Zoe Lofgren: “I am proud, as a member of the Committee on the Judiciary, that we have reported the Megan's Law bill to the House, and…”

“I am proud, as a member of the Committee on the Judiciary, that we have reported the Megan's Law bill to the House, and I urge every Member to support this legislation. California has recently moved into the sexual predator notification business, and although it is not an easy task to undertake, we have found that it is workable and has not created the vigilante environment that some who have qualms about this bill worry about. I have heard some Members whom I respect a great deal advance the view that those who have been convicted of preying upon a child and have served a prison sentence and then been released have paid their debt to society and that this is further punishment. I disagree with that point of view. Convictions are not secret in America. We can go down to the courthouse and find out who has been convicted. What Megan's Law does is to make that information available to those who need to know it most: parents, neighbors, and potential employers. I think that Megan's Law is about balancing the rights of privacy of a convicted pedophile against the safety of the public, and, most importantly, of children. When I think about the damage that abuse of children does, not only to that individual child but to our entire fabric of society, I am even more enthused about Megan's Law. I am aware that 25 percent of those who victimize children as adults were victimized and abused as children themselves.”