WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A recently rejected ban on "virtual" child pornography found new life on Thursday when a House of Representatives subcommittee approved a rewritten version that supporters claim would not infringe free-speech rights.

Drafted by the Justice Department, the bill would tighten the definition of child pornography to avoid constitutional questions raised by a previous law that the Supreme Court struck down last month because it was too broadly written.

The House Judiciary subcommittee on crime also approved a bill that would make it easier to prosecute "sex tourists" who travel abroad to have sex with children.

The child-pornography bill, sponsored by Texas Republican Lamar Smith, would not criminalize simulated sex acts between adults or older teens, such as those depicted in movies like "American Beauty," or created with image-manipulating software.

But defendants in child-pornography cases would be required to prove that the images in question were entirely computer-generated and not a depiction of actual events. Pornography involving prepubescent children would be outlawed entirely, whether it was "virtual" or not.

The subcommittee removed a provision that would have created a database of child pornography, after Georgia Republican Rep. Bob Barr said it would violate the privacy of victims.

The bill has been given priority status by House Republican leaders, who hope to pass it out of the House by the end of the month.

Smith said the Supreme Court's decision makes child-porn prosecutions difficult because defendants can argue that evidence is entirely computer-generated.

"This decision will have a devastating effect on the prosecution of child pornographers who are often child molesters," Smith said.

But Virginia Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott said the rewritten bill would put an unfair burden on defendants by requiring them to prove they were not guilty, unlike most cases which place the burden of proof on the prosecutor.

"If you don't know whether the image before you is of a real child or not, you haven't proved your case beyond a reasonable doubt," Scott said.

Scott also objected to a bill that takes aim at "sex tourists" who travel abroad to have sex with children. The bill, which passed on a voice vote, is written so broadly that it could criminalize U.S. citizens who travel from one state to another to gamble, he said.

House leaders have made the child-pornography bill a priority and hope to bring it to a floor vote on the week of May 20, said an aide to House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

"We want to move sooner rather than later to respond to the April 16 court decision," said Richard Diamond, an Armey aide.

The full Judiciary Committee plans to take up the bill next week, a committee spokesman said.