[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2159 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2159

   To require the Federal Communications Commission to evaluate and 
 publicly report on the violence contained in television programs, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 1993

  Mr. Durbin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Federal Communications Commission to evaluate and 
 publicly report on the violence contained in television programs, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Television Violence Report Card Act 
of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Television is bringing an epidemic of violence into the 
        American home. 25 percent of prime time television shows 
        contain ``very violent'' material, according to the National 
        Coalition on Television Violence.
            (2) This epidemic has been growing steadily worse. Prime 
        time violence tripled during the 1980's, the American Academy 
        of Pediatrics reports.
            (3) Shows aimed at children are especially violent. 
        According to a University of Pennsylvania study, children's 
        programming contains over 30 violent acts per hour, an all-time 
        record.
            (4) The average child watches 8,000 murders and 100,000 
        acts of violence before finishing elementary school on 
        television.
            (5) The National Institute of Mental Health states that 
        violence on television leads to aggressive behavior by children 
        and teenagers who watch violent television programs. There is 
        overwhelming evidence that children tend to imitate the 
        behavior they see on television.
            (6) The growing international media market has put a 
        premium on ``action''-type television shows that require little 
        verbal translation, making violence a major United States 
        export to the rest of the world.
            (7) It is not the role of government to tell people what to 
        watch or broadcasters what to show, but the Federal Government 
        should bolster the ability of families and communities to make 
        these decisions themselves.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TELEVISION VIOLENCE REPORT CARD PROGRAM.

    (a) Regulations.--The Federal Communications Commission 
(hereinafter referred to as the ``Commission''), shall, by regulations 
promulgated not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act, establish a program for--
            (1) evaluating and rating television programs, with respect 
        to the extent of the violence contained in those programs; and
            (2) publishing such ratings in the form of a Television 
        Violence Report Card.
    (b) Program Selection.--Under the program required by subsection 
(a), the Commission shall--
            (1) select, within each quarter of a calendar year, at 
        least 1 week for the Commission to evaluate the extent of the 
        violence contained in each of the programs carried on any of 
        the national broadcast television networks, or on cable 
        television systems (in the case of programs available to a 
        substantial percentage of the households that subscribe to 
        cable television service nationally), during that week's prime-
        time and Saturday morning time slots; and
            (2) ensure that at least 1 of the weeks selected under 
        paragraph (1) in any calendar year is a sweeps week.
    (c) Violence Ratings of Programs and Sponsors.--After evaluating 
the television programs described in subsection (c), and in accordance 
with criteria established by the regulations promulgated under this 
section, the Commission shall--
            (1) rate those programs in terms of the extent of the 
        violence they contain; and
            (2) rate program sponsors in terms of the extent to which 
        they sponsor television programs that contain a high degree of 
        violence.
    (d) Report Card.--In the quarter following any quarter for which 
the Commission has made evaluations under this section, the Commission 
shall publish in the Federal Register a Television Violence Report Card 
that reports the violence ratings by the Commission under subsection 
(c) of the programs so evaluated and the sponsors of those programs.

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