ENFORCE Act

H.R. 4831, titled the Enhancing Necessary Federal Offenses Regarding Child Exploitation Act (ENFORCE Act), was introduced in the House on August 1, 2025 by Rep. Elise Stefanik’s colleague? Actually the text lists Mrs. Wagner (for herself), along with Reps. Van Drew and Cohen, and referred to the Judiciary Committee. The bill’s overall aim is to strengthen federal enforcement against material depicting obscene child sexual abuse or constituting child pornography. It does this by clarifying the production offenses under 18 U.S.C. 2252A to cover broader interstate connections, removing time limits for certain obscene materials, expanding the list of offenses that trigger sex-offender registration, tightening evidence handling, and increasing detention and supervision requirements for offenders. In short, it tightens legal tools and procedures to prosecute and monitor individuals who produce, possess, or distribute illegal child sexual abuse material, and it tightens protections around the use and custody of such material in court proceedings. Key changes include: clearer scope for what counts as production of child pornography with interstate nexus; removal of statutes of limitations for obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse; adding these offenses to the sex-offender registry; new rules about keeping and accessing depictions in court and by victims; and stronger pretrial detention and post-imprisonment supervision for these offenses.