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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, The Internet is an extraordinary tool by which to |
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exchange information, and it has become increasingly integral to |
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modern society; yet for children and youth, who make up a large |
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portion of its users, the Internet is fraught with risk; and |
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WHEREAS, Not only do the majority of American adults use the |
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Internet, but some 93 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 and more than 20 |
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percent of children as young as three years old are online; a study |
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published in 2005 by the Children's Digital Media Center found that |
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children seeking pornography will "find it all over the Internet," |
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and children who are not seeking pornography are often |
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inadvertently exposed to it; and |
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WHEREAS, Although most parents have rules about which |
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Internet websites their children can and cannot visit, the |
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pervasiveness of Internet pornography makes it almost impossible |
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for parental oversight alone to prevent exposure; additionally, |
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many parents use Internet filters, but several studies have shown |
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that filters are not effective at blocking obscene content and that |
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they can be easily disabled by tech-savvy youth; and |
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WHEREAS, The adult website industry, for its part, sometimes |
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uses credit card verification systems to restrict access by minors; |
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this method is considered severely limited for a variety of |
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reasons, including the fact that some children have access to |
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credit cards; moreover, even when adult websites use credit card |
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verification systems, they often continue to offer sexually |
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explicit images for free; and |
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WHEREAS, Congressional efforts to protect children from |
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harmful sexual material on the Internet have thus far failed; the |
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Communications Decency Act of 1996 was struck down by the Supreme |
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Court the following year, and a federal district court issued a |
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permanent injunction against the Child Online Protection Act of |
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1998; lawmakers continue to propose legislation, but meanwhile |
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parents must rely on the imperfect solutions offered by private |
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self-regulation to safeguard their children from Internet |
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pornography; and |
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WHEREAS, A generation of children and youth are being exposed |
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to sexually explicit online content that is intended for an adult |
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audience; parents have a right to determine what material is |
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acceptable and accessible in their home, and the United States |
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government has the ability to provide them with effective policies |
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and better options than what are currently available for protecting |
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their families; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to enact |
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legislation facilitating a technology-based solution that allows |
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consumers to subscribe to Internet services that exclude adult |
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content; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, the |
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speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the |
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senate of the United States Congress, and all the members of the |
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Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this |
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resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |