Zoe Lofgren: “I certainly will support this bill because it does something, although not very much, and I did want to express my…”

“I certainly will support this bill because it does something, although not very much, and I did want to express my concern and distress at the very limited and minimal nature of this bill. There is a lot I have not agreed with in the so-called Contract With America, but one of the things I was looking forward to working on with the Members on the other side was to enhance substantially penalties for child pornographers and those who would prey on vulnerable, innocent children. Regrettably, that did not happen. This bill was introduced in the afternoon of March 15, and we held our hearing at 9:30 a.m. the next day, March 16. When I looked at the bill, I saw that there is a 17-month increase for the creation of child pornography up to--and it is not even an increase, it is a recommendation, big deal--70 months for creation of child pornography is a recommended sentence? I think that is woefully inadequate.”