Quincy Reporter

Mary Miller, a representative for Illinois' 15th Congressional District, expressed her pride in sponsoring the SCREEN Act in the U.S. House. The act aims to establish federal age verification laws to protect children from harmful online content.

"Today, the Supreme Court upheld Texas' law limiting access to online pornography," said Mary E. Miller, U.S. Representative of Illinois's 15th congressional district (R). "I'm proud to lead the House version of the SCREEN Act with Senator Mike Lee. It's time for strong federal age verification laws to protect our kids from harmful, explicit content."

In a post on X, Miller responded to Senator Mike Lee's statement that described the Supreme Court's decision as "a major victory for states’ authority to protect kids from dangerous online content through age verification."

Screenshot of U.S. Rep. Mary Miller's June 27 Post on X | X

According to NPR, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Texas law on June 27 requiring visitors to verify their ages before accessing sexually explicit material online. This decision aims to protect minors and was made with a 6-3 majority. The court said that the law "only incidentally burdens the protected speech of adults" by requiring proof of age, typically through a government-issued ID. However, NPR reported that the Texas law did not specify what qualifies as "harmful to children," potentially including romance novels and R-rated movies.

Senator Mike Lee introduced the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act on February 26, according to a news release from his office. The release indicated that since the Supreme Court last addressed this issue, blocking and filtering software have allowed 80% of teens to be exposed to online pornography, contributing to psychological issues and unhealthy sexual behaviors. The bill is supported by organizations such as the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and others.

Miller is currently serving in Congress, representing Illinois’ 15th district after replacing John Shimkus in 2021. She graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1959, Miller now resides in Oakland with her family. She has seven children and twenty grandchildren and continues to manage her fourth-generation family farm with her husband.