:: The Keys to Internet Safety ::  

Almost as quickly as I blew out the candles of my 16th birthday cake, I begged Dad to let me take the old Ford out for a drive. As most parents would, Dad reluctantly agreed. But before I could take off, he sat me down in his oversized brown chair for the “talk.” As he stood in front of me with the keys stretched out in front of him, I braced for the lecture on responsible driving. “Remember,” Dad said sternly, “with driving comes tremendous responsibility.” He went on to remind me of the driving do’s and don’ts we had so exhaustively discussed as I had been learning to drive. “And,” he finished, “if you are not responsible, I will take the keys to the car.” I have since found with my own children that this was and continues to be the most unimaginable punishment for a young teenage driver.

As parents, we understand that keeping our children safe on the road depends greatly on our own job to teach them to be responsible drivers. Equally, keeping our children safe on the internet depends greatly on us as parents teaching our children to be smart and responsible internet users. Just as we wouldn’t even think about allowing a teenager to drive without proper training and instruction, we shouldn’t place a child in front of the computer without establishing and enforcing some ground rules.

You may be familiar with the less-than comforting show by Dateline NBC called "To Catch a Predator", where viewers are brought behind the shadowy world of online predators to watch them be exposed in sting-like operations coordinated by the host. Although these are real stories and real predators, we often don’t realize the reality of the risk of something like this happening to our children in the safety of our own homes—but it does.

Although popular social networking sites like MySpace and Xanga have created "safety" features like rules prohibiting explicit pictures, age limitations to access the sites, and personal privacy features, even the safest internet users are susceptible to online predators. We cannot expect our children to “just know” how to be responsible internet users. Parents have an essential duty to teach children this responsibility. Likewise, legislators have a duty to figure out the most appropriate way to regulate this global medium so we can stop as many online predators from reaching our children as possible.

In an effort to discourage the exchange of exploitive materials online, the Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today's Youth (SAFETY) Act of 2007 was included in a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security legislative package called America’s Law and Order Agenda, which was introduced in February. As the Ranking Member on the Crime Subcommittee, I see a number of bills that relate to cyber-crime, and one of the most important cyber-crime issues is the threat against our children’s safety online. The Internet SAFETY Act, which I have cosponsored, includes the following important provisions:

• Making internet service and email providers who knowingly assist predators in accessing children susceptible to federal charges and a punishment of up to 10 years imprisonment.

• Increasing penalties for offenders who sexually exploit children online and creating civil penalties against providers of internet service who don’t report known child pornography.

• Attempting to cut off funding for child exploitation acts by holding credit card companies responsible for knowingly assisting online predators’ access to children.

• Requiring warning notices on commercial websites that contain sexually explicit material.

• Requiring internet service providers to retain records of IP addresses, which is often the only way to identify an online predator and is critical for assisting federal law enforcement in child exploitation investigations.

The month of June has recently been established as National Internet Safety Month. We have the opportunity to create a powerful wall between children and online predators if we work together to stop online child exploitation from all angles. Legislation like the Internet SAFETY Act is an important step in cutting off online predators’ means of reaching children. Parental responsibility for teaching children household rules for the internet is critical in raising children’s awareness to the dangers that can reach them through the computer. I encourage you to take part in National Internet Safety Month and use this time to teach your children the importance of being safe online.

For suggestions on teaching internet responsibility to children, visit the “Creating Internet Accountability” page on my website at http://forbes.house.gov/ConstituentServices/internetsafety.htm.

:: Temporary Protected Status Amendment ::  

Watch Congressman Forbes offer an amendment on the House floor to address illegal immigrants and gang members who are currently in our nation and protected under Temporary Protected Status. Click the link below to watch Congressman Forbes offer the amendment on the House floor and then read below for more information on Temporary Protected Status.

Watch Congressman Forbes on the House Floor

Learn More About Congressman Forbes' Amendment on Temporary Protected Status:

Congress has granted the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to grant temporary refuge to aliens, usually illegal immigrants, from particular countries under “temporary protected status”. Unfortunately, a pattern of abuse has emerged in the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. DHS can grant TPS status to the nationals of a country for as long as 18 months and can later extend the TPS period indefinitely by adding extensions up to 18 months each.

The Administration has begun to utilize TPS as a de facto amnesty for illegal immigrants from certain Central American countries. TPS status was granted to Honduran and Nicaraguan nationals at the end of 1998, following Hurricane Mitch. The Administration has extended TPS for these individuals multiple times, the latest extension lasting until January 2009, more than 10 years after the hurricane. TPS status for Salvadoran nationals was granted early in 2001 as a result of earthquakes hitting the region. The latest TPS extension for Salvadoran nationals lasts until September 2007, again, long after temporary dislocations caused by the earthquakes.

There are currently some 248,000 Salvadorans, 81,000 Hondurans, and 4,000 Nicaraguans, mostly aliens who came illegally to the U.S., benefiting from TPS status. Of 5,000 gang members in a database that ICE compiled for Operation Community Shield, 291 El Salvadoran nationals, 43 Hondurans, and one Nicaraguan had been granted temporary protected status (TPS), 6.7 percent of the total. At least one of the suspected MS-13 members accused in the 2002 rape of two deaf girls in Massachusetts had been in our country protected by TPS. In fact, currently, a criminal gang member could literally stand on a street corner and announce that they were a member of a violent criminal gang and that they came here illegally and, if protected under TPS, no law enforcement officer could touch them until they committed an actual crime.

TPS is being used to grant long-term residence - a perpetual amnesty - to illegal immigrants of certain favored nationalities. Today, Congressman Forbes introduced an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill that would have returned TPS to its original intent of providing temporary refuge during temporary periods of crisis. While the amendment failed to gather the necessary votes for passage, Congressman Forbes plans to continue addressing abuses in temporary protected status through other legislative vehicles.