CHILD PROTECTION ACT THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 1986 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m., in room 304, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. William J. Hughes (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representative Harley O. Staggers. Staff Present: Hayden W. Gregory, counsel; Eric E. Sterling, assistant counsel; Charlene Vanlier Heydinger, associate counsel; and Phyllis N. Henderson, clerk. Mr. HUGHES. The subcommittee will come to order. Today the Subcommittee on Crime is examining the Federal Government's efforts in combatting the terrible crime of molesting children in the production of pornography. The particular ugliness of this crime makes this hearing an unpleasant one for the subcommittee to undertake. However, there are few crimes for which the public revulsion is greater, and therefore, it is our responsibility that we be satisfied that our law enforcement agencies are aggressively and effectively prosecuting these crimes. If the Federal statutes are inadequate to address the crimes that occur within the limits of Federal jurisdiction, it is our responsibility to correct the law. The statements submitted to the subcommittee indicate that the Child Protection Act of 1984, which this subcommittee developed in the last Congress, has given our law enforcement agencies enormously powerful tools to investigate the producers of child pornography. Three years ago the Department of Justice testified before this subcommittee and said, "Regrettably, we have been singularly unsuccessful in developing prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. 2251," the child pornography statute. In less than a year the two Houses of Congress sent to the President the act which has substantially enhanced our ability to fight child pornographers. Whereas in the 6 years between May 1977 and June 1983 the Department of Justice indicted just 67 persons for child pornography offenses, in the first 9 months of this fiscal year, the Postal Inspection Service alone has made over 200 child pornography arrests. I am pleased that today the Department of Justice is able to tell the subcommittee that the results of these efforts are "extremely (1) gratifying," and they advise us that the volume of investigations is now so high that coordination of the investigators and prosecutors is an important issue. The Subcommittee on Crime has been extremely busy this year with gun control and our white collar crime investigations, and, I might note parenthetically that yesterday the Judiciary Committee reported the last two of our seven bills that are the cornerstones of the Congress' Omnibus Anti-Narcotics legislation. Yesterday, we completed action on measures to substantially strengthen the Controlled Substances Act and to provide critically needed resources for our drug enforcement programs. Two weeks ago we completed action on measures that will effectively combat all types of designer drugs, that will enable us to prosecute those who launder the proceeds of narcotics trafficking and other major crimes, and that will provide long mandatory prison terms to career drug dealers. Nonetheless, as busy as we have been, the totally abhorrent nature of molesting children to produce pornography requires that we take the time now to examine our law enforcement efforts to determine what improvements are called for. I am delighted that our first witness this morning, the distinguished Senator from Delaware, William Roth, has been able to take a few minutes from his labors with the conference on tax reform to join us to discuss his legislative initiative to further improve the child pornography laws. His subcommittee, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has undertaken a very important examination of this problem, and we are delighted that he will be able to share his insights with us. We will also be hearing from the Department of Justice and the hard working staff at the Postal Inspection Service. I look forward to working with you, Senator, to move forward any legislation that is necessary to give to our law enforcement teams every necessary tool to protect our children and our families from those who would shatter their lives in the most disgusting and depraved manner. Our first witness this morning, as I have indicated, is Senator William V. Roth, who represents the State of Delaware. Senator Roth has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School. He rose to the rank of captain in the military and is a member of the Delaware and California bars. He was first elected to Congress in November 1966 and in 1970 was elected to the U.S. Senate. He chairs the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He is the sponsor of S. 2398, a bill which would ban the production and use of advertisements for child pornography. Senator, we are delighted to have you with us this morning. Your statement will be made a part of the record, without objection. There is nobody here to object. We want to welcome you. Thank you so much for joining us. STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM V. ROTH, JR., A SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE Senator ROTH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me, as long as we are going back and reviewing our history, point out I once had the pleasure of serving on the House Judiciary Committee. So, it is very nice to be back here. I do want to express my appreciation to you and to the subcommittee for the good work that it has done in the areas of child pornography and child abuse. I think anyone who reads the newspaper or watches the news on TV, can have no doubt but that these two closely related evils constitute one of the most serious problems facing our Nation today. It seems that scarcely a day goes by without another report of the abuse of another child or children by a relative, by a babysitter, or some other adult in a position of trust. In the morning paper, I don't know if you saw it or not-15 men were indicted on child pornography charges. It is interesting that their ages range from 28 to 73. I have no doubt but that-in fact, the article points out-the Child Protection Act of 1984 was a key factor in the indictments. So, I do congratulate the subcommittee for the role it has played. As you know, the Child Protection Act of 1984 originated in this subcommittee. The law enforcement authorities now have the tools, basically, that they need to identify, arrest, and convict child abusers and child pornographers. Earlier this month my subcommittee, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations [PSI], released a report on child pornography and pedophilia. As was pointed out, Mr. Chairman, in that article, there is some good news, but there is also some very bad news. The good news is the dramatic increase in the number of indictments of child pornographers under this new act; the fact that the child pornography industry has been driven underground; and, of course, we are also pleased that there has been on the whole good international cooperation. But as I said, there is bad news, as well. Even though child pornography has been driven underground, it is still available to those who know how to get it. In fact, our study points out that the pornography really is the livelihood of a loosely organized network of pedophiles who continue to pose a serious threat to the well-being of our Nation's children. One inescapable conclusion of our investigation is that child pornography plays a central role in child molestations by pedophiles, serving to justify their conduct, to assist them in seducing their victims, and of course, providing the means to blackmail the children they have molested. This sordid material, along with the thinly disguised solicitations for child prostitution, and information on children who may be available for molestation, is openly advertised in newsletters and other materials published by pedophile support groups. Even though child pornography and child prostitution are illegal, the advertisements, under current law, are not. In my opinion, it makes no sense whatsoever to outlaw the production and the sale of child pornography, then turn around and permit this harmful and illegal material to be publicly advertised. So, to close this loophole, I have introduced in the Senate S. 2398, which prohibits any advertisement offering child pornography as well as any advertisement soliciting sexually explicit conduct with a minor. As you probably know, the bill provides for a 10-year penalty for the first offense and a 15-year penalty for the second. The bill further tightens our child abuse laws by eliminating all references to gender in the statute, prohibiting the interstate transportation of minors for prohibited sexual conduct, popularly known as the Mann Act. Our investigation has shown many pedophiles abuse young boys as well as young girls and that they sometimes trade their victims across State lines without actually selling their services. So, S. 2398 would make the Mann Act apply to either sex, regardless of whether the transaction with the minor was "commercially exploited." I might add that this change is similar to the changes in the child pornography law made by the 1984 act. I am pleased to report that on August 11 of this year, the Juvenile Justice Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Judiciary held a hearing on my bill, and I am hopeful that it will move quickly through the Senate. I think there is sufficient time for the legislation to be enacted into law. It is important in enabling law enforcement officers to prevent further crimes before they occur. I am delighted to note that the chairman and his staff, working with my staff, are in the process of drafting legislation for the House. Congressman McCollum has expressed an interest as well. Mr. Chairman, every piece of child pornography depicts a dreadful, hideous crime: the sexual abuse of a child. Child sexual abuse is a terrible tragedy that transforms one of life's most precious times into a nightmare of abuse and guilt. As you well know, once the gift of childhood innocence is taken away, it can never be re stored. Where you find child pornography, you will probably find an actual or potential child molester. We need legislation to help us prosecute these molesters before they strike our children, so I hope that this subcommittee and both Houses of Congress will see fit to expedite consideration of S. 2398 and its counterpart in the House. Again, I want to express my appreciation to you for what you are providing in the way of leadership to stop one of the most hideous crimes. I think it is the least we can do for our children. Mr. HUGHES. Thank you, Senator, for an excellent statement. [The statement of Senator William V. Roth follows:] STATEMENT OF Senator WILLIAM V. ROTH, JR., CHAIRMAN, SENATE PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for giving me this opportunity to share some thoughts with this distinguished Subcommittee on a subject that is of vital concern to all of us-not only as members of Congress, but also as parents. I would like to begin by expressing my appreciation to you, Chairman Hughes, for the important work that you have done in the battle against child pornography and child sexual abuse. Anyone who reads the daily newpapers or watches the news on television can have little doubt that these two closely related evils constitute one of the most urgent problems facing our nation today. It seems that scarcely a day goes by without another report of the abuse of another child or children-by a relative, by a babysitter or some other adult in a position of trust, or by someone attempting to exploit childhood innocence for personal gain. The National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse estimates that as many as half a million children and adolescents a year are victims of sexual abuse. Fortunately, thanks in large measure to the work of this Subcommittee, the role played in child abuse by the production and distribution of child pornography has been recognized, and strong steps have been taken to expunge this evil from our society, once and for all. With the passage of the Child Protection Act of 1984-legislation which originated in this Subcommittee and which outlawed all distribution of sexually explicit material involving children-law enforcement authorities have been provided with the tools they need to identify, arrest and convict child abusers and child pornographers. Earlier this month the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which I chair, released a report on child pornography and pedophilia which documented a dramatic increase in the indictment and conviction of child pornographers under the new law. We found that in the six years before the 1984 law was passed, the Justice Department, forced to rely primarily on federal obscenity statutes to pursue child pornographers, obtained only 65 convictions. But between May 1984 and June of this year, the Department indicted more than 200 persons under the child pornography law and obtained convictions in at least 164 of those cases. The deterrent effect of this stepped-up law enforcement has been equally dramatic; my Subcommittee found that the child pornography industry in the United States has been driven deeply underground, and that true child pornography, once readily available in adult bookstores throughout the country, is now extremely difficult, if not impossible, to purchase almost anywhere in the United States. The increased pressure on child pornography sparked by the 1984 law also has been a factor in helping stem the tide of child pornography being smuggled into the United States from foreign countries. The U.S. Customs Service began an aggressive program to search foreign mail shipments for child pornography in 1984, and by the end of last year seizures of this material were down by about 40 percent. This reduction is attributed primarily to an increased reluctance on the part of both shippers and customers to order or ship sexually explicit material involving children through the mails. While child pornography seizures have declined, Customs investigations of child pornography cases almost doubled from 1984 to 1985, while arrests went up 124 percent and convictions increased by 221 percent. This increased activity was partly due to the establishment last year of a special Child Pornography and Protection Unit at the Customs Service's Washington, DC, headquarters. The new unit is responsible for coordinating child pornography cases in the United States and abroad and acting as a clearinghouse for information on publications, suppliers and customers. A number of recent arrests and convictions of child molesters resulted from leads obtained through the seizure of child pornography shipments and the investigative leads that they produced. It is also useful to note that the foreign countries which have been the primary source of child pornography coming into this country have taken steps to crack down on its production and distribution. At the urging of my Subcommittee, the U.S. Department of State last year organized an Interagency Group to Combat Child Pornography, which has been working closely with the governments of Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and other countries to improve international cooperation in investigating and prosecuting child pornographers. Our hope is that these diplomatic discussions will lead to a regular exchange of investigative leads and other information by U.S. and foreign law enforcement officials, as well as a genuine commitment on the part of foreign governments to arrest and prosecute those who violate child pornography laws. Child pornography is an international problem, and it requires an international solution. Every nation must lend a hand in cracking down on the smut peddlers. While there have been a number of positive developments, Mr. Chairman, our investigation revealed that there are several additional steps that we can take to intensify our fight against child pornography. Even though child pornography has gone underground, it is still available to those who know how to get it. In fact, it constitutes the very lifeblood of a loosely-organized network of pedophiles who continue to pose a serious threat to the well-being of our nation's children. As I indicated, Mr. Chairman, my Investigations Subcommittee held a series of hearings in 1984 and 1985 exploring both the international distribution of child pornography and the links between child pornography and the activities of pedophiles-emotionally disturbed individuals who seek out children for sexual pleasure. One inescapable conclusion of our investigation is, and I will quote directly from our report, that "child pornography plays a central role in child molestations by pedo |