Thursday, February 20, 2003

Hatch Virtual Child Porn bill to be considered Monday Senator Orrin Hatch's bill to ban virtual child pornography (S151) has cleared committee and expected to pass the Senate on Monday. The bill seeks to overturn a US Supreme Court Decision which ruled that portions of the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) which banned pornography that didn't use real children were illegal. The bill needs to pass the House before becoming law. The only factor seen which may delay passage is the Democratic filibuster over the Estrada nomination. [Warren's Washington Internet Daily] [Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (pdf)] comments or questions [] 9:52:31 AM

Banks to Pay Interest on Business Checking? Bennett vote may be decisive The US House is pushing legislation that would allow banks to pay interest on business checking accounts. A similar bill was blocked last year by Senator Bob Bennett because he wanted to extend the ability to pay interest to "industrial loan companies" which are not supervised by the Federal Reserve. This was opposed by the Fed and by the top Democrat on the House Banking Committee. [American Banker] comments or questions [] 9:45:26 AM

Congress: Cannon on record supporting diabetes research Rep. Chris Cannon made a commitment last year to support increased funding for diabetes research. Cannon signed a "Diabetes Commitment Survey" and committed himself to be proactive in pushing for additional funds.Cannon was the only member of Utah's Congressional delegation to do so. [Diabetes Forecast] [American Diabetes Association]comments or questions [] 9:16:46 AM