[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 948 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 948

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize funding for the 
    establishment of a program on children and the media within the 
 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the 
  role and impact of electronic media in the development of children.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES



 Mr. Lieberman (for himself, Mr. Brownback, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Durbin, 
and Mr. Casey) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize funding for the 
    establishment of a program on children and the media within the 
 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the 
  role and impact of electronic media in the development of children.

    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 ``Children and Media Research 
Advancement Act'' or the ``CAMRA Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    It is the purpose of this Act to enable the National Institute of 
Child Health and Human Development to--
            (1) examine the role and impact, both positive and 
        negative, of electronic media in children's and adolescents' 
        cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and behavioral 
        development; and
            (2) provide for a report to Congress containing the 
        empirical evidence and other results produced by the research 
        funded through grants under this Act.

SEC. 3. RESEARCH ON THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN THE 
              DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.

    Subpart 7 of part C of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 285g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 452H. RESEARCH ON THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN THE 
              DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.

    ``(a) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations, 
the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Institute), shall 
enter into a contract with the National Academy of Sciences, in 
collaboration with the Institute of Medicine or another appropriate 
entity to review, synthesize, and report on research, and establish 
research priorities, regarding the roles and impact of electronic media 
(including television, motion pictures, DVD's, interactive video games, 
digital music, the Internet, and cell phones) and exposures to such 
media on youth in the following core areas of development:
            ``(1) Cognitive.--Cognitive areas such as language 
        development, attention span, problem solving skills (such as 
        the ability to conduct multiple tasks or `multitask'), visual 
        and spatial skills, reading, and other learning abilities.
            ``(2) Physical.--Physical areas such as physical 
        coordination, diet, exercise, sleeping and eating routines.
            ``(3) Socio-behavioral.--Socio-behavioral areas such as 
        family activities and peer relationships including indoor and 
        outdoor play time, interactions with parents, consumption 
        habits, social relationships, aggression, and positive social 
        behavior.
    ``(b) Research Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--Taking into account the report provided 
        for under subsection (a), the Secretary, acting through the 
        Director, shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, 
        award grants for research concerning the role and impact of 
        electronic media on the cognitive, physical, and socio-
        behavioral development of youth.
            ``(2) Requirements.--The research provided for under 
        paragraph (1) shall comply with the following requirements:
                    ``(A) Such research shall focus on the impact of 
                factors such as media content (whether direct or 
                indirect), format, length of exposure, age of youth, 
                venue, and nature of parental involvement.
                    ``(B) Such research shall not duplicate other 
                Federal research activities.
                    ``(C) For purposes of such research, electronic 
                media shall include television, motion pictures, DVD's, 
                interactive video games, digital music, the Internet, 
                and cell phones.
            ``(3) Eligible entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant 
        under this subsection, an entity shall--
                    ``(A) prepare and submit to the Director an 
                application at such time, in such manner, and 
                containing such information as the Director shall 
                require; and
                    ``(B) agree to use amounts received under the grant 
                to carry out activities as described in this 
                subsection.
    ``(c) Reports.--
            ``(1) Report to the director.--Not later than 15 months 
        after the date of the enactment of this section, the report 
        provided for under subsection (a) shall be submitted to the 
        Director and to the appropriate committees of Congress.
            ``(2) Report to congress.--Not later than December 31, 
        2013, the Secretary, acting through the Director, shall prepare 
        and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
        that--
                    ``(A) synthesizes the results of--
                            ``(i) research carried out under the grant 
                        program under subsection (b); and
                            ``(ii) other related research, including 
                        research conducted by the private or public 
                        sector and other Federal entities; and
                    ``(B) outlines existing research gaps in light of 
                the information described in subparagraph (A).
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 
2008, $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, $20,000,000 for fiscal year 
2010, $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, and $25,000,000 for fiscal year 
2012.''.
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