[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.
____________________