[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 122 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 122

To express the sense of the Senate with respect to the broadcasting of 
                 video programming containing violence.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                June 17 (legislative day, June 15), 1993

   Mrs. Kassebaum (for herself and Mr. Dole) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
                           and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
To express the sense of the Senate with respect to the broadcasting of 
                 video programming containing violence.

Whereas 3 different Surgeons General, the Attorney General's Task Force on 
        Family Violence, the American Medical Association, the American 
        Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other 
        authorities have all found that viewing televised violence is harmful to 
        children;
Whereas Americans watch enormous amounts of television, and many children will 
        watch television for twice as many hours (22,000 hours) as they attend 
        school;
Whereas many children watch violent television programs without adult 
        supervision or guidance;
Whereas watching aggressive behavior causes children to become more aggressive, 
        and behavioral scientists have isolated this effect from other factors;
Whereas, in one study, scientists found that childhood television viewing 
        patterns are a better predictor of later adult aggression and criminal 
        behavior than social class, parental behavior, child rearing practices, 
        intelligence, and other variables;
Whereas many studies of entire societies, conducted on small and large scales, 
        show that violence and homicide rates increase dramatically after the 
        introduction of television into a community;
Whereas more than 20 years of research has led to a consensus that watching 
        televised violence increases children's aggressiveness and desensitizes 
        them to the effects and implications of violence, and the solidity of 
        the agreement among respected scientists that televised violence is 
        harmful nullifies arguments to the contrary by the television industry; 
        and
Whereas many other countries, including Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, 
        Belgium, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, and France have taken action 
        to combat the problem of television violence: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That each of the 4 major television broadcast networks 
and their affiliates, independent television stations, the Public 
Broadcasting System, cable programmers, and cable operators should--
            (1) not telecast programming containing dramatized 
        violence;
            (2) superimpose explicit, on-screen viewer advisories or 
        displays throughout programming containing dramatized or 
        documentary violence;
            (3) provide explicit audio and on-screen textual viewer 
        advisories immediately prior to transmittal of programming 
        containing dramatized or documentary violence;
            (4) not transmit programming promotions or advertisements 
        that contain dramatized or documentary violence;
            (5) develop a standard scheme for classifying television 
        programming on the basis of the amount and type of dramatized 
        violence it contains; and
            (6) educate and inform viewers about the harmful effects of 
        exposure to television violence.
    Sec. 2. For the purposes of this resolution--
            (1) the term ``violence''--
                    (A) means the use or threatened use of physical 
                force against another or against one's self; and
                    (B) does not include idle threats, verbal abuse, 
                and gestures without credible violent consequences;
            (2) the term ``dramatized violence'' means the dramatized 
        portrayal of killings, rapes, maimings, beatings, stranglings, 
        stabbings, shootings, or any other acts of violence that, when 
        viewed by the average person, would be considered excessive or 
        inappropriate for minors.

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