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Prepared Statement of The Honorable Joe Barton H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing today on H.R. 5319, the "Deleting On-line Predators Act of 2006" authored by Congressman Fitzpatrick. I'd like to once again welcome Mr. Chris Kelly from Facebook, and Ms. Parry Aftab from WebSafety.org, both of whom have participated in earlier hearings held by our Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, on the issue of sexual exploitation of children over the Internet. Although I am disappointed that Myspace declined to send a representative to attend today's hearing, I would like to offer a warm welcome to the Attorney General from my home state of Texas, The Honorable Greg Abbott. Thank you - and all of the witness on the panel - for taking the time out of your busy schedules to appear before us today. The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee is currently holding a series of hearings to investigate the sexual exploitation of children on the Internet. The hearings have focused primarily on the growing Internet child pornography trade, the tools sexual predators use to victimize children, and what can, and is, being done to find, prosecute and convict child predators. The Subcommittee has heard from the FTC, FCC, law enforcement agencies, children subjected to abuse, victims advocates, and most recently from Internet Service Providers and social networking site owners. H.R. 5319 targets children's use of social networking websites and chat rooms in schools and libraries. As participation in these Internet "social communities" rises daily in record numbers, so do the news reports of a multitude of potential dangers they pose. There is no question that the Internet does and will continue to provide innovative benefits to society far into the future. However, the protection of our children must be a priority of this government and of our society. We need to prevent predators from using the Internet, and social networking sites in particular, to prey on children. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today in order to better understand the social networking phenomenon and the benefits and problems it creates. Understanding this will enable us to strike the right balance regarding what role, if any, the Federal Government and educators should play in keeping our children safe on the Internet. H.R. 5319 is certainly a step in the right direction. Schools and libraries that receive universal service subsidies have an obligation to ensure that their subsidized communications services do not become a hunting ground for pedophiles. If social networking sites are not taking the necessary precautions to prevent the exploitation of children on their sites, then, at the very least, Congress should prohibit the use of federally-mandated funds to access Internet sites that put children in harm's way. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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