[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 810 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 810
To enhance the protection of children against crime by eliminating the
statute of limitations for child abduction and sex crimes, providing
for registration of child pornographers as sex offenders, establishing
a grant program in support of AMBER Alert communications plans, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 8, 2003
Mr. DeWine (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Shelby, and Mrs. Hutchison)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enhance the protection of children against crime by eliminating the
statute of limitations for child abduction and sex crimes, providing
for registration of child pornographers as sex offenders, establishing
a grant program in support of AMBER Alert communications plans, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Children Against Crime
Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR CHILD ABDUCTION AND SEX CRIMES.
(a) Statute of Limitations.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 213 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3297. Child abduction and sex offenses
``Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an indictment may be
found or an information instituted at any time without limitation for
any offense under section 1201 involving a minor victim, and for any
felony under chapter 109A, 110, or 117, or section 1591.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 213 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``3297. Child abduction and sex offenses.''.
(b) Application.--The amendments made by this section shall apply
to the prosecution of any offense committed before, on, or after the
date of the enactment of this section.
SEC. 3. REGISTRATION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHERS IN THE NATIONAL SEX
OFFENDER REGISTRY.
(a) Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent
Offender Registration Program.--Section 170101 of subtitle A of title
XVII of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42
U.S.C. 14071(a)) is amended--
(1) by striking the section heading and inserting the
following:
``SEC. 170101. JACOB WETTERLING CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN AND SEXUALLY
VIOLENT OFFENDER REGISTRATION PROGRAM.'';
and
(2) in subsection (a)(3)--
(A) in clause (vii), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(B) by redesignating clause (viii) as clause (ix);
and
(C) by inserting after clause (vii) the following:
``(viii) production or distribution of
child pornography, as described in section
2251, 2252, or 2252A of title 18, United States
Code; or''.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Department of Justice, for each of fiscal years
2004 through 2007, such sums as may be necessary to carry out the
amendments made by this section.
SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE AMBER ALERT
COMMUNICATIONS PLANS.
(a) Program Required.--The Attorney General of the United States
shall carry out a program to provide grants to States for the
development or enhancement of programs and activities for the support
of AMBER Alert communications plans.
(b) Activities.--Activities funded by grants under the program
under subsection (a) may include the development and implementation of
new technologies to improve AMBER Alert communications.
(c) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the cost of any activities
funded by a grant under the program under subsection (a) may not exceed
50 percent of the total cost thereof.
(d) Distribution of Grant Amounts on Geographic Basis.--The
Attorney General shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ensure the
distribution of grants under the program under subsection (a) on an
equitable basis throughout the various regions of the United States.
(e) Administration.--The Attorney General shall prescribe
requirements, including application requirements, for grants under the
program under subsection (a).
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to
the Department of Justice $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2004 through 2007, to carry out this section.
(2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1) shall remain
available until expended.
SEC. 5. NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL STUDY AND REPORT CONCERNING ON-LINE
PORNOGRAPHY.
(a) Study.--The National Research Council of the National Academy
of Sciences shall conduct a study of--
(1) the extent to which it is possible for Internet service
providers to monitor Internet traffic to detect illicit child
pornography sites on the Internet, and the extent to which they
do so;
(2) the extent to which purveyors use credit cards to
facilitate the sale of illegal child pornography on the
Internet;
(3) which credit card issuers have in place a system to
facilitate the identification of purveyors who use credit cards
to facilitate the sale of illicit child pornography; and
(4) options for encouraging greater reporting of such
illicit transactions to law enforcement officials.
(b) Report to Congress.--Not later than 12 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the National Research Council shall submit a
report to the Congress on the study conducted under subsection (a).
SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the
application of such provision or amendment to any person or
circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act,
the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provisions
of such to any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
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