[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 8 (Monday, January 12, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H630-H632]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CHILD PREDATORS ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6715) to prohibit sexual exploitation and
sexually explicit depictions of minors, and for other purposes, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6715
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Child Predators
Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. PREVENTING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND SEXUALLY EXPLICIT
DEPICTIONS OF MINORS.
(a) Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Section 2251(a) of
title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after
``coerces any minor to engage in,'' the following: ``or be
depicted engaging in,''.
(b) Sexually Explicit Depictions of a Minor for
Importation.--Section 2260(a) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after ``coerces any minor to
engage in,'' the following: ``or be depicted engaging in,''.
(c) Definition.--Section 2256 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (10), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (11), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(12) `engage in', when used with respect to a minor
depicted in a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct,
includes--
``(A) the participation of the minor in the sexually
explicit conduct; or
``(B) the depiction of the minor in the visual depiction of
the sexually explicit conduct, regardless of whether the
minor participated in such conduct, if the defendant
intentionally included such minor in the visual depiction.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Harris) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
Raskin) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.
General Leave
Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6715.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from North Carolina?
There was no objection.
Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the state of child protection in our Nation and around
the world is deeply alarming and demands our immediate and undivided
attention.
Sadly, in today's world and today's age, child sexual abuse material,
better known as CSAM, has never been more prevalent.
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According to a study from February 2025, 1 in 12 children worldwide
have been subjected to online sexual exploitation or abuse. Even more
troubling: The vast majority of child sexual abuse, over 90 percent in
many documented cases, is perpetrated by someone whom the child knows
or is related to, whether family members, trusted adults, or
acquaintances.
These are not distant strangers. They are often people with direct
access to our children, making the betrayal all the more heartbreaking.
We, in Congress, have a duty to act decisively. We must commit
ourselves fully to making the internet and our entire society a safer
place for America's children and children everywhere.
My bill, the Child Predators Accountability Act, strengthens the
criminal code to hold perpetrators accountable and to protect our
children.
Under current law, the definition of ``sexually explicit material''
requires that a child be engaged in sexually explicit conduct for the
material to qualify. This narrow wording has created a dangerous
loophole.
In one egregious case, a defendant produced a sexually explicit video
that included a child who was merely present, passive, and not actively
participating. Since the child was not deemed to be ``engaged in'' the
act, the conviction for distributing CSAM was overturned. The predator
was let off the hook for using a child due to a technicality in the
statute.
Mr. Speaker, this cannot stand. We cannot allow one rogue case to
lead to a domino effect of bad case law and less protection for these
vulnerable children. No predator should escape accountability simply
because they included a minor in the frame but did not physically touch
or direct them in the explicit conduct.
Such content is profoundly abusive. It exploits the child's presence,
dignity, and vulnerability for depraved purposes. It inflicts lasting
harm and deserves to be unequivocally classified as CSAM.
My bill delivers a precise, necessary fix. It amends the law to
clarify that the depiction of a minor would qualify
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as sexually explicit conduct, regardless of whether the minor
participated in such conduct, if the defendant intentionally included
the minor in the visual depiction. This closes a loophole and equips
prosecutors and law enforcement with clearer tools that will ensure
justice for the victims.
The Child Predators Accountability Act is a straightforward,
commonsense measure that will help hold exploiters accountable and
prevent future abuses.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join with me in defending our
children by voting in favor of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am rising in strong support of H.R. 6715, the Child
Predators Accountability Act of 2025.
Mr. Speaker, the decision that the distinguished gentleman from North
Carolina references out of the Seventh Circuit, United States v.
Howard, threatens to significantly limit prosecutors' ability to hold
some of the worst child predators to account legally. The question may
appear to be technical, but the human consequences are grave and
brutally simple.
Title 18 of the United States Code, section 2251(a), criminalizes the
production of child sex abuse material. For decades, prosecutors have
used the law to target predators who prey on children or who produce
ghastly images of child sex abuse, but the Seventh Circuit's ruling in
the Howard case in 2020 jeopardized prosecutors' ability to go after
these dangerous people until they actually abuse the child and create
an image of the abuse.
The Howard decision narrowed the scope of section 2251(a), holding
that the mere physical presence of the minor in a visual depiction of
sexually explicit conduct does not automatically violate the statute.
To obtain a conviction for production of CSAM in the Seventh Circuit,
the child in the photo, video, or image must themselves be engaged in
the explicit conduct.
This is an absurd reading that we can and must legislatively resolve.
The Howard ruling undermines the ability to prosecute common scenarios
involving the surreptitious recording of kids; for example, when
criminals plant concealed cameras in bathrooms, locker rooms, and
bedrooms to record sexually explicit images of children who are unaware
that they are even being filmed.
Criminals who record themselves sexually violating very young
children, such as infants and toddlers, who are too young to understand
that they are being filmed in sexually explicit scenarios could also
conceivably avoid prosecution under the pinched reasoning of the Howard
decision.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6715 would make clear that even the passive use of
a child in the production of child sex abuse materials is a crime, and
it will eliminate any confusion caused by the Seventh Circuit's ruling
in Howard.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the legislation,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs).
Mr. BIGGS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North
Carolina for his work on this bill and the bipartisan work from the
Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, which has
worked on this, and I appreciate that very much.
The ranking member, the whole committee, and the entire Committee on
the Judiciary has banded together, which if you ever watched the
Judiciary Committee, you would know that this is a remarkable time.
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the support that we have here because
anyone who exploits a child for sexual purposes must face full
accountability and must face the full measure of the law.
There cannot be loopholes or technicalities that would let predators
slip through the cracks, and when we find them, this body has to fix
that. Protecting minors from sexual exploitation remains a core
priority for our Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government
Surveillance.
A recent decision by the Seventh Circuit in United States v. Howard
exposed a dangerous gap in current law. Both of the previous speakers
have spoken to that, but that really is the crux of this. The court
overturned a conviction for producing child sexual abuse material
because the minor--a sleeping, clothed child--was merely present in the
video, not touched, actively involved, or engaged.
In that case, the defendant filmed himself in sexual conduct near his
9-year-old niece. The court ruled that he did not use her under
existing statute because she was passive. That interpretation is
utterly unacceptable.
Predators should not evade justice simply because the child whom they
exploit is unaware. The harm is real. The intent is clear. This
loophole weakens 18 United States Code, section 2251(a), and related
statutes, making it harder to prosecute offenders and easier for
exploiters to walk free and then exploit others and create more
victims.
The Child Predators Accountability Act of 2025 closes this gap by
clarifying that a minor is engaged in sexually explicit conduct when
the offender intentionally includes the child in the depiction, even
passively. This is a straightforward, bipartisan fix that ensures that
Federal law captures these heinous acts and imposes the penalties that
they deserve.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30
seconds to the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. BIGGS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I commend law enforcement for
their tireless work of protecting children, and I commend the work of
this committee and the lead sponsor of this bill, Mr. Harris.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6715 so that every
child predator is fully held to account. Let's do this today. Let's get
it out of the Senate quickly and get it up to the President's desk to
be signed and enacted immediately.
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Georgia (Mrs. McBath), my good friend who is the ranking member on the
Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Subcommittee of the Committee
on the Judiciary.
Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Raskin for yielding
me time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6715, the Child
Predators Accountability Act of 2025.
The safety of our children is foundational to a secure and just
society. Yet this foundation is broken every time a child is
victimized.
Due to narrow interpretations, prosecutors have sometimes been
required to prove that a child was visibly, actively participating in
sexual conduct in order to bring charges, but exploitation doesn't
always look the same. A child does not have to be visibly active for
harm to be real, lasting, and devastating.
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Tell me, what would it mean for the child victims if we required
more?
The properly named Child Predators Accountability Act makes an
important and very necessary clarification for a circuit split that
could allow predators to evade justice. By making it uniformly illegal
to depict a minor in sexually explicit material, regardless of whether
that child appears to be actively participating, this change
strengthens the law so that predators can no longer hide behind
technical loopholes while continuing to exploit our children, making
sure that anyone who dares to prey on the most vulnerable will face
consequences for their crimes. This legislation would clarify Federal
standards nationwide and restore consistency in how these horrific
offenses are prosecuted, ensuring that justice does not depend solely
on geography or jurisdiction.
The protection of our children from monstrous crimes transcends
political television. I call on each and every one of my colleagues to
pass this legislation and send a very clear and strong message that the
exploitation of children will be met with the full, unyielding,
inescapable force of justice. This bill empowers law enforcement and
prosecutors by giving them unified and stronger tools to pursue cases
and dismantle these exploitation efforts.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the
gentlewoman from Georgia.
Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, when the law is clear, justice can move
more swiftly and more effectively, allowing
[[Page H632]]
victims to begin the long process of healing with the knowledge that
their government is standing with them and for them.
This legislation is about protecting the most vulnerable among us.
The time for action is now. I support the Child Predators
Accountability Act, and I urge all my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lee).
Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R.
6715, the Child Predators Accountability Act, and I thank my colleague
from North Carolina for his leadership in advancing this important
legislation.
Protecting our Nation's children is among the most solemn
responsibilities entrusted to Congress.
Our criminal statutes must be clear and effective so that individuals
who exploit children are held fully accountable under the law. When
ambiguity exists, it can undermine enforcement and allow dangerous
conduct to fall outside the reach of existing statutes.
Recently, a court decision in United States v. Howard highlighted a
technical gap in Federal child exploitation law, one that exposed the
need for greater clarity in how certain conduct is defined and
prosecuted.
In that case, the Court interpreted existing statutory language in a
way that limited accountability, even though a child's image was used
in sexually exploitative conduct.
Mr. Speaker, that outcome underscores an important reality. A child
is harmed whenever their image is intentionally placed into a
sexualized setting. The absence of physical contact or active
participation does not eliminate the harm or the violation.
This is an issue that I have personally heard about from law
enforcement officers who work on these cases every day. I commend Mr.
Harris, Chairman Biggs, and Chairman Jordan for ensuring that we
address it through the Child Predators Accountability Act, and I thank
my colleagues for joining with us in this important work.
H.R. 6715 closes a dangerous loophole. It restores clarity,
strengthens enforcement, and reaffirms our commitment to protecting
children and upholding justice.
Mr. Speaker, there should be no ambiguity when it comes to the
criminal nature of the sexual exploitation of children. I urge my
colleagues to support H.R. 6715.
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
Mr. Speaker, we seem to have the bipartisan convergence that we need
to reverse the error of the interpretation that is in the Howard
decision to make sure we can always hold accountable the perpetrators
of this seriously corrosive crime.
H.R. 6715 strives to right this wrong, and I am proud that we are
acting in a bipartisan way to do that. I urge my colleagues to support
the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance
of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the members of the Committee on the Judiciary
for unanimously supporting this bill in markup. I am grateful for my
colleagues who have all risen to speak today and to the ranking member
and leadership on the other side that have worked together with us.
Mr. Speaker, I urge swift passage of my legislation, the Child
Predators Accountability Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Harris) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6715, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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