On April 28, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved, by voice vote, H.R. 5138, the International Megan’s Law of 2010.
Sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), H.R. 5138 would authorize “such sums as may be necessary” to require that child sex offenders must notify the jurisdiction where they are registered, at least 30 days in advance, of their intent to travel internationally. Failing to do so could result in fines and/or imprisonment for up to ten years.
Named after Megan Kanka, a seven year-old girl who was raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender, the measure also would require foreign jurisdictions to establish and maintain nonpublic sex offender registries of U.S. citizens or legal immigrants who remain in the country for at least 30 days.
The bill would establish a sex offender travel center that would maintain the registry, train officials to implement the reporting system, and establish a means to identify individuals who have not been reported.
The bill also would authorize the State Department to revoke the passports of individuals convicted of sex offenses in other countries. In such instances, the State Department could determine whether the individual’s passport was eligible for renewal once he or she returned to the United States. The State Department also would be authorized to limit to one year the passports of sex offenders deemed to be “high-risk.” However, the bill would not preclude such individuals from entering the United States.
During consideration of the bill, Chair Howard Berman (D-CA) said, “Many child sex offenders are traveling internationally or reside abroad because laws against sex acts with minors are weaker or rarely enforced in particular countries…We all know the devastating emotional, physical, and psychological effects on these child victims. We need to do all we can to prevent these predators from circumventing U.S. laws to prey on children in foreign countries. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.”
In a statement, Rep. Smith said, “With its international law enforcement relations, technological and communications capability, and established sex offender registry system, the United States must lead the global community in the effort to save thousands of potential child victims by notifying other countries of travel by sex offenders who pose a high risk of exploiting children overseas. In turn, we must impress upon other countries that they are expected to do the same. Children everywhere deserve no less.”
