We have heard it said time and time again, that our children are our future. In protecting them, we protect our nation’s most precious resource. As a mother and a grandmother, I have taken this calling to heart, and so was honored and humbled to be able to pass my bill, the Jessica Lunsford Act, into law this year.
Included as part of a larger children’s safety bill – H.R. 4472, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 – my legislation closes dangerous loopholes in current law that hindered law enforcement from finding nine year-old Jessica in time. My celebration in passing this bill is bittersweet, as the relief of knowing children are safer is still mingled with my lingering grief and heartbreak at Jessica’s death. However, my heart is lighter because families in Florida will be able to sleep better at night, knowing this bill helps to protect their precious children.
As you are no doubt aware, convicted sex offender John Couey allegedly assaulted and murdered Jessica last February. When the details of her death came out, I was shocked that Couey’s current address was not on file and that his current probation officer had no knowledge of his previous sex offense. I immediately introduced the Jessica Lunsford Act, to fix these problems as well as to require sex offenders to wear electronic ankle devices when they fail to register or keep their address current with law enforcement. Many of my colleagues were also working on legislation to address issues like a sex offender registry and child pornography, so we combined our bills into H.R. 4472, a comprehensive bill that combines these changes with tough new penalties for sex offenders and predators. On July 27, 2006, I was present as the President signed this historic bill into law.
Our children have also been bombarded with some explicit scenes on television of late, like the now-infamous Janet Jackson Super Bowl Half-Time Show. I received over 1,000 complaints from constituents voicing their outrage over the growing trend of indecent material being aired on network television. While I support freedom of speech, what was broadcast live on network television was disgraceful. Neither the entertainers, station owners, nor the advertisers own those airwaves - the public owns the airwaves and the public should not have to turn their televisions off to control what is being broadcast into their homes.
In response to this and other incidents, Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI) introduced H.R. 310, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005. The legislation increases the fines the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) may impose on broadcasters for indecent programming from $27,500 to $250,000.
For years the FCC has complained that they lack the "teeth" necessary to go after broadcasters that air indecent programming. With the passage of this legislation, it is my hope that the FCC may finally be able to punish these networks, instead of imposing a slap on the wrist. The current $27,500 fine is nothing to these billion-dollar networks. For these reasons, I was happy to vote in favor of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which passed the House of Representatives on February 16, 2005, by a vote of 389-38.
I have also been working hard to help adoptive parents cope with the financial strains involved in adopting a child to start or add to their family. I am a mother of an adopted child myself, and I understand only too well the expenses of the adoption process. I adopted an older, hard to place child, which gave me the idea for legislation that I introduced last month, H.R. 6180, the Older Kids Act. This bill would double the current adoption tax credit for adoptive parents who bring home a child over the age of nine. There is no greater reward than being given the opportunity to bring up a child, but this bill helps to ease the financial burdens that accompany the joy of a new family member.
In fact, because of my commitment to adoption issues, I recently became a co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, a caucus of House and Senate Members dedicated to bringing awareness and resolving issues relating to children in need of a warm and caring home. I plan to continue this work on behalf of children everywhere desperately in need of a loving family and I look forward to your help and support so we can make a difference together.