Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.R. No. 7 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to urge Hawaii's delegation to Congress to explore the possibilities of assigning Internet address designations so that minors will not be exposed to inappropriate or pornographic material on the Internet.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Catholic Conference and a private citizen.

Your Committee finds that anyone conducting a search on the Internet will very easily stumble on to an inappropriate web site. Some of these sites are carefully disguised to hide the true content until accessed. Thus, your Committee would like to urge Congress to look into the possibility of assigning a domain tag such as .xxx for pornography sites and .kids for sites suitable for children. Clearly marked domain tags will serve as a guide for material suitable for children.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 7 and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing.