My Letter to Congress: H.R.1981 Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011

I am writing as your constituent in the 7th Congressional district of Maryland. I oppose H.R.1981 - Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011, and am tracking it using OpenCongress.org, the free public resource website for government transparency and accountability.

I oppose it due the fact, its name deceptively belies the scope of it's intrusion into the private lives of all Americans, supposedly to catch a few legitimately awful people. It goes without saying that child pornography is indeed a terrible thing, but H.R. 1981 is basically (shamelessly, some might say) using the attention-grabbing headline to try and resubmit SOPA/PIPA, which was resoundingly opposed just a short while ago. The constitution did not intend the United States of America to be a police state where everyone was subject to routine, daily, mandated surveillance whether the federal government had cause to think the individual citizen was involve in criminal activity or not.

I oppose H.R.1981 due to it's interference and control of private business conducted by internet service providers.

I oppose H.R.1981 due to the Government mandated creation of surveillance databases on every American that uses a computer whether they are involved in criminal activity or not. I have no problem with targeted surveillance of subjects that are suspected of criminal activity with or without their knowledge or consent.

I oppose H.R.1981 due to the costs of collecting, managing, storing and safeguarding the databases once they are created. Our government has better things to do with our tax dollars than targeting all Americans for constant surveillance.

I oppose H.R.1981 due to the fact it would collect the account numbers of all American who bank online, invest online, or manage their retirement accounts online. I do not trust the ability of the government to protect these databases (stored for at least 18 months) from misuse or theft - it seems impossible for you to argue this as the hacking group Anonymous has successfully shut down several of your websites lately - I have no doubt they can look at any information they want to. Also, reports of government databases being lost on laptops and portable storage devices is not uncommon.

As your constituent, I urge you to overlook the misleading name given to this bill by its sponsor and realize that its intent seems to be to successfully pass a bill that strips innocent citizens of their privacy. Don't be convinced to vote on it just because "protecting children from internet pornographers" is in the title - it's a clever bit of wording by Mr. Smith's camp, and if any of them had an honest bone in their body, they would have had the decency to name it H.R. 1984, in reference to Mr. Orwell's book of the same name, though I have serious doubts that Mr. Smith has ever read it. If he did, he clearly didn't absorb its message. Please do not allow this to pass.

Sincerely,
Clarissa West

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns. I believe that all
correspondence I receive from my constituents is extremely important and
I make every attempt to respond to everyone. However, please be aware
that due to the large volume of e-mails I receive, you may experience a
delay in receiving a detailed response.

If this is a pressing legislative issue, please call my Washington,
D.C., office at 202-225-4741. If you are contacting me regarding a
pressing personal issue, please call my respective district offices:

Baltimore City residents: 410-685-9199
Baltimore County residents: 410-719-8777
Howard County residents: 410-465-8259

Again, thank you for your e-mail, and please do not hesitate to contact
me for any further assistance.

Sincerely,

Elijah E. Cummings
Member of Congress

Dear Ms. West:



Thank you for getting in touch with me to express your views about the
Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act (H.R. 1981). It's
good to hear from you.



I appreciate knowing of your opposition to this legislation. One of my
guiding principles here in the Senate is that Marylanders have a right
to know, to be heard, and to be represented. Information from people
like you is essential if I am to be not only the Senator from Maryland,
but also the Senator for Maryland. Knowing of your views will be very
helpful to me.



Thanks again for contacting me. If I can be of assistance in the
future, or if there is any other federal legislation on which you would
like to comment, please feel free to let me know.


Sincerely,
Barbara A. Mikulski
United States Senator


Please do not respond directly to this e-mail. The originating e-mail
account is not monitored.
If you would like to get in touch with me again, please visit the
comments page of my website here
.
If you would like to get regular updates, please sign up for my
E-Newsletter here .
Please follow me on Twitter and
Facebook .