Geez, will Rep. Chris Smith just go on a permanent vacation already?

Look, we at the Shiitake Awards have seen many familiar faces come back time and time again-- Nancy Grace, John Walsh, Ron & Lauren Book, etc., but Chris Smith sticks around like that gum someone planted under the desk a decade ago that is fossilized.

Does this idiot not understand you can't be convicted of "pedophilia"?

https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=400752

Smith’s Law Results in Important New Protections for Children Against Predators

Washington, Nov 17, 2017 | Matt Hadro ((202) 226-6373)

A new passport identifier for convicted pedophiles will help protect children from pedophiles looking to travel abroad, possibly to abuse children, said Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), author of legislation to create the identifier.    

“Child predators thrive on secrecy—a secrecy that allows them to commit heinous crimes against the weakest and most vulnerable,” Smith stated at a press conference on Friday in Trenton, N.J., about the passport protections included in his International Megan’s Law, which had several other provisions aimed at protecting children.

“We know from law enforcement and media documentation that Americans on U.S. sex offender registries are caught sexually abusing children in Asia, Central and South America, Europe—everywhere,” Smith said. “Again, we have a duty to protect the weakest and most vulnerable from abuse.” To read Smith’s full remarks, click here.

The new passport protections from the U.S. State Department were mandated by Smith’s International Megan’s Law, which passed the House three times before finally being enacted in February of 2016.

The law is named after Megan Kanka, a resident of Smith’s home town of Hamilton, N.J. who, at seven years old, was sexually assaulted and killed in 1994 by a repeat sex offender who was a neighbor, but whose offender status was unbeknownst to residents of the community.

Smith spoke alongside Megan’s family, who have been fighting for legal protections for children from predators at the state, federal, and international levels. “This is a big step in trying to protect the children of the country and the whole world,” Rich Kanka, father of Megan Kanka, stated on Friday.

“Megan was a wonderful little girl. She loved everybody,” Kanka said. Both he and Smith on Friday advocated for a version of Megan’s Law to be enacted in every country in the world.  “We have to stop the trafficking and the exploitation. I am here and I am not going anywhere,” Kanka said.

Megan’s Law, originally passed in New Jersey, required public notification of convicted sex offenders living in an area. Now all 50 states have such laws protecting children against predators at home. International Megan’s Law was drafted to create a system of notification between countries so that foreign countries – as well as the U.S. – would know when a convicted sex offender is looking to enter their boundaries.

Child predators have tried to evade detection when traveling, by misreporting the countries they are traveling to in naming their transit countries rather than their destination countries, Smith said.

Now, as a result of Smith’s law, countries including the U.S. are being notified when convicted pedophiles seek to enter, and they are being turned back at the borders of the U.S. and these countries. The law empowers many of the destination countries for convicted pedophiles to turn them away or monitor them while they travel within their borders.

According to Smith, the U.S. has been alerted by foreign countries of at least 100 of their convicted pedophiles trying to enter the U.S. Almost 100 other countries have been warned by the U.S. of over 3,500 convicted pedophiles trying to enter, and almost 2,000 convicted pedophiles from the U.S. have been turned away from their destination country since the law’s enactment.

In addition to improving and speeding up this notification process, International Megan’s Law directed the State Department, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to set up an identification for passports of convicted pedophiles who are on states’ public offender registries, so that destination countries have another opportunity to screen pedophiles when they attempt to enter.

According to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office, at least 4,500 U.S. passports were issued to registered sex offenders in FY 2008. There were 797,094 registered sex offenders in the U.S., according to FBI numbers from September 30th, and almost 17,000 offenders in New Jersey, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Now, U.S. passports of convicted pedophiles who are on a state’s public sex offender registry will be stamped with the identifier: “The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 United States Code Section 212 (c)(I).”

If at first you don't succeed, find a better internet meme to pimp your bad law

US Representative Chris Smith has been trying to PIMP this so-called "International Megan's Law idea for many years-- in fact, it has reared its ugly head many times on this very awards show over the years (International Megan's Law was voted dumbest law of 2010, and Chris Smith was a nominee for the 2013 awards but was not in the finals).

Well, Chris Smith has found a new way to PROSTITUTE his stupid bill. "Human Trafficking" (or "sex trafficking" or simply "trafficking") is becoming the new buzzword, and it is quickly becoming the new wave of Predator Panic. So now Chris is SOLICITING support for International Megan's Law by using hashtags. Really? A stinking hashtag? (It is a pound sign or a tic-tac-toe board, by the way).

Well I have a hashtag for you, Chris. #KissMyAss

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/01/house_passes_international_megans_law_notifies_for.html

House passes International Megan's Law, notifies foreign countries of traveling sex offenders
By Mike Davis
on January 27, 2015 at 6:24 PM, updated January 27, 2015 at 8:07 PM

HAMILTON — A version of the sex offender registration and notification laws rooted in the murder of a 7-year-old Hamilton girl could soon be implemented across global borders.

The House on Monday night passed “International Megan’s Law,” a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) that would “take away the secrecy” and notify law enforcement agencies in other countries about the travel plans of convicted and registered sex offenders.

About 4,500 U.S. passports were issued to registered sex offenders in 2008, according to the Government Accountability Office, which Smith said was a sign that many sex offenders look to prey on victims in foreign countries.

“It’s all about very good vigilance,” Smith said in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s secrecy that enables all of this. Secrecy is how these people exploit and, unfortunately, we’re seeing a growing amount of sex tourism. They hop on planes and go to places for a week or two and abuse little children.”

The bill strengthens “Operation Angel Watch,” an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, and authorizes it to create a communications strategy with other countries.

Smith said the bill urges the president to reach bilateral agreements and memorandums of understanding with other nations on training and procedures upon notification, including the denial of a visa.

The new “Angel Watch Center” would focus on sex offenders who are likely to commit another sex crime, usually those ranked as second- or third-tier offenders, Smith said.

“If you do a data dump, nothing gets done. You want people to say, ‘he’s not coming in,’” Smith said. “We’re talking about people who have a likely propensity to recommit these crimes.”

Smith began trying to apply Megan’s Law across international boundaries in 2008 he met with a group from Thailand on human trafficking, an issue he has tried to combat throughout his time in Congress.

“If we told you a convicted pedophile was coming to Bangkok, what would you do,” Smith asked them.

“We wouldn't let them in,” the Thailand activists responded, and Smith realized that such a framework needed to exist.

“The idea behind this is to get Megan’s Law stirred up in countries around the world,” Smith said. “A few have something close to it, but most do not.

"Pedophiles from the U.S. can travel to those countries and pedophiles from those countries can come to the U.S. and abuse our children,” he said.

The bill is modeled after Megan’s Law legislation already in place throughout the United States, which requires convicted sex offenders to register in national and statewide databases and notify law enforcement of any changes in residence or employment.

The laws were passed in reaction to the 1994 rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Nicole Kanka of Hamilton, who was lured in by neighbor Jesse Timmendequas, a twice-convicted sex offender whose past the Kankas were unaware of. Timmendequas was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the state abolished the death penalty in 2007. 

New Jersey was the first state to pass Megan’s Law, which requires convicted sex offenders to notify law enforcement agencies of any change in residence or employment upon their release from prison.

Two years later, former President Bill Clinton signed into law the first nationwide Megan’s Law, an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act.

“Had the Kankas known the guy living across the street, who had been to their home many times, there would have been a different outcome,” Smith said.

Maureen and Richard Kanka, a Hamilton school board member, were on hand when Smith introduced an earlier version of the International Megan’s Law later that year but the Senate never voted on the bill.

The House also passed the bill last year but the Senate did not vote on it.

“This could be exploited by all kinds of people. We want to make sure we keep out of this country those who would exploit it,” Smith said.

International Megan's Law was one of Smith's two human trafficking bills passed by the House on Monday. The other bill, the Human Trafficking Prioritization Act, would ramp up American anti-trafficking efforts by creating the "Bureau to Combat Trafficking in Persons" within the State Department.

By turning the State Department's human trafficking office into a bureau, it ensures an equal voice in any discussions — a direct line to the Secretary of State, instead of going through intermediaries.

"They get to be at the table and fight inside those important conferences," Smith said. "They have diplomatic capabilities within the State Department to fight for an honest appraisal of a country's human trafficking network as well as what the penalties should be for egregious behavior."

Chris Smith of NJ is using a backdoor policy to ban registrants from obtaining passports

Chris Smith of New Jersey tried pushing International Megan's Flaw to the populace a couple of years back, but it stalled. Now Smith is trying to attach this bad piece of legislation to a current bill, H.R. 2848. I wonder how deep he dug in his ass to pull this out.

http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=344968

Int’l Megan’s Law Amendment to Protect More Kids 
Smith Provision Made Part of the State Department Bill 

Washington, Aug 1 - A legislative effort by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) to restrict the passports of U.S citizens who have been convicted of sex crimes against children took a leap forward today when it was unanimously approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

    Smith wrote an amendment which is now part of the U.S. State Department authorization bill, H.R. 2848, which is expected to be on the House floor in September. It grants the Secretary of State discretion to limit the valid duration of passports for convicted sex offenders listed on the National Sex Offender Registry, or to revoke the passport of an individual convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction in a foreign country of a sex offense.

    “The amount of travel by known predators is staggering,” said Smith, who has worked for years with the family of Megan Kanka to promote legislation that would protect children from sex offenders. “A report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that nearly 4,500 registered sex offenders apply for U.S. passports each year. Since a passport is valid up to 10 years, some offenders can remain unwatched for years. According to the Protection Project of Johns Hopkins University, sex tourists from the United States who target children make up a significant percentage of child sex tourists around the world.” Click here to read Smith’s statement to the full committee.

    “Authorizing the State Department to restrict the passports of registered sex offenders has the ability to deter and protect,” said Smith, a leader in Congress on human rights issues, including sex trafficking of women and children. “Predators who have been convicted for sexually exploiting children have used long-term passports to evade return to the United States and have moved to a third country where they continue to exploit and abuse children. By requiring child sex offenders to renew their passports, more regularly, we can curtail the current 10-year window of unchecked travel and offer greater protection for vulnerable women and children around the world.”

    Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old from Smith’s district in Hamilton, N.J., was kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered in 1994. Her assailant was a convicted, repeat sex offender living across the street, unbeknownst to families in Megan’s neighborhood. Due to public outcry in response to the tragedy and to hard work by Megan’s parents, Richard and Maureen Kanka, the New Jersey State Legislature passed the original Megan’s Law (NJSA 2C: 7-1 through 7-II) to require public notification of convicted sex offenders living in the community. Smith supported a federal Megan’s Law which became law in 1996 and other child protection measures.

    “In order to better protect children, this amendment would allow the Secretary of State the discretion to revoke the passport of an individual who has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction in a foreign country of a sex offense,” Smith said. “It also allows the Secretary the ability to determine the appropriate period of validity of any passport that is issued to a sex offender.”

    Smith authored similar legislation to protect children in 2010 called The International Megan’s Law. That bill would establish a model framework for international law enforcement notifications when convicted child sex offenders pose a danger to children in a destination country. The bill passed the full House in 2010, but the Senate failed to act on the bill.