[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 863 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 863
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a publishing house
from knowingly furnishing sexually explicit material to a school or an
educational agency, to prohibit Federal funds from being provided to a
school that obtains or an educational agency that distributes sexually
explicit material, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 7, 2023
Mr. Mills introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the
Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
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A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a publishing house
from knowingly furnishing sexually explicit material to a school or an
educational agency, to prohibit Federal funds from being provided to a
school that obtains or an educational agency that distributes sexually
explicit material, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON KNOWINGLY FURNISHING SEXUALLY EXPLICIT
MATERIAL TO A SCHOOL OR AN EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.
(a) Prohibition on Knowingly Furnishing Sexually Explicit Material
to a School or an Educational Agency.--Chapter 71 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1471. Furnishing of sexually explicit material to a school or an
educational agency
``(a) Offenses.--
``(1) Publishing house.--Whoever, in or affecting
interstate commerce, being a publishing house, knowingly
furnishes an elementary school, a secondary school, a local
educational agency, or a State educational agency with
published material containing a sexually explicit visual
depiction of any kind, including a picture, photograph, or
drawing, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500,000.
``(2) President, director, manager, or officer of a
publishing house.--
``(A) In general.--Whoever, in or affecting
interstate commerce, being a president, director,
manager, or officer of a publishing house, knowingly
authorizes the furnishing of published material in
violation of paragraph (1) shall be fined under this
title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
``(B) Affirmative defense.--It shall be an
affirmative defense to a charge of violating
subparagraph (A) if the defendant proves, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that an individual at a
higher management level knowingly authorized the
furnishing of the published material involved.
``(b) Excepted Material.--The prohibitions in subsection (a) do not
apply with respect to material with serious literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) ESEA terms.--The terms `elementary school', `local
educational agency', `secondary school', and `State educational
agency' have the meanings given those terms in section 8101 of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7801).
``(2) Published material.--The term `published material'--
``(A) means any book, magazine, newspaper, or other
printed material; and
``(B) includes digital or electronic books.
``(3) Publishing house.--The term `publishing house' means
a for-profit entity that manufactures, distributes, or sells
published material.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 71 of
title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 1470 the following:
``1471. Furnishing of sexually explicit material to a school or
an educational agency.''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL FUNDS FOR SCHOOL OBTAINING OR
EDUCATIONAL AGENCY DISTRIBUTING SEXUALLY EXPLICIT
MATERIAL.
(a) No Federal Funds for School Obtaining Sexually Explicit
Material.--No Federal funds may be provided to an elementary school or
a secondary school that knowingly obtains published material containing
a sexually explicit visual depiction of any kind, including a picture,
photograph, or drawing, until such time that the school relinquishes or
destroys the published material.
(b) No Federal Funds for Educational Agency Distributing Sexually
Explicit Material.--No Federal funds may be provided to a local
educational agency or a State educational agency that knowingly
distributes to an elementary school or a secondary school published
material containing a sexually explicit visual depiction of any kind,
including a picture, photograph, or drawing, until such time that the
educational agency instructs the school to which the educational agency
distributed the published material to either relinquish or destroy the
material.
(c) Excepted Material.--The prohibitions in subsections (a) and (b)
do not apply with respect to material with serious literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) ESEA terms.--The terms ``elementary school'', ``local
educational agency'', ``secondary school'', and ``State
educational agency'' have the meanings given those terms in
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(2) Published material.--The term ``published material''--
(A) means any book, magazine, newspaper, or other
printed material; and
(B) includes digital or electronic books.
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