Senators McCain, Schumer Commend House for Passage of SAFE Act
Press Release
U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) today commended the House for passing the Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act of 2007. The bill, known as the SAFE Act, would amend the federal criminal code to expand the reporting requirements for electronic service providers (ESPs) to report on-line child pornography.
"On-line child predators are lurking on the internet each and every day. Their actions are heinous and prey on the most innocent members of our society. The fight to protect our children from exploitation has moved from the playground to the Internet. And, as times change, we must update our laws to reflect this terrible reality," McCain said.
The legislation passed the House by a vote of 409-2. It would require ESPs to report suspected images of child pornography to the CyberTipline of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children including the suspected sex offender's on-line identity, geographic location and other reasonable information that could aid an investigation by authorities. The failure to report the required information would result in penalties up to $150,000 per image per day, $300,000 for each subsequent offense.
"The scourge of child exploitation at the hands of online sexual predators makes this must-pass legislation," Schumer said.
The House-passed SAFE Act was a companion bill to S. 519, introduced in February 2007 by Senators McCain and Schumer.
"Our plan taps the providers who deliver internet service into homes and libraries to help families stay vigilant in protecting their children. While we can't see everything that happens on the Internet, we can all work hard to build the next best thing--a reporting system that helps root out this stomach-churning activity," Schumer said.
"The time to act is now. I commend Congressmen Lampson and Chabot for their leadership on this issue, and I urge the Senate to follow the House in taking needed action to help prevent predators from targeting our children," McCain said.
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