well welcome everybody uh and I want to start by thanking the first lady for joining us today and thank you for for your support of this incredibly important legislation the take it down act uh which has already passed the Senate unanimously and and I am hopeful that the house will soon take it up and pass it and put it on the president's desk to be signed into law uh to protect young women and young boys and all of those who are being victimized across the country I also want to thank our brave victims and victim Advocates who are here Ellison Barry Franchesca Mani Brandon Guffy and Breeze Lou thank you for being here each of you have endured the Unspeakable and your courage standing up and speaking for others is is really remarkable I also want to thank Stephan turr with rain for your advocacy and support on this issue as well thank you for your leadership and of course I want to thank Senator kachar who's the lead Democrat sponsor in the Senate and representative Salazar and represent pres ative Dean who are the lead sponsors in the house uh who've worked alongside in this important bipartisan legislation if you're a victim of revenge porn or AI generated explicit imagery your life changes forever most likely you've been targeted by someone you know and you're likely struggling to have that material removed from the internet disturbingly many of these victims are teenagers at American high schools who are facing a surge in AI generated sexual images hundreds of teens often targeted by their own classmates are enduring senseless psychological harm knowing that these fake images exist and they're still out there and in many case there's no recourse for these teenage victims but this issue extends Beyond High School there are thousands of cases where Predators have used non-consensual intimate images to extort victims both sexually and financially and the results can be even more traumatic than financial loss as we'll hear here hear today in dozens of instances parents and siblings have suffered unbearable pain pain having lost their child or their brother or their sister to suicide because the victim felt there was no way out from sex tortion outside of high school many adults are also dealing with the very real and dire consequences of having their sexually explicit images shared online without their consent I have heard from victims of sexual abuse of rape of trafficking who strongly support the take it down act because they desperately want some of the most traumatic moments of their lives taken off the internet the take it down act empowers victims across the entire United States it makes it a felony for these deviants to publish any non-consensual intimate images including fake lifelike pornographic images of real people just as importantly our bipartisan Bill requires big Tech to have a notice and takeown process so that every victimized American not just the Rich and Famous but everyone has a right to get these disturbing images taken offline immediately we are today one step closer to making this dream a reality just 3 weeks ago the Senate unanimously passed the take it down act now it goes to my house colleagues and I have every assurance and confidence that the house will take it take this up pass it and put it on the president's desk so that we can protect the victims of these predators and we're very excited to be joined today by the first lady of the United States Melania Trump Mrs Trump has long been a champion for protecting our nation's children with her be best initi and I can think of no more important issue for our first lady to lean on than protecting Children online your success will mean our children's success and healing for thousands of victims and with that I'd like to turn it over to the first lady of the United States Melania Trump well thank you so much Senator Cruz I think that should be all it's not very loud uh good afternoon I'm here with you today with a common goal to protect our youth from online harm the widespread presence of abusive behavior in the digital domain affects the daily lives of our children families and communities addressing this issue is essental potential for fostering a safe and supportive environment for our young people I hope today's Roundtable builds awareness of the harm caused by non-consensual intimate imagery and eventually the approval of the take it down at deal in Congress in today's AI driven world the threat of privacy British is alarmingly high as organization harness the power of our data the risk of unauthorized access and misuses of personal information escalates we must prioritize robust security measures and uphold strict ethical standards to protect individual privacy as first lady my commitment to the BB best initiative underscores the importance of Online safety in an era where digital interactions are intergal to daily life it is imperative that we Safeguard children from mean-spirited and hurtful online Behavior ensuring their protection is not just a responsibility but a vital step in nurturing tomorrow's leaders here with us today is Alison b a 15-year-old Brave young woman Alison Spears used AI to create non-consensual in intimate images of her and then spread the images across social media they superimposed her face into pornographic content without her consent solely to humiliate her and authored Alison's family contacted this the social media companies for help their efforts fell upon death ears ultimately the fake images circulated worldwide it's heartbreaking to witness young teens especially girls grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content like deep fakes this toxic environment can be severely damaging we must prioritize their well-being by equipping them with support and tools necessary to navigate this hostile digital landscape every young person deserves a safe online space to express themselves freely without the looming threat of exploitation or harm to the brave survivors of NCI your strength Inspire the courage in others to The Advocates your voices power Our Youth and hopefully bring change and to the families your unwavering love is a pillar of resilence thank you again to Senator Cruz speaker Johnson House Majority leaders CCE represent reprentative Salah Salazar chairman gri chairwoman McCain chairman ha and representative Kahan for being here today and for your dedication to this important cause I was heartened to learn that Senator Cruz and Senator kachar United to prioritize this fundamental matter I must admit however I expected to see more Democrats Leaders with us here today to address this serious issue surely as adults we can prioritize Americans children ahead of partisan politics I urge Congress to to prioritize the passage of the take it down a bill this legislation is essential for addressing the growing concerns related to Online safety protecting individual ual rights and promoting a healthier digital environment by advocating this bill Congress can take an important step towards ensuring accountability and fostering responsibly online Behavior the take a down act bill represents a powerful step toward Justice healing and Unity thank you and thank thank you very much I want to thank the first lady for being here and your presence and your leadership on this issue is incredibly important and I'm confident it's going to play a critical role in accelerating the passage of this bill and getting it passed into law so that we can protect all our kids and and young women and young men across the country uh I now want to turn to to the leader in the house representative Salazar uh for for her remarks there thank you to all of you and thank you to the first lady of the United States to Senator Cruz for having taken up this cause the force as Senator said the force of your presence Madam is not going not only going to save children's lives but we also make this legislation the law of the land I have no doubt that the House of Representatives would make will make this law a priority as I have spoken to the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson so thank you thank you for making our jobs as legislators a lot more effective as the senator said the name of the legislation that we're presenting is called the take it down act its mission is very simple it's profound and long lasting it stops cyber abuse it prevents bullying one child against another even more important is going to prevent suicide out of shame it is outrageously sick to use the images the face The Voice the likeness of a young vulnerable female to manipulate them to extort them to humiliate them publicly just for revenge or just for fun that is why we created this bill and is going to stop the abuse throughout social media it is Wily known that 99% of the time the victim most of them girls don't even know that their faces their bodies their intimate parts are being circulated around the internet in fake compromising pornographic images but perception is reality unfortunately and even though these images do not belong to them they are paying the price dearly so they see it they live it they have to suffer it and they don't have any recourse as the senator said up until today up until now our bill the take it down act finally is sending a very big message to big Tech that they have to bring down this images fake images within 48 hours no more time than that no more excuses if not big Tech then will be just as guilty as the aggressors Snapchat Instagram Tik Tok will have to comply within 48 Hours when the victim demands that they take down those pornographic images now our messages to the bullies to the perverts to the Predators if you dare to do this to another innocent child you're are going to go to prison you will serve jail time that will be a great place where you can sit and Ponder what you did and be consumed by your conscience up until now the parents of victims found that the schools they couldn't do anything the police couldn't do anything nothing big Tech couldn't do anything according to them no more this legislation has taken the power away from the aggressors and the accomplices and have given it back to the victims and their parents what a great honor for me to be part of this initiative thank you very much and thank you madam for making it this a reality thank you thank you representative Salazar for your friendship for your leadership on this important issue um I now want to introduce our our victim Advocates who will share their stories and and explain why it is important that we urgently pass the take it down act uh here with us first are two teenage victims of AI generated sexually exploitative images Miss Elliston Barry of Alo Texas and Miss Franchesca Mani of Westfield New Jersey both of these young ladies were victims of virtually the identical crime within weeks of each other Elliston was just 14 years old when a male classmate of hers took an innocent photo off her Instagram page and used an app to create an explicit image a deep fake AI that in in turn was sent to her classmates at school Elliston helped Inspire the take it down act and she's a Texan and she and her mother contacted my office and relayed what happened and we were horrified and and she was the initial inspiration for writing this bill and and melani I'll tell you an amazing aspect what when I was sitting down with Elliston and her and her mother Anna who's here as well um I asked in my office I said what's what's happened to the images uh and they looked at me with with enormous fr ation and they said they're still up it's been 9 months Alison's mom said she had called Snapchat she'd emailed them she' tried repeatedly take this garbage down of my daughter and she had gotten no response at all no movement I turned to my staff in my office that afternoon and I said I want you to get the CEO of Snapchat on the phone today I want those pictures down today within two hours they pulled them down now it should not take a sitting Senator or sitting member of Congress picking up the phone to get a picture down or a video down it should be the right of every American every teenage girl victimized should have the right to get get this garbage taken down and this bill will give them that right as a matter of federal law and and with that Ellison I if you would share with the first lady and share with everyone here just just what happened to you from just tell your story thank you Senator um Ted Cruz I was just 14 years old when a classmate created AI nudes of me from an innocent social media picture I was 14 years old when I was violated all over social media and I was just 14 years old when my innocence was Stripped Away October 2nd 2023 I woke up to messages from a friend notifying me that these photos of me were circulating circulating social media pictures from a past Instagram photo with a nude body and my face attached made from AI fear shock and disgust were just some of the many emotions I felt I felt responsible and began to blame myself and was ashamed to tell my parents despite doing nothing wrong as I attended school I was scared of the reactions of someone or someone could re could recreate these photos and I lived in fear that they would resurface and that they would get brought up um as I attended School the school was little to no help and said that it was out of their control I not only blamed the classmate big Tech the boy used a Google app called D that existed to removed articles of clothing from a photo available for all ages for free while that app is no longer available thousands of other apps similar are available additionally social media needs to be required to take action it wasn't until Ted crew's office heard my story and reached out to Snapchat personally and my photos were removed we need to hold big Tech accountable to take action I came here today to not only promote this bill but to fight for the freedom of so many survivors millions of people male female teenage children kids all are affected by the rise of this image-based sexual abuse this is unacceptable the take it down act will give a voice to the victims and provide Justice I want to say thank you to Senator Ted Cruz and his team thank you to all the Advocates pushing this this bill and this legislation it is vital for the growing of Technology the situation is bigger than politics this bipartisan bill is protect America's children thank you to the first lady in the house in the house leadership for understanding how important this issue is and taking time to learn about this vital piece of legislation I share my story to give victims a voice they never heard and had changed this horrible situation into something good thank you to everyone who is supporting this it is so inspiring to know that my voice is being heard giving hope to not only me to all the many people that have been affected by this it is truly so amazing how this awful situation has turned into good thank you so I'll tell you Ellison and I and her mother uh several months ago had the opportunity to to do a number of TV interviews and we went on Good Morning America and at the end of it I think Good Morning America was ready to offer Ellison an anchor spot um I I think the the folks interviewing us got nervous for their jobs because thank you both you and your mom have enormous courage and and you're standing up and speaking the truth and it has a power to change and and protect others what is remarkable is in the exact same month that Ellison was being victimized 2,000 miles away in New Jersey Franchesca Manny was going through the exact same situation she was also 14 she was also a target of this same predation and like Ellison French Fresca has spoken out about her experience both Franchesca and Elliston testified at a field hearing that that I held in in Dallas Franchesca recently appeared on 60 Minutes to tell her story and she's another incredible young woman along with her mom who are standing up and fighting to to protect others and and so Franchesca thank you for being here as well and would you please tell us tell us what you experienced okay at for is it okay at 14 years old my classmates created deep fake images of me and other girls at my high school the most disturbing part not just that they thought it was okay but that the school failed to hold them accountable while the girls' names were announced over the intercom the boys were quietly pulled from their classrooms a blatant violation of privacy and disrespect towards us despite the serious of the incident only one boy received a one-day suspension two years later those responsible are still in my school representing in team sports as if nothing ever happened that is not okay when I asked my school why they weren't using the code of conduct or HIIT policies their response they need to be updated to include AI my response was then update it took them one year to make changes yet my mom's lawyers created an updated version within a week of that incident the hip investigation which was supposed to take 10 days dragged on for almost a year completely unacceptable the school's only response to the community was a single email dismissing the issue as widespread misinformation this silence sent a dangerous message to the girls you are not worth fighting for and to the boys what you did is okay I expected clear and decisive action the school should have said this is not okay and you are expelled in school the question should not be about legality alone it should be about what is right what is ethical teenagers might not know all the laws but they do know when something is wrong schools need to take immediate serious action to ensure that a AI exploitation harassment and deep fake abuse are met with real consequences we need laws and with the help of Senator Cruz congresswoman salzar and now the involvement of you the first lady I truly believe we are on track to passing a federal law to protect women and children even though AI exploitation can happen to anyone 96% of victims of AI misuse are women and children so we are seriously vulnerable and we do need laws the Department of Education must finally step up and issue clear AI guidelines on how schools should handle these incidents Nationwide AI isn't going anywhere it's here to stay schools must be proactive not just in teaching students how to protect their image or avoid committing a crime through AI misuse but also in teaching how to use AI as a tool for advancement throughout my advocacy I have met incredible organizations leaders who are focused on legislation and regulation but that's just one part of the conversation since being named one of time 100's most influential people in AI I've had the privilege of meeting Brilliant Minds using AI to advance Society in research medicine education climate control art and more yes AI needs regulation but we also need to acknowledge its potential and prepare the Next Generation through AI literacy programs in schools ASAP I love JFK speech where he challenges us to ask what we can do for our country lately feels like everyone is asking what the country can do for us with AI we should all be asking what Can I Do by myself to advance and Empower my future using AI now let's be clear every aspect matters but it must start with legislation a strong federal law is crucial one that shifts powers back to the victims ensuring they can remove harmful images within 48 hours that's not just poliy that's real tangible protection that's take it down we need this to pass thank you thank you Fresca thank you also for your courage and your strength and your Clarity both both you and Elliston are are inspirational and and and we're proud to have you with us today uh as Franchesca mentioned over 90% of the victims of non-consensual intimate images are either women or young girls it doesn't just affect teenagers adults can also be victimized and Bree Lou when she was 24 years old she got a nightmare phone call from her friend that an explicit video of hers had been posted on a pornography website that phone call started a series of events in which Breeze would rise to lead the fight for the removal of these abusive images ree thank you for being here thank you for your leadership tell us about about what you experienced and and and what you've done to to try to stop it thank you it is both humbling and empowering for me to be here today on behalf of millions of survivors I'd like to thank you for giving us a voice and Shining a spotlight on this critical issue we stand at a defining moment in human history artificial intelligence has given us unprecedented power and brought profound transformation but with extraordinary technology advancement we also face immense challenges in April 20120 my life changed forever a friend called to tell me that a video of me was circulating on PornHub at first I thought it was a mistake I have never even visited PornHub but when I clicked the link I saw my face on a pornographic video the devastation I felt is Indescribable I was humiliated dehumanized and and overwhelmed with shame but when I sought help the system failed me I was victim blamed and shamed while the perpetrator faced zero consequences as more videos spread to hundreds of malicious websites I nearly lost everything my dignity my reputation and I almost lost my life for every victim there is a moment when the ground disappears beneath you when the shame the violation the loss of control it all consumes you and then when you reach for help you find there is none no accountability no recourse Just A system that shrugs and says it's too complicated it's impossible to fix the internet is too big but America is a nation that does not accept impossible in 1969 an American set his foot on the moon and said that is one small step for men one J giant leap for mankind this nation did something that was once believed to be impossible with computing power equivalent to a basic calculator we accomplished one of the greatest Feats in human history when it comes to ending online violence America must lead the take it down Act is an essential first step it creates countability where there was none before it ensures that victims can have harmful content moved swiftly lifting the unbearable burden survivors have long carried alone if legislation is the Foundation Technology is the bridge history will not remember us for the tools we build it will remember us for how we choose to wield it the internet AI the digital tools are not inherently good or evil they reflect the values of those who control them this is a tech enabled problem and it requires a tech enabled solution the same technology that created this issue can also power its solution and this is why we find Hope and this is what my work at electo AI is about building human- centered AI to combat AI abuse to those who say this problem is too big I say this America is not in the habit of backing down from heart fights today the smartphone in our pocket holds computing power thousands of times s greater than what NASA used during the Apolo program we have the technology to fix this we have the legislation to create accountability now we need the will to act this is a nation that has always L the world in shaping the future not waiting for someone someone else to do it first the future is being decided now so let us rise to this challenge not because it is easy but because it is necessary it is time to reclaim our Humanity in a digital age let history show that when faced with Injustice we did not stand idly by we fought we built we progressed and we won pass this bill take action let us build a digital future that is safe just and worthy of the generations to come do not let my yesterday become there tomorrow thank you thank you Breeze thank you very much for your courage and your Clarity what you experienced and Ellison experienced and Franchesca experienced was a grotesque violation of your privacy and your fundamental rights and each of you has used that pain to advocate for others and to try to stop someone else from being victimized the way you have been although the vast majority of the targets of this abuse are women and young girls young boys can be targeted as well and the FBI has warned that there's a growing threat of sex tortion deliberately targeting miners online where evil people use either real or fake explicit images to extort their victims both sexually and financially and in some instances the results can be even more devastating and catastrophic and that was the tragic situation that that South Carolina state representative branded Guffy and his family uh experienced in 2022 representative Guffy would you please share what happened with your son thank you Senator Cruz um July 27th 2022 I lost my oldest son Gavin Guffy to Suicide um we quickly found out that he was being extorted online that someone pretending to be a young female at another College uh requested images to be shared back and forth and as soon as he shared those images he took his life it was an hour and 40 minutes from the time that he was contacted until the time that he took his life at that time I had never heard of the crime of sextortion I was always a more Liberty minded um politician even though I hate to say that word and you know I wanted Freedom as much as possible but as I started looking into this I started to see that big Tech operates and they are the equivalent of big tobacco of this of today's generation the account that targeted my son that caused him to take his life was taken down online once Homeland Security reached out however they left the the additional accounts up if I send a friend request I can choose remove this account and any other accounts associated yet they left these other accounts up and those other accounts began to extort my 14-year-old cousin my 16-year-old son who had just lost his brother and myself as well going as far as sending a message saying that I tell you that your son Begg for his life from that day forward I have made it my life's Mission politics are not to fight to protect Children online since December of 2022 whenever I took office within four months we were able to pass Gavin's law in South Carolina which criminalized digital sextortion and the first person that we were able to convict under Gavin's law was actually under an AI photograph I have helped thousands of children since then matter of fact I've dealt with three within the past 48 Hours of families that are reaching out that are being extorted in these situations I've worked with groups such as enosi and nickm here on the hill I have showed up with parents and unfortunately the amount of parents that are losing children are growing daily since my son took his life there's been 40 other teens that are public about this I can tell you there's more than a dozen that I know of that just do not feel comfortable sharing their stories but I'm witnessing teens constantly take their life and as you said Senator Cruz trying to get an image down now granted I'm just a state representative but I have a little bit more pull than the average citizen and I'm able to get some of these taken down occasionally but that's generally not the case and with something such as take it down it would allow families to be able to have those images taken down and to have the voice that my son did not have there was no recourse of being able to know to be able to get these images down and in his mind no one had his back and this wasn't talked about so since then it's been my mission to speak up scream it from the mountain Toops on how we have to hold big Tech accountable and take it down does that so for everyone involved I really thank you for your involvement and urge for passage within the house Brandon thank you for being here thank you for for speaking out you you have endured every parent's nightmare there there is not a parent in America on the face of the world that is not terrified of the pain and tragedy you experienced and thank you for using Gavin's memory to to Spur action uh to protect other children uh our our final speaker will be Stefan turkheimer uh Stephan turkheimer is the vice president of public policy for the rape abuse and incest national network rain is one of the nation's leading anti- ual violence organizations that works diligently to ensure that perpetrators are brought to Justice Stefan I want to thank you and rain for you for your Avid support and hard work to advance the take it down act and and we've had a lot of discussion today about the use of AI to create fake sexually explicit images of real people uh we've heard from those who've been impacted by by those heinous acts can you describe what you're seeing across the country how technology is changing the threat and why Congress needs to act yes absolutely thank you for the question and thank you you can push the power button on I already turned it on okay yeah okay thank you for your advocacy Senator Cruz and thank you for being here Madam first lady and thank you representative Salazar for your leadership um I'm Stephan turer vice president of the rape abuse and incest national network and what we're best known for is running the national sexual assault hotline and the hotline's Really two parts there's a phone call and there's also an online hotline and during the pandemic more than half of the people reaching out to the online hotline were children which was very surprising to us and we thought well it's people stuck at home with their abuser there's no other plate Wass to report after the pandemic ends the children will fall away from the hotline but they didn't and what we started seeing in the data was that things that started is you know maybe one or two cases a month started doubling every every month from 2019 to now and it's all image-based sexual abuse image-based sexual abuse is often a part of inperson sexual abuse but often exists on its own and all these kids that are calling the hotline that are reaching out they're suffering the same trauma the same harm very similar harm as what happens in person and the difference is that it keeps happening over and over and over again every time the images surface and all those people on the hotline want to be able to say is this ends now we have a way of stopping it but the reality is we do not we do not have good options for those kids we don't have an ability to get these images taken down which is why I'm so grateful for a bill like this that will say in 48 hours this is done you won't have to be re-traumatized every time you open a laptop every text you get every time you hear that noise it's someone else telling you they've seen you online that ends when this bill passes and thank you for your advocacy and thank you for everyone for being here Stefan thank you thank you for for your hard work and for rigns hard work protecting the victims of sexual violence and exploitation it's it's enormously important work uh I now want to give an opportunity for each of the Congressional members here to either either make a comment or or ask a question of any of our victims or victim Advocates and and we'll start with speaker Johnson thank you Ted Senator great work on this representative Salazar our extraordinary first lady for bringing this to the Public's attention I want to thank these extraordinary Witnesses we had today uh Breeze and Brandon and and um Stephan the the ladies Ellison and and um Franchesca you're so articulate you could serve in Congress in fact I'll recruit you in a couple of years to be here um look I'm just going to say very briefly State the obvious as the Dark Side of technnology advances these unspeakable evils become part of the culture the law has to keep up and I'm really grateful that we have thoughtful legislators here who take the take the Reigns on this and uh and are willing to do uh to pass legislation to address it we are anxious to put it on the floor in the house to get it to president Trump's desk for Signature because we've got to do what we can to stop this and I am a a full supporter of it I'm grateful to have a moment to be with you all y back thank you Mr Speaker I appreciate your being here and I appreciate your your your leadership getting this passed into law so that we can protect these victims and and prevent further victims uh Majority Leader scales well uh I as well want to thank Senator Cruz uh and congresswoman Salazar for your leadership uh we came Incredibly Close last year to getting this across the finish line but uh I think with the leadership and the voice of the First Lady I just want to applaud first lady Melania Trump for Lending your voice and the strength of your office to this because I have no doubt this is going to be the year that we actually get the take it down act signed into law and I think as you heard from you know Ellis and Francesca Breeze the horrible stories you could have easily just walked away and hidden and and had somebody else pick up The Mantel to do this but you said no nobody else should have to do uh and be go through what I've been through so I'm going to lend my voice in my experience so that we can stop anybody else from having this happen again and and when you then hear okay well it's going to take an act of Congress to fix this you probably really get concerned and say well I've heard how long that takes and believe me it can take a long time unless you've got the right Coalition and this time I think you've got the right Coalition you have the right leader leaders bipartisan Coalition want to thank my colleague rokana uh Senator clob Bashar for being a part of this too because when you look at where we are now you know I go back to my days in the State House of Representatives and this before social media but back then the technology for cameras was getting very very small and more high definition and video voyerism was the crime of the day back then and you would have people that would put cameras in places where you couldn't even see them and record people willing or not and then use it later usually for similar kind of things to try to shame somebody to try to extort somebody uh to try to get revenge on somebody and what shocked us is when we started hearing these stories when mostly young girls and I think Ellison was the one that ran the stats 96% uh of the victims are typically young girls or children uh but what shocked them the most was that that was not a crime even when you found out who did it wasn't a crime so guess what we created the law of video voyerism and all of a sudden people started going to jail and the word got out and it still happens unfortunately but it doesn't happen at the extent that it used to because now people know there's consequences the same thing will happen with the take it down act and I know he's going to talk as well but I want to applaud chairman Brett Guthrie of the Energy and Commerce Committee because he and I have talked about this a number of times and and we have a high commitment uh not only to bring it through his committee but when the bill comes through committee it will be a priority to bring the bill to the house floor quickly to get it to the president's desk for Signature because it's going to give victims two things one it's going to give them the protection that they deserve to say within 48 hours this will be taken down the platforms will have to take it down and then it's going to do something else that just doesn't exist at the level it should and that is the accountability to the perpetrator because those boys shouldn't still be in school strutting around as if nothing happened as if it's your problem to deal with that they created because nobody's going to touch them will you tag the word felon to the end of that name all of those athletic Ventures go away a lot of other things go away and people will think twice so again thank you Senator Cruz uh thank you Congressman Sal are and thank you first lady for Lending your voice but I really applaud the victims because we want you to come back uh I I I I know somebody in the White House that may be able to get us an invitation to be at that signing ceremony uh but just Envision the day where all of your work to not just sit quietly but to speak out on behalf of others so that there aren't victims in the future and that there are consequences in the future your work will pay off we're going to get this done this year well and thank you Steve for your friendship and Leadership and just to underscore something that that Steve just said I feel confident uh that when this bill is signed into law that each of the victim Advocates that you'll receive a signing pen that the president used to sign it into law and and by the way they're about this big they're massive it your husband does nothing small uh representative mlan the the head of the house Republican conference the number three Republican uh in in the house uh if you have any comments or or questions well I have a lot to say but unfortunately I got a short time to say it in so let me start with thank you thank you for putting this on the floor thank you Maria and thank you to the first lady to drawing it attention it is disgusting that we have to put this Common Sense legislation on the floor but here we sit today right repr representative Kaa thank you so much for being here because this is not a partisan an issue taking the Innocence away from the V most vulnerable are children this isn't a partisan game this is games with with our children's lives and as parents where are you parents I can't even begin to imagine your emotions I I mean I I I applaud you for your decorum and for the victims you want want to talk about courageous you want to talk about Winners you want to talk about young people with some guts you're looking at them right here we can't thank you enough we're sorry from the bottom of our hearts from what for what you've had to go through and for the parents for the for the suffering that you have but it is darkest before the dawn and it starts today so thank you thank you for having the courage to stand up to be true winners and we will like the leader and the speaker said we will get this done we must get this done so take a moment and reflect in your courage in everything that you've accomplished at such a young age and parents I don't know how much more proud you can be of your children so thank you [Applause] Thank you Lisa and thank you for your leadership uh now I want to recognize Congressman Kevin Hearn who is the chairman of the Republican policy committee uh for any comments or questions thanks Senator and first let thank you so much for making us you know pushing it forward this is going to be something that um you know as as the speaker said this is something we need to modernize law for what's happening with technology and somebody that's old enough to have three children from 36 to 25 and now three grandchildren and just had a fourth one that's a little girl and the reason I say all that is is the evolution just in our lifespan of the technology that's happened and what's happened to Our Generations bringing this to the Forefront is so important for us to make a law that will fix this for future Generations it's tragic and it shouldn't be as you said senator for those who have influence it should be for every American to be able to protect their innocence artists and musicians and actors are doing it every been every day been doing it now for two or three years we need to make sure the least of us can have the same opportunity and as the first lady said we should have everybody involved in this this should be one of the easiest things that's ever gone through Congress and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to uh to address any issues that might come from any of our colleagues but again thank you congresswoman Salazar Senator Cruz and first lady thank you so much we really really appreciate you being involved thank you Kevin uh now like to recognize representative Brett Guthrie the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee thank thank you Senator thank you my colleague congresswoman Salazar thank you for doing the first lady thank you for being here and all our Advocates uh I will say that uh I'll just now Energy and Commerce Committee is going to have a hearing very very soon this bill is going to pass out of the House of Representatives and I have no I would have no doubt that the president would sign this bill but I certainly have no doubt the president will sign this bill in a in a way that that has everybody who's been part of this to to be a part of it but and I'll I'll just say it's just kind of interesting to point out if you think about how this started I so Senator Cruz I just became chairman of the committee we had a meeting uh right after I became chairman col say hey let's get together and talk about our issues this is the number one issue our committees have a lot of jurisdiction this is the number one thing that he brought up is the most important thing to him this session to get through the house from the Senate to the House of Representatives and it started by constituent going to visit her Senator and if you think about that here your constituent goes to visit her senator in America and now you're sitting next to the first lady of the United States getting this is this is how it's supposed to work we're sitting how it's supposed to work it's a horrific situation but the response to it is the way that that we're supposed to respond so we have to respond to it and I can't I'm sitting here just going to guarantee you the house Energy and Commerce Committee working with our leadership is going to respond to it and thanks for all of you for your advocacy for being here and bringing this attention thanks Senator Cruz for for stressing this in our very first meeting and this is going to be a top priority over the next few weeks for the Energy and Commerce Committee thank you thank you Brett thank you for being here and thank you for your your leadership at ENC and Inc incredibly important uh final speaker representative Ro cona thank you uh thank you Ro for joining us and and you're recognized for any comments or questions well thank you uh Senator Cruz thank you for your leadership on this for many years thank you Congress wom Salazar for your leadership speaker Johnson and uh leader scalise thank thank you for on issues like this working in a bipartisan way first lady uh uh Trump I uh really uh appreciate you're bringing uh your humanity and looking at this as a parent and as a leader uh and not through politics uh and I your presence here obviously is going to make a big difference and I appreciate uh your being here and doing so for the country in a bipartisan way uh Mr gaffy sorry for your loss thank you for for being here here and to uh Francesca Elliston and Breeze I mean you inspire all of us and I I just would say this look Francesca invoked uh John F Kennedy um my parents came here in the 1960s from India when Kennedy was talking about going to the moon and I know Breeze talked about that we've got to be able to figure out some ways of coming together as a country as divided as we are I represent Silicon Valley I'm very proud of the Innovation I'm very proud of the technology but America should lead in making sure that technology protects kids and protects people and I think this bill as you've crafted it Senator Cruz balances the Free Speech concerns with the protections and I'm looking forward to supporting it well Ro thank you for being here and and let me say thank you for the bipartisan support we have uh in in this bill in the Senate uh Senator kachar is the lead Democrat author and we've passed it unanimously through the Senate and and in the house meline Dean and Rana and and other Democrats are supporting it and and I'm confident there are issues that divide us on partisan bases but this should not be one of them this should be one that we all come together and say look we need to protect our kids we need to keep them safe um I I I will say to the victim Advocates you guys are extraordinary you are courageous you are inspirational and you're making a real difference so thank you um I I will say to the house members you're seeing something that I'm sure you thought was impossible which which is the Senate doing anything briefly and expeditiously but this was scheduled to last 1 hour and we are at 59 minutes un precisely on time uh and Madam first lady we are grateful for your leadership uh it uh your presence in your advocacy brings people together inspires them and is producing real action uh to fight for these young women and young boys and and Americans across the country and we're grateful thank you everyone thanks [Applause]