[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 332 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 332

   To provide means of limiting the exposure of children to violent 
           programming on television, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 2 (legislative day, January 30), 1995

  Mr. Conrad introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide means of limiting the exposure of children to violent 
           programming on television, 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 ``Childrens' Media Protection Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On average, a child in the United States is exposed to 
        27 hours of television each week, and some children are exposed 
        to as much as 11 hours of television each day.
            (2) The average American child watches 8,000 murders and 
        100,000 acts of other violence on television by the time the 
        child completes elementary school.
            (3) By the age of 18 years, the average American teenager 
        has watched 200,000 acts of violence on television, including 
        40,000 murders.
            (4) The Times Mirror Center reports that a recent poll of 
        Americans indicates that 72 percent of the American people 
        believe that there is too much violence on television, and, 
        according to a survey by U.S. News and World Report dated May 
        1994, 91 percent of American voters believe that mayhem in the 
        media contributes to violence in real life.
            (5) On several occasions since 1975, The Journal of the 
        American Medical Association has alerted the medical community 
        to the adverse effects of televised violence on child 
        development, including an increase in the level of aggressive 
        behavior and violent behavior among children who view it.
            (6) The National Commission on Children recommended in 1991 
        that producers of television programs exercise greater 
        restraint in the content of programming for children.
            (7) A report of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, 
        dated May 1993, indicates that there is an irrefutable 
        connection between the amount of violence depicted in the 
        television programs watched by children and increased 
        aggressive behavior among children.
            (8) It is in the National interest that parents be 
        empowered with the technology to block the viewing of 
        television programs whose content is overly violent or 
        objectionable for other reasons.
            (9) Technology currently exists to permit the manufacture 
        of television receivers that are capable of permitting parents 
        to block television programs having violent or otherwise 
        objectionable content.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TELEVISION VIOLENCE RATING CODE.

    Section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 303) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(v) Prescribe, in consultation with television broadcasters, 
cable operators, appropriate public interest groups, and interested 
individuals from the private sector, rules for rating the level of 
violence in television programming, including rules for the 
transmission by television broadcast systems and cable systems of 
signals containing specifications for blocking violent programming.''.

SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR MANUFACTURE OF TELEVISIONS THAT BLOCK PROGRAMS.

    Section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 303), as 
amended by section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(w) Require, in the case of apparatus designed to receive 
television signals that are manufactured in the United States or 
imported for use in the United States and that have a picture screen 13 
inches or greater in size (measured diagonally), that such apparatus--
            ``(1) be equipped with circuitry designed to enable viewers 
        to block the display of channels, programs, and time slots; and
            ``(2) enable viewers to block display of all programs with 
        a common rating.''.

SEC. 5. SHIPPING OR IMPORTING OF TELEVISIONS THAT BLOCK PROGRAMS.

    (a) Regulations.--Section 330 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 330) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
            (2) by adding after subsection (b) the following new 
        subsection (c):
    ``(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no person shall ship 
in interstate commerce, manufacture, assemble, or import from any 
foreign country into the United States any apparatus described in 
section 303(w) of this Act except in accordance with rules prescribed 
by the Commission pursuant to the authority granted by that section.
    ``(2) This subsection shall not apply to carriers transporting 
apparatus referred to in paragraph (1) without trading it.
    ``(3) The rules prescribed by the Commission under this subsection 
shall provide performance standards for blocking technology. Such rules 
shall require that all such apparatus be able to receive the rating 
signals which have been transmitted by way of line 21 of the vertical 
blanking interval and which conform to the signal and blocking 
specifications established by the Commission.
    ``(4) As new video technology is developed, the Commission shall 
take such action as the Commission determines appropriate to ensure 
that blocking service continues to be available to consumers.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 330(d) of such Act, as 
redesignated by subsection (a)(1), is amended by striking ``section 
303(s), and section 303(u)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``and 
sections 303(s), 303(u), and 303(w)''.

SEC. 6. ELIMINATION OF VIOLENT PROGRAMMING ON TELEVISION DURING CERTAIN 
              HOURS.

    Title I of the Children's Television Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

                  ``prohibition on violent programming

    ``Sec. 105. (a) The Commission shall, within 30 days of the date of 
the enactment of this Act, initiate a rule-making proceeding to 
prescribe a prohibition on the broadcast on commercial television and 
by public telecommunications entities, including the broadcast by cable 
operators, from the hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., inclusive, of 
programming that contains gratuitous violence.
    ``(b) As used in this section:
            ``(1) The term `cable operator' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 522).
            ``(2) The term `programming' includes advertisements but 
        does not include bona fide newscasts, bona fide news 
        interviews, bona fide news documentaries, and on-the-spot 
        coverage of bona fide news events.
            ``(3) The term `public telecommunications entity' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 397(12) of the 
        Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397(12)).''.

SEC. 7. BROADCAST ON TELEVISION AND CABLE OF EDUCATIONAL AND 
              INFORMATIONAL PROGRAMMING FOR CHILDREN.

    (a) Broadcast Television.--Section 309 of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 309) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Educational and Information Programming for Children.--In 
granting an application for a license for a television broadcasting 
station (including an application for renewal of such a license), the 
Commission shall impose such conditions upon the applicant as the 
Commission requires in order to ensure that the applicant complies 
under the license with the standards for children's television 
programming established under section 102 of the Children's Television 
Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a) and otherwise serves the educational and 
informational needs of children through its overall programming.''.
    (b) Cable Service.--Part III of title VI of the Communications Act 
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

         ``educational and information programming for children

    ``Sec. 629. A franchise, including the renewal of a franchise, may 
not be awarded under this part unless the cable operator to be awarded 
the franchise agrees to comply with the standards for children's 
television programming established under section 102 of the Children's 
Television Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a) and to otherwise serve the 
educational and informational needs of children in the provision of 
cable service under the franchise.''.
                                 <all>