WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback voted last week in support of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and made the following statement in favor of the legislation, which will help Kansans deal with the ever-increasing amounts of spam piling up in their e-mail in-boxes.

"Unsolicited spam is intrusive, unwelcome and threatens our children," Brownback said. "The anti-spam legislation passed last week will allow families to control the content flowing into their homes and gives legal recourse to go after those that do not comply.

"Spam, or unsolicited commercial e-mail, is something with which all Internet-using Americans are familiar. Too often we sign into our e-mail accounts and become inundated with a slew of junk e-mails. USA Today recently reported that more than 2 trillion spam messages are expected to be sent over the Internet this year. Much of this spam takes the form of pornographic advertisements that finds their way into our children's e-mail accounts just as easily as those of adults. Often these messages are deceptively labeled, and once opened lock Internet browsers into pornography websites. Such activity is abhorrent. There is a clear and compelling governmental interest in creating a legal foundation to combat such spam.

"Leading Internet Service Providers have made great efforts to deploy new technologies, such as e-mail filtering tools, to combat the growing tide of spam. Unfortunately, these efforts require substantial resources for results that leave much to be desired. Similarly, our nation's educational institutions are losing the battle to prevent spam from inundating their Internet services, spending precious resources to limit the amount of spam processed through their servers - resources that would be better spent educating students. Service providers, educational institutions, and consumers alike need help, which the CAN-SPAM Act will provide.

"The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 empowers consumers to demand that a particular spammer stop sending them messages, and puts the force of law behind that demand; creates civil and criminal sanctions for sending spam that deceives recipients as to its contents; institutes civil penalties for spam that fails to include an 'opt-out' mechanism, which will ensure consumers may prohibit a spammer from contacting them in the future; provides the Federal Trade Commission with enforcement authority; and authorizes State attorneys general and ISPs to take action against violators. I am confident that these provisions will help our information age society begin to get a handle on spam.

"In addition to supporting the underlying legislation, I would like to express particular support for an amendment offered by Senators McCain and Schumer, which will ultimately lead to a do-not-spam registry. While more complex than the existing do-not-call registry, I am hopeful that this amendment will ultimately lead to the successful creation of a spam-equivalent that American consumers can use to eliminate the waste, nuisance, and obnoxiousness of spam.

"I am confident that the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 will be instrumental in helping my constituents begin to deal with the ever-increasing amounts of spam piling up in their e-mail in-boxes," Brownback said.