FSC Offers Congressional Testimony

COOL, Calif. — Raising its voice in the halls of government, Free Speech Coalition submitted written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s sub-committee on Oversight and Investigations last week for its hearing on Sept. 21, “Deleting Commercial Child Pornography Sites from the Internet: The U.S. Financial Industry’s Efforts to Combat This Problem.”

Thursday’s hearing was the third in a series of examinations that discussed the financial implications of the plethora of images on the Internet that depict child exploitation, and what role major U.S. financial institutions could play in stopping its spread.

The first two hearings were held Sept. 19 in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, with a follow-up inquiry later that day in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Key testimony was offered at all three hearings from Ernie Allen, CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. His comments highlighted the work being done by the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography, a collection of major financial institutions and Internet companies that are working with NCMEC to halt the payments for child pornography images.

FSC offered testimony highlighting the work done by the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP). The testimony emphasized both groups’ desire to work together with law enforcement to pursue legitimate child pornographers without ensnaring legal adult content.

“We’re glad FSC is taking such a proactive approach and making themselves heard,” ASACP Executive Director Joan Irvine told XBIZ. “These were important hearings, so ASACP submitted testimony to the Senate Commerce and Banking Committees. Next week, I’ll be meeting with congressional staff in Washington, updating them on ASACP’s efforts on behalf of the adult industry to fight child pornography, as well as on our new website labeling initiative.”