Summary of Bills in Congress Affecting or Related to Sex Offenders or Sex Offenses

6-17-2010 Washington DC:

A quick note to let folks know that we have UPDATED our "Summary of Bills in Congress Affecting or Related to Sex Offenders or Sex Offenses."

Due to improved searching capabilities on the Thomas website we were able to find and add 17 more bills. Most of these bills do not seem to directly affect sex offenders, but a few do enact provisions to exclude sex offenders from various federal service jobs.

A few improvements and changes were made in the summary:

1) We added "date separators" so folks know exactly what we have added;

2) We added a section at the beginning which shows all relevant bills in Congress we have identified;

3) We also will not be reviewing bills affecting Tribes and have noted that, in addition to Immigration and Appropriation bills.

Thomas, Congressional Website Tip:
Thomas has a wonderful section where folks can learn about the legislative process, its called "From a Bill to a Law" and there are two commentaries, I recommend the first one.

Understanding the "legislative process" is critical for advocates. Advocates, to be effective in getting changes in bills, must always target the folks who are in control of a bill at the moment, and contact them to effect changes. i.e., Once a bill is introduced in Congress, it is always sent to some committee, that committee is to review the bill -make changes they deem necessary- then send the bill to the floor, where it may/will be debated.

Committees always have more bills than they can handle, and rarely do they FAST TRACK one (but it does occur), so contacting the committee members with your thoughts is always best. Unfortunately, unless a committee member is your Rep. or Sen. you will not be able to e-mail them, but there is always the phone or a FAX to their office; numbers are on their individual websites.

Know where the bill is: Every bill summary (ex: HR 5072) has the following on the right: Major Congressional Actions, All Congressional Actions, All Congressional Actions with Amendments (With links to Congressional Record pages, votes,reports). The one that has a link will lead you to a list of everything that has occurred with that bill. Look to see what committee is currently working on the bill, contact them to have your voice heard. Sometimes a bill is sent to multiple committees based on its content.

After a bill comes out of committee, to the floor where it may/will be debated, then contact everyone to try to get changes you are seeking.

I specifically chose HR 5072 FHA Reform Act of 2010 as an example because, something very unusual occurred last week with that bill. In summary, when the bill was first introduced -in April- there was nothing in it affecting sex offenders. The bill went to committee and came out of committee still nothing affecting sex offenders.

However, when it got to the House floor and was being debated, a lawmaker proposed an amendment, that amendment affected certain sex offenders, and within a short time, the bill was voted on -including that amendment, and immediately sent to the Senate where it is today (6-17-2010). There was no opportunity for the public to make suggestions to change and eliminate the portion that affecting certain sex offenders.

The main bill is fine and important to folks all across the nation, so many are losing their homes in foreclosures, this bill will help them. But, the tiny little amendment will actually harm and prevent anyone convicted of a sex offense against a minor from ever getting a FHA loan. There was no way to stop this as the bill was FAST TRACKED once it hit the House floor. But, now it is in the Senate in a committee, and if folks follow what I mentioned above, it may be possible to get the Senate to eliminate that portion of the bill.


For now have a great day and a better tomorrow.
eAdvocate