SUN SENTINEL: South Floridians in Congress push bills on Iran, porn, tax fraud

By William E. Gibson, Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON – Alarmed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the spread of child pornography and a rising tide of tax fraud, South Florida representatives are pushing legislation through the U.S. House this week to confront these challenges of special concern to their constituents.

The House overwhelmingly passed a bill on Wednesday – pushed by U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami – described as the toughest set of economic sanctions ever imposed on Iran to discourage its leaders from developing a nuclear weapon.

The House today is also expected to pass separate bills sponsored by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, to crack down on child pornography and to stop thieves from stealing the identity of others to get their tax refunds.

IRAN SANCTIONS

The South Floridians are especially motivated to pressure Iran because of widespread fear among their many Jewish constituents that its nuclear development program threatens the security of Israel.

The bill, passed by a vote of 421 to 6, is designed to prevent Iran from cashing in its oil wealth by imposing sanctions on those who transfer money back to the country from foreign oil sales. It also would deny visas and freeze assets for those who supply Iran with tear gas, rubber bullets and surveillance equipment.

One key provision proposed by Deutch requires companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange to disclose Iran-related business to the Securities and Exchange Commission – a move designed to shame them into dropping investments in Iran.

“This bill sends one clear message to the entire world: if you do virtually any business in the Iranian energy sector – the financial lifeline of Iran’s nuclear program — you will be subject to sanctions,” Deutch told his colleagues on the House floor. “We cannot for one moment take our eye off the endgame: halting Iran’s march to a nuclear weapon.”

Members of both parties from Florida supported the bill, hoping to avoid a military confrontation with Iran. The Senate is expected to pass the same measure, perhaps as early as today.

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY BILL

Wasserman Schultz teamed up with Republican Lamar Smith of Texas to promote a bill that would increase the maximum prison sentence from 10 to 20 years for pornography offenses that victimize children under age 12.

The bill also would allow federal courts to issue protective orders if a child victim or witness is being harassed or intimidated. It gives U.S. marshals subpoena authority when investigating fugitive sex offenders. And it would extend for five years the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force program.

“I have learned far too much about the world of child pornography since I first took on this cause four years ago,” Wasserman Schultz told the House. “There are many aspects of it that are disturbing beyond words to describe, like the fact that in a survey of convicted offenders, more than 83 percent of them had images of children younger than 12 years old, and almost 20 percent of them had images of babies and toddlers who were less than 3 years old.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a similar bill, which has drawn bipartisan support.

TAX ID-THEFT BILL

The House also is expected to vote on a bill sponsored by Wasserman Schultz to stop thieves from using stolen Social Security numbers and other identification to claim tax refunds.

“My office has been inundated with constituents who have had their tax refunds stolen,” she said. “The amount of theft that goes on with this type of case is really astronomical.”

She cited IRS estimates that 851,602 tax returns last year worth $5.8 billion may have been affected by identity theft, a 280 percent increase since 2010.

The bill would add tax-return fraud to the list of offenses under a law that governs aggravated identity theft, which would increase the penalties. It also would expand the definition of identity theft victims to include businesses and charitable groups.

“My own local law enforcement agencies in South Florida have been flooded with crime reports of tax-return identity theft,” Wasserman Schultz told the House, “and they need all the help they can get.”