Telecom Bill Includes Child Protections

Yesterday the Commerce Committee, which I am a member of, passed the most comprehensive telecommunications bill in a decade. This legislation addresses many issues and fixes many problems consumers have faced ranging from how we communicate with one another to how we will view television. I was very pleased with how the members of the committee worked together in order to create a piece of legislation that will help our nation move forward in the area of telecommunications.

One area of this bill I would like to comment on is language I added to protect children. This language requires operators of pornographic websites to have a homepage that contains no pornographic images or material. This will prevent children from stumbling across obscene pictures without restricting access by adults. Many times pornographic websites use web addresses which are very similar to other, non-pornographic websites. When a child, for example, accidentally types in a .com instead of .gov or .org, sexually explicit photos would appear on the screen. As we offer legislation to move our nation forward into new territories dealing with telecommunications, I want to ensure we protect our kids from dangers that may come their way.

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