DAVIS’
PROVISION INCLUDED IN HOUSE PASSED CHILD PROTECTION LEGISLATION
WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representatives Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
and Mark Kennedy (R-MN) announced the House accepted language
from their Sex Offender Visa Loophole Elimination Act, introduced
earlier this month, into a comprehensive child protection
bill passed today in the House.
“The
House has taken a bold step to protect America’s children
from sexual predators,” Davis said. “In this bill
we have closed a glaring visa loophole in immigration law,
created a national sex offender registry, stiffened penalties
for crimes of violence against children, and created a new
criminal offense to target crimes committed against children
through the Internet.”
Language
from the Davis/Kennedy bill, preventing individuals convicted
of sex crimes against minors from filing family-based visa
petitions to bring spouses, fiancés, and children
to the United States, was incorporated into the Adam Walsh
Child Protection and Safety Act. The U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services lacked the authority to reject those
petitions outright based on a petitioner’s criminal
sexual history.
“I
was distraught when I learned convicted sex offenders could
petition our government to bring unknowing potential victims
into the country,” Davis said. “I am very pleased
Congress has taken the same view and closed this shocking
loophole.”
The
bill’s sweeping provisions are designed to better ensure
the safety of America’s children Davis noted. The biggest
initiative in this bill, perhaps, is that it creates a National
Sex Offender Registry with uniform standards for the registration
of sex offenders. It increases criminal penalties for child
predators and targets child exploitation enterprises committed
over the Internet by creating a new criminal offense.
The
Child Protection and Safety Act is expected to be signed
into law by President Bush at the White House on July 27,
which is the 25th anniversary of the abduction of 6-year
old Adam Walsh, son of John and Reva Walsh.
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