Who says bipartisanship is dead?
The Eliminating Pornography from Agencies Act, which would prohibit federal employees from accessing pornographic or explicit material on government computers and devices, passed through the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday.
The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., made the exciting announcement Wednesday. Meadows introduced the bill Feb. 19 after a similar bill he introduced in the last session of Congress did not pass.
The new bill is an extension of the prior one, which stems from a May 2014 inspector general’s report on federal employees watching pornography while at work. The report revealed a top-level employee at the Environmental Protection Agency was viewing as many as six hours of pornography a day in his office on his government computer.
However, the EPA was unable to fire the man as of March 2, and he remains out on paid leave.
“Over the last several months it has become far too obvious that the type of behavior that was first highlighted at the EPA has been discovered over and over again, across a host of agencies. To ignore this issue would not only condone an abuse of taxpayers’ dollars, but also embrace an unhealthy workplace. Today’s action should send a clear message that it is time for zero tolerance of this kind of behavior,” Meadows said in a statement.
“While there are rules in place at most agencies to ban this kind of unprofessional and unacceptable workplace behavior, it continues to take place. There is absolutely no excuse for federal employees to be viewing or downloading pornographic materials on the taxpayers’ dime,” Meadows said.
