John Conyers: “Mr. Chairman, I join in support of House Resolution 3494. I commend the cooperation between the staffs and the members…”

“Mr. Chairman, I join in support of House Resolution 3494. I commend the cooperation between the staffs and the members of the committee. This is truly a bipartisan piece of legislation. We are united in recognizing the heinous crimes that are committed against children, particularly sex crimes involving children. We also are sensitive to the new perils of the Internet and the phone lines. Modern technology is now making this a place for predators to try to get young children involved in conduct that we consider reprehensible. Mr. Chairman, we are creating new Federal offenses for using the mail or any facility or means of interstate commerce, including phone lines and the Internet, to contact anyone who is under 18 for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity, provided that the sexual activity would expose the other person to criminal prosecution. Essentially, what we are doing today is making it a Federal offense to use the phones, mail, Internet, to contact anyone for the purpose of committing rape, child sex abuse, child prostitution, or statutory rape.”