Josh Hawley teams with Democrats to pass bills that stalled in Senate

Joe Holleman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on May 29, 2025

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Picking up a fight they started two years ago, GOP U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois again have proposed laws aimed at curbing child pornography.

Last week, the bistate pair reintroduced a bill that would eliminate laws that protect tech companies from being held liable for hosting child sex abuse material.

The bill also would allow victims to bring federal civil lawsuits against companies that promote, store or make such material available.

“Big Tech has woefully failed to police itself, and the American people are demanding that Congress intervene,” Durbin said in a story published by Axios.

In 2023, Hawley and Durbin had limited success with a similar measure; it passed unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee but then was blocked on the Senate floor.

This is the second bill in the current congressional session featuring Hawley and Durbin attempting to pass legislation that failed to pass in years past.

Last month, the two proposed a bill that would allow workers and retirees to retain more of their wages, benefits and retirement savings when their companies file for bankruptcy.

Also, one of the co-sponsors of the Hawley-Durbin child-porn measure is U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona.

He and Hawley are teaming up again to take another shot at passing legislation they introduced in 2024, a bill that would offer education benefits to police officers and their dependents. The proposal is aimed at attracting more people into law-enforcement jobs.

While trying to gain passage of the bill last year, the senators noted studies which show that law enforcement agencies saw 50% more resignations in 2022 than in 2019.

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