Dan Coats: “This coming Wednesday, Mr. President, March 19, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the…”

“This coming Wednesday, Mr. President, March 19, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act. This act was passed by this Senate in the last Congress by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 84-16. The previous Senator talked of cooperation between parties, and there certainly was a significant degree of cooperation on this issue. We worked on a bipartisan basis, securing 84 votes for its passage. Eventually, Congress passed the act as part of the historic telecommunications reform legislation. The Communications Decency Act, passed by Congress by an overwhelming, bipartisan margin, and signed by the President, simply extends the principle that exists in every other medium of communication in our society, a principle which has been repeatedly upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court. Stated simply, this principle holds that it is the responsibility of the person who provides material deemed pornographic, that it is that person's responsibility to restrict access by minors to that material. The foundation of the principle is articulated clearly in the case New York versus Ferber, and I quote from that case: "It is evident beyond the need for elaboration that the State's interest in 'safeguarding the physical and psychological well-being of a minor' is compelling." Let me repeat that judicial decision again, New York versus Ferber.”