an additional clause in 8(c) 
underscoring the fine investigatory work of the Department of Homeland 
Security in the area of child exploitation and Congress' support for 
its continuance in Angel Watch, as well as in the investigations of the 
Cyber Crimes Center.
  This provision is not intended to supersede notification requirements 
elsewhere in the bill.
  I am encouraged that the Senate has signaled its support and 
willingness to improve commonsense U.S. procedures preventing the sex 
trafficking of children by high-risk predators. I look forward to 
working with our colleagues in the other body.
  Mr. Speaker, child sex predators thrive on secrecy, a secrecy that 
allows them to commit heinous crimes against children. In 1994, a young 
girl from my district was lured into the home of a convicted pedophile 
who lived across the street from her. Megan Kanka, 7, was raped and 
murdered. No one, including Megan's parents, knew that their neighbor 
had been convicted of child sexual assault. The outrage over this 
tragedy led to the enactment of Megan's Laws--public sex offender 
registries--in every State in the country.
  It is imperative that we take the lessons we have learned on how to 
protect our children from known child sex predators within our borders 
and expand those protections globally.
  Mr. Speaker, a deeply disturbing 2010 report by the GAO, entitled 
``Current Situation Results in Thousands of Passports Issued to 
Registered Sex Offenders,'' found that at least 4,500 U.S. passports 
were issued to registered sex offenders in fiscal year 2008 alone.
  Meanwhile, law enforcement and media reports continue to document 
Americans on the U.S. sex offender registries who were caught sexually 
abusing children in East Asia, Central and South America, and elsewhere 
in the world. It is the same horror movie replayed over and over.
  Homeland Security's Angel Watch program has been doing an outstanding 
job in alerting countries about potential danger from American sex 
offenders. H.R. 515 would codify and streamline this excellent program, 
ensuring that actionable information about child sex offender travel 
actually gets to the destination country in time for those countries to 
assess the potential dangers and respond appropriately, whether that is 
to allow entry, deny entry or a visa, monitor travel, or limit travel. 
Once notified, nations are empowered to take protective action.
  International Megan's Law also directs the President to include 
guidance in diplomacy, training, and technical assistance abroad on how 
other countries can create their own public or private sex offender 
registries similar to what we have in the United States, and how we can 
use these registries to alert the United States when a child sex 
offender is intending to travel here to abuse our children. The goal is 
reciprocity, reciprocal notice to protect children at home and abroad 
from known sex offenders.
  I personally have spoken to foreign officials and nongovernment 
representatives who have asked me when the United States Congress is 
going to do something about American sex offenders who are traveling to 
their country to rape their children. I hear this especially in the 
developing world. H.R. 515, the International Megan's Law to Prevent 
Demand for Child Sex Trafficking, is a serious response to that 
question.
  I would also point out parenthetically, as the Special Representative 
for Combating Trafficking at the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly last year, we got passed 
a resolution calling for this kind of noticing country to country so 
the secrecy is taken out of sex tourism designed to exploit and abuse 
children.
  I urge Members to support the bill.
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  One last comment about the bill before us. The rule of construction 
was added to the bill, and I would like to make it clear that this rule 
of construction does not supersede the bill's

[[Page H546]]

general notification requirements, which require the Department of 
Homeland Security to try to alert a convicted child sex offender whose 
travel is reported to their country of destination, which is one way of 
deterring them.
  Child sex tourism is an outrageous crime, and we have the 
responsibility to do everything we can to make it difficult for 
offenders to prey on their victims. I strongly support this bill and 
encourage my colleagues to do so as well.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  You have heard today about the horrific child sex tourism industry. 
This is only going to get worse if we do not take action. Furthermore, 
there are child victims here at home, too. An increasingly mobile 
society has made it easier for child predators to commit, and evade 
justice for, their heinous crimes.
  The bill before us today represents a concerted effort to combat this 
appalling injustice. Better communications among U.S. officials and our 
foreign counterparts all around this globe means more of these 
criminals can and will be stopped from exploiting children overseas.
  Again, I commend Chairman Smith for his work on this bipartisan 
legislation. I encourage Members to support passage of H.R. 515, 
International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Duncan of Tennessee). The question is on 
the motion offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 515.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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