J. Exon: “those who have fought all efforts to bring some level of decency to the Internet have employed all sorts of rhetorical…”

“those who have fought all efforts to bring some level of decency to the Internet have employed all sorts of rhetorical devices to defeat the Communications Decency Act. The latest attack comes from those who suggest that amendments originally in the House bill to title 18 section 1462 somehow revive obsolete provisions of the Comstock Act--(related in information on abortion)--which courts have essentially determined to be unconstitutional. The amendments to title 18 merely clarify that the current laws which prohibit the importation, transportation, or distribution of obscene materials apply to computers. The conference committee went to great lengths in section 507(c) to underline that the changes to the Criminal Code are clarifying and do not change the substantive coverage of the current law. The Congress last amended section 1463 in 1994 by increasing penalties for violations of this section. Nothing in this legislation prohibits constitutionally protected speech and this legislation does not revive other-wise dead provisions of that law any more than the 1994 amendment revived those very provisions. I thank the Chair and I thank again those who put this act together. I am pleased that it is about to pass the U. S. Senate. I yield the floor.”