[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1017 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1017

    To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal 
Communications Commission to establish a toll free telephone number and 
  a computer network site for the collection of complaints concerning 
 violence and other patently offensive material on broadcast and cable 
                  television, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 1997

 Mr. Kennedy of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. 
Filner, Mr. Dellums, Mr. Gejdenson, and Ms. Jackson-Lee) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal 
Communications Commission to establish a toll free telephone number and 
  a computer network site for the collection of complaints concerning 
 violence and other patently offensive material on broadcast and cable 
                  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 ``Parents' Voice in Television Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The average American child watches 8,000 murders and 
        100,000 acts of violence on television before finishing 
        elementary school.
            (2) Many of the poorest and potentially most vulnerable 
        groups in our society are the heaviest viewers of television.
            (3) Most of the violence on television is presented during 
        times when children are likely to be viewing.
            (4) The television parental guidelines were devised by the 
        network industry and will be administered by an oversight 
        monitoring board comprised only of representatives from the 
        industry. Parental and viewer input has been limited. In 
        addition, the broadcast and cable networks and local 
        broadcasters will assign the rating system to programs, thus 
        limiting parental and viewer input to focus groups.
            (5) Numerous other studies establish a causal connection 
        between watching violence on television and increasingly 
        violent behavior of children.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT.

    Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section:

``SEC. 715. COMPILATION AND PUBLICATION OF COMPLAINTS CONCERNING 
              VIOLENT PROGRAMMING AND TELEVISION RATING GUIDELINES.

    ``(a) Establishment of Facility for the Collection of Comments and 
Complaints.--The Commission shall, within 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this section, establish a toll-free number and a computer 
network site for the collection of comments, suggestions, and 
complaints from the public concerning--
            ``(1) the transmission by broadcast stations or cable 
        systems of programming containing depictions of violence and 
        other patently offensive material; and
            ``(2) television ratings guidelines established for 
        purposes of the blocking technology described in section 
        303(x).
The Commission shall take such steps as may be necessary to publicize 
such telephone number, such computer network site, and the Commission's 
functions under this section, including by public service 
announcements.
    ``(b) Publication of Data Concerning Complaints.--The Commission 
shall publish in the Federal Register, on a quarterly basis, a summary 
of the comments, suggestions, and complaints received pursuant to 
subsection (a) during the preceding period. Such summary shall 
include--
            ``(1) a breakdown of the complaints pursuant to subsection 
        (a)(1) by broadcast or cable network and broadcast station, and 
        by program name, date, and time;
            ``(2) an identification, with respect to the 50 programs 
        for which the highest number of complaints were received, of 
        the production company, the principal advertisers supporting 
        network distribution, the broadcast or cable network and 
        broadcast station, and the program name, date, and time; and
            ``(3) a statement of observed trends in such complaints as 
        compared with complaints received during prior periods.
    ``(c) Availability of Records.--The Commission shall transcribe the 
comments, suggestions, and complaints received pursuant to this section 
and shall--
            ``(1) transmit to each licensee any comments, suggestions, 
        or complaints made with respect to its station; and
            ``(2) make the transcribed comments, suggestions, and 
        complaints available for public inspection, including 
        inspection at the computer network site established under 
        subsection (a).
The Commission shall omit from any records transmitted or made 
available under this subsection the name and address of any caller 
requesting confidentiality.
    ``(d) Report to Congress.--The Commission shall include in each 
annual report to Congress under section 4(k) an analysis of the 
complaints received pursuant to this section. Such analysis shall 
include--
            ``(1) an evaluation of whether, consistent with its 
        obligations to serve the public interest and meet the 
        educational and informational need of children, the 
        broadcasting industry has effectively responded to the 
        comments, suggestions, and complaints received pursuant to this 
        section regarding video programming containing depictions of 
        violence and other patently offensive material; and
            ``(2) such recommendations as the Commission considers 
        appropriate to secure more conscientious fulfillment of those 
        obligations with regard to such programming.''.
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