Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing with Facebook Whistleblower on Harms to Kids

Statement

“In the Senate Judiciary Committee, after some graphic hearings where parents and victims came forward and told us what had happened to them online, we decided to take action. We passed six bills related to this issue—child sexual abuse and similar issues… Six bills waiting for a day on the calendar. Six bills waiting for a national debate… They put real teeth in enforcement too and I think that is why they have gone nowhere. Big Tech is the big kid on the block when it comes to this issue and many other issues before us. That’s the reality.

Mr. Béjar, thank you for the courage of stepping up and speaking out… It is not only a parent issue, it is a grandparent issue. We see this and it scares the hell out of us. Thank you for what you have brought us today. I’m particularly intrigued by your idea of a survey, so we can find out from the source what is really happening.

My experience on Capitol Hill goes back several years. I took on the tobacco issue. We were hitting our head against the wall, trying to penetrate this vast lobby at the time. The one way we managed to penetrate it was to make it a children’s issue—protecting kids from addiction to tobacco. And then a lot of good things started happening.

Why is it that this issue, which relates to our kids so much more and is so much more dangerous, even than tobacco in my estimation, why is it so difficult? Senator Hawley is correct. We are really fighting the biggest kid on the block when it comes to this issue.”

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