78R1478 CME-D

By:  West                                                       H.C.R. No. 14 



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, According to a sample survey of the nearly 24 
million school-aged children that were on-line regularly in 1999, 
roughly one in five received a sexual solicitation; remarkably, 
fewer than 10 percent of these sexual solicitations were ever 
reported to authorities; and
	WHEREAS, Unfortunately, as the Internet has revolutionized 
access to information, sharing of ideas, and global communication, 
it also has provided a vast landscape for the machinations of sexual 
predators; the United States Customs Service reports there are an 
estimated 100,000 websites involved in some way with child 
pornography, and arrests, indictments, and convictions for 
possession of child pornography transported across borders have 
climbed steadily since 1992, doubling several times during the last 
10 years; and
	WHEREAS, Among the websites charging users to view images of 
children in suggestive poses are those that have become known as 
exploitive child modeling sites; where legitimate child modeling 
websites market the talent of the model, exploitive child modeling 
features compromising visual depictions of children without a 
direct or even indirect purpose of marketing an actual product 
other than the images of the minor; and
	WHEREAS, The anonymous nature of communicating through the 
Internet allows pedophiles to deceitfully contact and personally 
interact with these child models, providing opportunity to develop 
on-line relationships and thereby increasing the chances of 
aggressive solicitations for meeting in person; and
	WHEREAS, More than 70 percent of convicted pedophiles have 
accessed child pornography or exploitive child modeling websites as 
a means of sexual gratification, and  the very operators of these 
sites, while defending their legitimacy, admit that pedophiles are 
likely frequent visitors; and
	WHEREAS, Legislation is now before the 107th Congress that 
would protect children's opportunities to develop legitimate 
modeling careers and at the same time protect them from 
exploitation at the hands of website operators; now, therefore, be 
it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to enact 
the Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act of 2002; and, be it 
further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the 
senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the 
Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.