Republican takes major step to stop child predators and foreigners from exploiting America's surrogacy system

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) introduced two new bills on Thursday targeting child exploitation through surrogacy and held a press conference with fellow Republican Reps. Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Randy Fine of Florida to discuss the details.

"We are here because we are concerned about the safety and the welfare of children — and, in particular, the use of surrogacy to get around [the law]," Perry said.

'Children are not pets. Children are not property.'

Perry's legislation is twofold. The first bill closes a dangerous loophole that allows registered sex offenders to legally obtain children through surrogacy agencies, and the second bars foreign nationals from using American surrogacy agencies to obtain U.S. citizen children altogether.

Protecting kids from creeps

The first bill, the Protecting Kids from Creeps Act, was sparked by a recent case in Pennsylvania.

Brandon Riley-Mitchell, a former high school chemistry teacher, pleaded guilty to felony child pornography charges after sending more than 12,000 texts to a 16-year-old student, soliciting nude photos, and sending roughly 20 nude images of himself.

He served time in prison and was designated a registered Tier I sex offender. Then, he and his male romantic partner obtained a newborn through surrogacy — legally.

The couple set up a GoFundMe to fund the surrogacy, seemingly without disclosing Mitchell's sex offender status to donors.

RELATED: 'There is no mama': Two homosexuals taunt surrogate baby crying for his mother: VIDEO

Pennsylvania State Police

York County District Attorney Tim Barker confirmed to Newsweek that there was nothing prosecutors could do. Unlike adoption, which requires background checks, home studies, and court approval, private surrogacy agreements operate with virtually no oversight. Mitchell found the gap and walked right through it.

Perry's bill slams that door shut with serious penalties.

Any sex offender who knowingly enters into a surrogacy agreement would face a mandatory minimum of 20 years in federal prison. Surrogacy agency employees who knowingly facilitate such a deal would face the same. Agencies that act recklessly would face a minimum of 10 years, would lose their 501(c)(3) status, and would be permanently barred from receiving federal grants.

The bill defines "sex offender" broadly — covering anyone who is, or ever was, required to register under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

Rep. Burchett didn't mince words about the importance of the bill.

"A sex offender — these dirtbags — we need to send them all to hell, but they've got no right to obtain a child through surrogacy. They lost that right when they committed a disgusting crime that put them on this list," Burchett said.

Burchett closed with Scripture. "Jesus said, 'How you treat the least amongst you is how you treat me,'" Burchett said.

Preventing foreign exploitation of US surrogacy

The second bill, H.R. 9132, which Perry said already has co-sponsorship, targets a separate but equally alarming problem: foreign nationals — including citizens of adversarial nations — using American surrogacy agencies to have children with U.S. citizenship.

Perry framed it plainly: "International commercial surrogacy, birth tourism — it's a national security threat. It invites immigration fraud and malfeasance, and most importantly, it is an ethical, moral imperative — because we are allowing, if not facilitating, child endangerment."

Perry pointed specifically to wealthy Chinese nationals exploiting the system. He cited the case of a Chinese man who fathered more than 100 children through U.S. surrogacy.

Other accounts describe Chinese men having surrogate children raised by nannies. One California agency owner described helping a client who wanted more than 200 children to build a family enterprise.

"There's a mansion in California where people roll up to it like it's a drive-thru and pick up these babies and send them to China," Perry said. "This is horrific. And it's horrific that it's happening in the United States of America. Yet it is."

Reportedly, more than 107 Chinese-owned surrogacy agencies are currently operating in Southern California alone. The issue was also addressed in a letter from Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. Children born through these arrangements automatically receive U.S. citizenship — making them eligible to vote, access sensitive government positions, and eventually sponsor their foreign parents for immigrant visas.

Perry noted that even China has banned surrogacy domestically.

"We don't want to be creating spies with American passports who are raised in China and have their allegiance to the Communist Party of China," Perry said.

"If you live in one of these countries and you want to have a surrogate child, do that in your country. Don't come to America."

When Blaze News asked Perry whether he expects pushback from California Democrats, given that 107 Chinese-owned agencies are reportedly operating in their back yard, he didn't hold back.

"I do expect a response from California Democrats. Unfortunately, they could have introduced this legislation — these things were occurring in their back yard. They were easy for us to find. Apparently, they not only don't care about it, they're good with it," Perry said.

"Look, we're on the high ground here. Doesn't matter what the response is. I don't know how you can defend sending children — newborns — to pedophiles."

The bill would void any surrogacy contract between an American surrogate and a foreign national prospective parent and impose up to 10 years in prison on brokers who facilitate such agreements. Rep. Perry says the bill includes an exception for married couples of whom at least one prospective parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

"Families are important to Americans, and we want to enable that," Perry said. "But it also doesn't oppose restrictions to ensure surrogacy or IVF clinic channels aren't exploited by foreign nationals without allegiance to the U.S. or current and former sex offenders. That's what we're trying to get after."

Rep. Fine offered a pointed summary: "Surrogacy is a special, almost holy procedure. ... But like so many things in our culture, this noble, special, almost holy process where someone gives of themselves to make someone else a parent has been perverted and bastardized for those who would seek to do evil."

"Children are not pets. Children are not property," Perry said.

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