(Washington, D.C.) Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers applauds new efforts announced today that will help keep kids safer online. MySpace.com and law enforcement agencies from across the country announced an agreement to protect kids from online predators by setting the profiles of the youngest users to private. The agreement also makes it easier for parents to limit children’s access to social networking sites.

Under today’s agreement, MySpace.com also pledged to delete the profiles of registered sex offenders who use the website. “MySpace took a positive first step, but Congress can also protect kids online by increasing the penalties for people who use the Internet to prey on children,” McMorris Rodgers says. “That is why I introduced the Internet Sex Offender Prohibition Act of 2007. It would lock sex offenders up if they use websites like MySpace.com to communicate with kids.” McMorris Rodgers urges Congress to pass her legislation during the upcoming year.

H.R. 3144, the Internet Sex Offender Prohibition Act of 2007, would amend Section 2251 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code to include a mandatory penalty of 5 to 20 years in prison for any individual required to register as a sex offender who knowingly accesses an Internet website with the intent to communicate with an unsuspecting child under the age of 18.

Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna is among the attorneys general who reached the agreement with MySpace.com. McKenna recently launched the Youth Internet Safety Task Force to address issues of predation, while at the same time devising ways to combat the proliferation of child pornography and the further sexual exploitation and victimization of our children.