WASHINGTON — A new bill submitted to Congress would force Federal employees to own up to their porn habits — by punishing them with write-ups and possible termination if they are caught viewing porn on government computers during work hours.
The bill, which also proposes blocking porn from government computers, was submitted by Rep. Mark Meadows on the last day before Congress’ fall recess. It “would require the Office of Management of Budget to issue guidelines to prohibit porn watching on federal computers.” Currently, the OMB has no guidelines in place to address the issue.
Titled “Eliminating Pornography from Agencies Act” —or EPA — the bill was consciously referencing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In May, it came to light that an EPA employee had downloaded more than 7,000 pieces of pornographic materials since 2010. That employee, according to EPA Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Allan Williams, spent two to six hours a day surfing porn at work.
The EPA reported that it took steps to prevent such a recurrence.
“It’s appalling that it requires an act of Congress to ensure that federal agencies block access to these sites at work,” Rep. Meadows said in a press release promoting the bill. “This bill is a common-sense measure that ensure federal workers aren’t viewing pornographic materials on the taxpayers’ dime.”.
