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During Thursday’s subcommittee hearing on Senate File 84, various interest groups alerted senators to the fact Iowa’s laws on child pornography are a “joke” and “laughable.”

In fact, according to the Iowa County Attorneys Association, most child pornography cases are handed to the feds because Iowa’s laws are “wholly insufficient.”

What’s more, there are so many cases of child pornography in the state the feds cannot take them all.

For almost half an hour we heard about the threats, dangers and realities facing children in Iowa when it comes to pornography, sending nude photos of themselves and the term “grooming” was even used by one individual who testified.

Strengthening Iowa’s child pornography laws is a worthy effort, no doubt. But the phrase missing the forest for the trees comes to mind.

Keep in mind the county attorneys association said there are so many cases in Iowa of child pornography that the feds cannot take them all.

There are multiple variables impacting this problem. But the legislature is ignoring a pretty pivotal one — pornographic materials being stocked in school and public libraries across the state.

When kids have books aimed at their reading level and age that are pornographic in nature, do we think they’ll be more or less likely to engage in this sort of behavior?

Yes, it’s a rhetorical question. Of course they will.

Throughout the next two weeks we will once again be publishing excerpts of some of these books that are in Iowa schools. As much as some may want to dispute it, they are pornographic in nature.

And while some Iowa Republican legislators may not want to tackle the issue, if they truly care about Senate File 84 and strengthening Iowa’s child pornography laws, they’ll amend the bill to address the obscene materials in libraries.

If this is something you’d like to see happen, contact the bill’s manager, Sen. Dan Dawson ([email protected]). You can also contact any Senator as they all have the ability to amend a bill. Some of the more conservative options would include:

Sen. Brad Zaun – [email protected]
Sen. Cherielynn Westrich – [email protected]
Sen. Jeff Taylor – [email protected]
Sen. Jason Schultz – [email protected]
Sen. Sandy Salmon – [email protected]
Sen. Ken Rozenboom – [email protected]
Sen. Dennis Guth – [email protected]
Sen. Jesse Green – [email protected]
Sen. Kevin Alons – [email protected]

I am not sure how it would be possible to rule an amendment addressing these materials not germane to this bill. I have already asked one individual with plenty of knowledge about this issue and the legislative process whether they believed this bill to be a potential vehicle to address the library books and they said it seems like a realistic option.

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