Fighting for Utah Families

As the parent of young children, I am very concerned about media content in a world where children are increasingly exposed to age-inappropriate material.  Hundreds of Utah parents have contacted me to share their own stories and to encourage Congress to do more to protect families.

For my part, I support the First Amendment and oppose censorship, but inappropriate content on public resources such as broadcast television and the Internet is especially troubling.  I am a supporter of Internet filtering in schools and libraries, the recent creation of the ".kids.us" domain, and measures that reduce offensive spam.  It is also important to me that federal anti-obscenity laws are better enforced.  Finally, I believe that there is no substitute for community participation in these critical issues.

Protecting Kids from Online Pornography
In Congress, I have sponsored the Internet Safety and Child Protection Act (HR 3479).  This bill creates a new Internet Safety and Child Protection Trust fund, financed by a 25 percent excise tax on internet pornography transactions.  Funding would provide for tougher law enforcement, better blocking and filtering technologies, and greater educational efforts to keep children safe online.  The Internet is a valuable tool, but we need to collectively ensure that it is not a vehicle for predators and criminals. 

Helping Parents Enforce Ratings
I have also introduced bipartisan legislation with Congressman Rick Renzi of Arizona called the Video Game Ratings Enforcement Act (HR 5345).  Simply put, this bill would require all retailers to check identification for any children trying to buy or rent Mature-rated or Adults Only-rated games.  It also requires that ratings system explanations be posted in stores.  However, the Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act does not prevent a parent from buying any available game.  It only helps to ensure that children can only access age appropriate content with parental permission and it keeps the government out of the business of assessing content by using the industry's own ratings system. 

Some retailers are already trying to do the right thing and I commend those companies for proactively looking out for American families. Unfortunately, a 2004 Federal Trade Commission report found that 69% of unaccompanied 13-16 year-olds in the study were able to purchase Mature rated video games from retailers.  I think we can and should do better by Utah families. 

I am proud to be part of ongoing efforts in Congress to protect children, but I know that there is still much work to be done.  Please email me if you have any questions about my legislative efforts or if you have suggestions about resources that might be helpful to other Utahns.