I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 863 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a publishing house from 

knowingly furnishing sexually explicit material to a school or an educational agency, to prohibit Federal funds from being provided to a 

school that obtains or an educational agency that distributes sexually 

explicit material, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2023 

Mr. MILLS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on 

the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a publishing house from knowingly furnishing sexually explicit 

material to a school or an educational agency, to prohibit 

Federal funds from being provided to a school that obtains or an educational agency that distributes sexually 

explicit material, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 863 IH

1 SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON KNOWINGLY FURNISHING 

2 SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL TO A SCHOOL 

3 OR AN EDUCATIONAL AGENCY. 

4 (a) PROHIBITION ON KNOWINGLY FURNISHING SEX5 UALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL TO A SCHOOL OR AN EDU6 CATIONAL AGENCY.—Chapter 71 of title 18, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘§ 1471. Furnishing of sexually explicit material to a 

10 school or an educational agency 

11 ‘‘(a) OFFENSES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) PUBLISHING HOUSE.—Whoever, in or af13 fecting interstate commerce, being a publishing 

14 house, knowingly furnishes an elementary school, a 

15 secondary school, a local educational agency, or a 

16 State educational agency with published material 

17 containing a sexually explicit visual depiction of any 

18 kind, including a picture, photograph, or drawing, 

19 shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500,000. 

20 ‘‘(2) PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR, MANAGER, OR OF21 FICER OF A PUBLISHING HOUSE.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whoever, in or affect23 ing interstate commerce, being a president, di24 rector, manager, or officer of a publishing 

25 house, knowingly authorizes the furnishing of 

26 published material in violation of paragraph (1) 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 863 IH

1 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not 

2 more than 5 years, or both. 

3 ‘‘(B) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—It shall be 

4 an affirmative defense to a charge of violating 

5 subparagraph (A) if the defendant proves, by a 

6 preponderance of the evidence, that an indi7 vidual at a higher management level knowingly 

8 authorized the furnishing of the published ma9 terial involved. 

10 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTED MATERIAL.—The prohibitions in 

11 subsection (a) do not apply with respect to material with 

12 serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. 

13 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘elementary 

15 school’, ‘local educational agency’, ‘secondary 

16 school’, and ‘State educational agency’ have the 

17 meanings given those terms in section 8101 of the 

18 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

19 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

20 ‘‘(2) PUBLISHED MATERIAL.—The term ‘pub21 lished material’— 

22 ‘‘(A) means any book, magazine, news23 paper, or other printed material; and 

24 ‘‘(B) includes digital or electronic books. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 863 IH

1 ‘‘(3) PUBLISHING HOUSE.—The term ‘pub2 lishing house’ means a for-profit entity that manu3 factures, distributes, or sells published material.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

5 for chapter 71 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

6 by inserting after the item relating to section 1470 the 

7 following: 

‘‘1471. Furnishing of sexually explicit material to a school or an educational agency.’’. 

8 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL FUNDS FOR SCHOOL 

9 OBTAINING OR EDUCATIONAL AGENCY DIS10 TRIBUTING SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL. 

11 (a) NO FEDERAL FUNDS FOR SCHOOL OBTAINING

12 SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL.—No Federal funds may 

13 be provided to an elementary school or a secondary school 

14 that knowingly obtains published material containing a 

15 sexually explicit visual depiction of any kind, including a 

16 picture, photograph, or drawing, until such time that the 

17 school relinquishes or destroys the published material. 

18 (b) NO FEDERAL FUNDS FOR EDUCATIONAL AGEN19 CY DISTRIBUTING SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL.—No 

20 Federal funds may be provided to a local educational 

21 agency or a State educational agency that knowingly dis22 tributes to an elementary school or a secondary school 

23 published material containing a sexually explicit visual de24 piction of any kind, including a picture, photograph, or 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 863 IH

1 drawing, until such time that the educational agency in2 structs the school to which the educational agency distrib3 uted the published material to either relinquish or destroy 

4 the material. 

5 (c) EXCEPTED MATERIAL.—The prohibitions in sub6 sections (a) and (b) do not apply with respect to material 

7 with serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. 

8 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

10 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary 

11 school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the 

12 meanings given those terms in section 8101 of the 

13 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

14 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

15 (2) PUBLISHED MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘pub16 lished material’’— 

17 (A) means any book, magazine, newspaper, 

18 or other printed material; and 

19 (B) includes digital or electronic books. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB