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| Wilson Works to Raise Awareness of Online Safety |
August 21, 2006 |
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| Albuquerque, NM – Congresswoman Heather Wilson, a member of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, spoke today at Data Doctors in Albuquerque to help raise awareness of online safety precautions.
“The Internet is not a safe place for unsupervised children,” Wilson said. “Technology opens a world of learning opportunities, but parents must always be aware of what’s out there.”
One in seven children – and 89 percent of those in Internet chat rooms – report having been sexually solicited online. Some 3.5 million pornographic images of American children are believed to be circulating online.
“We appreciate Rep. Wilson’s work on this important issue,” said Carla Schultz, an owner of Data Doctors, which promotes software tools for parents to protect their children online. “Congress has taken some important steps recently because Rep. Wilson and other members are working to keep children safe.”
In the 108th Congress, Wilson co-authored legislation that was enacted into law as part of the CAN-SPAM Act to give parents a way to control unsolicited email and put the electronic equivalent of a “brown paper wrapper” in the body of a message. The Legislation saw results with 4 people being indicted soon after the legislation was enacted and a dramatic reduction in spam – particularly pornographic spam.
As part of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill, Wilson voted for a $5 million increase in funding for the Customs Enforcement Cyber Crime Center, which works to combat child exploitation.
Wilson supported the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, signed into law by the President on July 27, 2006, which, among other things, provides for a National Sex Offender Registry, and ensures that updated information about a sex offender is transmitted electronically to relevant jurisdictions.
The law also requires sex offenders to register in-person every six months; creates a National Sex Offender Public Website to search for sex offender information in each community; requires States to notify each other when sex offender moves from one State to another; and expands sex offenses covered by registration and notification requirements to include sex offenses committed in the military, on tribal land, and in foreign countries.
“Our law enforcement officers should have the resources and tools to protect our children, not only on our streets but on the Internet. That raises new challenges. As technology advances, our laws and enforcement tactics have to keep pace with those who would misuse technology,” Wilson said.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice`s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCMEC works to combat possession, manufacturing and distribution of child pornography; online enticement of children for sexual acts; child prostitution; child sexual tourism; extra-familial child sexual molestation; unsolicited obscene material sent to a child; and misleading domain names. To date, NCMEC has handled more than 330,000 reports of these offenses from the public through its congressionally mandated CyberTipline www.cybertipline.com. For more information about NCMEC, call 1-800-THE-LOST or visit www.missingkids.com. |
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