{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ContentRecord_id=9C34A062-434E-4DC0-8E8E-31DF10854BFB", "Hatchs Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act Signed into Law", "2018-12-07", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "House", "UT", "Orrin Hatch", "H000338", "www.hatch.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DCSenator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the senior Republican and President Pro Tempore of the US Senate, released the following statement after the President signed theAmy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Actinto law. Senator Hatch introduced the legislation alongside Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Pat Toomey (R-PA). This bill recognizes the unique kind of harm caused by child pornography and requires restitution in a manner that will support victims.\r\nI'm thrilled the President hassignedtheAmy, Vicky, and Andy Act into law. This is a momentous day and many years in the making.Hatch said.This bipartisan legislation will provide meaningful assistance for child pornography victims to support their recovery and allow them to reclaim their lives.I am proud of this legislation and look forward to seeing it change the world for good.\r\nThe legislation establishes more relevant standards for child pornography victims who seek restitution from defendants and gives victims the alternative of a one-time fixed compensation payment from the existing Crime Victims Fund. The bill also allows victims access to the images depicting them, which can be important for victim identification, expert testimony, forensic review, and treatment.\r\nThe bill passed in the Senate by unanimous consent in January. With the help of Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC), the House sponsor of the bill, and House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the House of Representatives passed an amended version of the bill by unanimous consent. In November, the Senate passed the amended bill by unanimous consent, and today, it was signed by the President into law.\r\nStatements from Amy, Vicky, and Andy\r\nThe bill is named after victims depicted in some of the most widely circulated child pornography series in the world. Amy, Vicky, and Andy all strongly support the bill.\r\nAmy wrote: Thank you, Senator Hatch, for not giving up. There are lots of important things going on in our country right now and I know that a bunch of abused kids aren't always at the top of the list. But you haven't given up and neither have we.\r\nVicky and her husband wrote: This bill is an important and needed step in the process of healing and making those who have harmed so many accountable for the damage done. We are thankful for the efforts of all who have brought this to this point and urge Congress to go the last mile to make this happen.\r\nAndy, a Utah resident, wrote: I'm lucky, and so is Vicky and Amy and so many other mostly silent victims out there, to have you on our side and everyone else in the Senate. Just knowing that so many important people think that we matter, that the terrible things that happened to us as kids are being considered all the way up in the Congress of the United States.If we can all agree on something, it's that victims deserve justice. Thank you for helping us get it.\r\nSupport for the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act\r\nAdditionally, the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Act has been endorsed by the National Organization for Victim Assistance, National Association of Attorneys General, National Crime Victims Law Institute, National District Attorneys Association, National Center for Victims of Crime, National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators, National Crime Victims Bar Association, CHILD USA, RAINN, APSAC in partnership with The New York Foundling, Enough is Enough, Thorn, Academy on Violence and Abuse, DV LEAP, Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic, Utah Coalition against Sexual Assault, and the Children's Justice Fund.\r\nSenate Co-sponsors:Feinstein (D-CA), Grassley (R-IA), Klobuchar (D-MN), Cornyn (R-TX), Toomey (R-PA), Boozman (R-AR), Gillibrand (D-NY), Cotton (R-AR), Whitehouse (D-RI), McCain (R-AZ), Murkowski (R-AK), Capito (R-WV), Tillis (R-NC), Blunt (R-MO), Blumenthal (D-CT), Casey (D-PA), Warren (D-MA), McCaskill (D-MO), Hoeven (R- ND), Merkley (D-OR), Hirono (D-HI), Kennedy (R-LA), Cruz (R-TX),Harris (D-CA), Markey (D-MA), and Rubio (R-FL).\r\nBackground\r\nThe Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act includes the following provisions:\r\n \r\nFindings that focus on the unique nature of child pornography crime and how it harms victims\r\nA more relevant and predictable definition of full amount of a victim's losses\r\nRestitution\r\n\r\nChild pornography production: victims receive full amount of their total losses\r\nChild pornography trafficking: victims receive from each defendant a minimum of $3,000\r\n\r\n\r\nCompensation\r\n\r\nVictims of child pornography trafficking are entitled to receive a one-time payment of $35,000 in defined monetary assistance (which is indexed to inflation) from a Child Pornography Victims Reserve (CPVR) within the federal Crime Victims Fund (CVF)\r\nCaps fees for attorneys representing a victim seeking defined monetary assistance at 15%\r\nThe court must assess defendants in child pornography cases to contribute to the CPVR: up to $17,000 for possession, up to $35,000 for distribution, and up to $50,000 for production crimes\r\nThe CPVR will be capped at $10 million\r\n\r\n\r\nVictims of child pornography trafficking will enjoy the same priority in restitution payments as victims in other restitution statutes\r\nChild pornography victims have equal rights with criminal defendants to review the child pornography depicting them at a government facility or court for the purposes of furnishing expert testimony\r\nThe Department of Justice must deliver a report to Congress withintwoyears after passage about the Act's implementation including an assessment of the funding levels for the Child Pornography Victims Reserve\r\n \r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ContentRecord_id=9C34A062-434E-4DC0-8E8E-31DF10854BFB"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1857519168406725, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}