Panel OKs Bill to Ban Pornography Use at Agencies

摘要

The White House Office of Management and Budget would be required to issue guidelines preventing federal employees from accessing pornography at work under legislation (H.R. 901) approved March 25 by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Eliminating Pornography from Agencies Act would require the OMB to issue guidance within 90 days banning the use of federal computers to access pornographic or other explicit sites except in official investigations. The bill, also known as the EPA Act, now moves to the full House for consideration. It was introduced Feb. 11 by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C), chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations (46 ER 530, 2/20/15). Meadows originally introduced the legislation in September 2014, following revelations that a senior Environmental Protection Agency employee had spent two to six hours watching pornography at work daily and downloaded more than 7,000 explicit files to shared servers. Although Democrats on the House panel said before the March 25 voice vote that they had no objection to the measure, several said federal agencies have authority under existing law to discipline employees who access pornography from their work computers.