[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 134 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 262
113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 134

                          [Report No. 113-126]

To arrange for the National Academy of Sciences to study the impact of 
     violent video games and violent video programming on children.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             January 24 (legislative day, January 3), 2013

Mr. Rockefeller (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Johanns, 
  Mr. Heller, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Pryor) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

                           December 17, 2013

             Reported by Mr. Rockefeller, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To arrange for the National Academy of Sciences to study the impact of 
     violent video games and violent video programming on children.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Violent Content Research 
Act of 2013''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. STUDY; NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal 
Communications Commission, and the Department of Health and Human 
Services, jointly, shall undertake to enter into appropriate 
arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a 
comprehensive study and investigation of--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) whether there is a connection between exposure 
        to violent video games and harmful effects on children; 
        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) whether there is a connection between exposure 
        to violent video programming and harmful effects on 
        children.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Contents of Study and Investigation.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Violent video games.--The study and 
        investigation under subsection (a) shall include--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) whether the exposure listed under 
                subsection (a)(1)--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) causes children to act 
                        aggressively or causes other measurable harm to 
                        children;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) has a disproportionately 
                        harmful effect on children already prone to 
                        aggressive behavior or on other identifiable 
                        groups of children; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) has a harmful effect that is 
                        distinguishable from any negative effects 
                        produced by other types of media;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) whether any harm identified under 
                subparagraph (A)(i) has a direct and long-lasting 
                impact on a child's well-being; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) whether current or emerging 
                characteristics of video games have a unique impact on 
                children, considering in particular video games' 
                interactive nature and the extraordinarily personal and 
                vivid way violence might be portrayed in such video 
                games.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Violent video programming.--The study and 
        investigation under subsection (a) shall include--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) whether the exposure listed under 
                subsection (a)(2)--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) causes children to act 
                        aggressively or causes other measurable harm to 
                        children;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) has a disproportionately 
                        harmful effect on children already prone to 
                        aggressive behavior or on other identifiable 
                        groups of children; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) has a harmful effect that is 
                        distinguishable from any negative effects 
                        produced by other types of media; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) whether any harm identified under 
                subparagraph (A)(i) has a direct and long-lasting 
                impact on a child's well-being.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Future research.--The study and investigation 
        under subsection (a) shall identify gaps in the current state 
        of research which, if closed, could provide additional 
        information regarding any causal connection--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) between exposure to violent video 
                games and behavior; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) between exposure to violent video 
                programming and behavior.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Report.--In entering into any arrangements with the 
National Academy of Sciences for conducting the study and investigation 
under this section, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal 
Communications Commission, and the Department of Health and Human 
Services shall request the National Academy of Sciences to submit, not 
later than 15 months after the date on which such arrangements are 
completed, a report on the results of the study and investigation to--
</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Congress;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) the Federal Trade Commission;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) the Federal Communications Commission; 
        and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) the Department of Health and Human 
        Services.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Violent Content Research Act of 
2013''.

SEC. 2. STUDY; NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications 
Commission, and the Department of Health and Human Services, jointly, 
shall undertake to enter into appropriate arrangements with the 
National Academy of Sciences to conduct a comprehensive study and 
investigation of--
            (1) whether there is a connection between exposure to 
        violent video games and harmful effects on children that is 
        distinguishable from the effects of any other factors; and
            (2) whether there is a connection between exposure to 
        violent video programming and harmful effects on children that 
        is distinguishable from the effects of any other factors.
    (b) Contents of Study and Investigation.--
            (1) Violent video games.--The study and investigation under 
        subsection (a) shall include--
                    (A) whether the exposure listed under subsection 
                (a)(1)--
                            (i) causes children to act aggressively or 
                        causes other measurable harm to children;
                            (ii) has a disproportionately harmful 
                        effect on the behavior of children already 
                        prone to aggression or on the behavior of other 
                        identifiable groups of children; and
                            (iii) has a harmful effect on children's 
                        behavior that is distinguishable from any 
                        negative effects produced by other types of 
                        media;
                    (B) whether any harm identified under subparagraph 
                (A)(i) has a direct and long-lasting impact on a 
                child's well-being; and
                    (C) whether current or emerging characteristics of 
                violent video games have a uniquely harmful effect on 
                the behavior of children, considering in particular 
                such games' concretely interactive nature.
            (2) Violent video programming.--The study and investigation 
        under subsection (a) shall include--
                    (A) whether the exposure listed under subsection 
                (a)(2)--
                            (i) causes children to act aggressively or 
                        causes other measurable harm to children;
                            (ii) has a disproportionately harmful 
                        effect on the behavior of children already 
                        prone to aggression or on the behavior of other 
                        identifiable groups of children; and
                            (iii) has a harmful effect on children's 
                        behavior that is distinguishable from any 
                        negative effects produced by other types of 
                        media; and
                    (B) whether any harm identified under subparagraph 
                (A)(i) has a direct and long-lasting impact on a 
                child's well-being.
            (3) Future research.--The study and investigation under 
        subsection (a) shall identify gaps in the current state of 
        research which, if closed, could provide information regarding 
        any causal connection--
                    (A) between exposure to violent video games and 
                harmful effects on children's behavior; and
                    (B) between exposure to violent video programming 
                and harmful effects on children's behavior.
    (c) Report.--In entering into any arrangements with the National 
Academy of Sciences for conducting the study and investigation under 
this section, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications 
Commission, and the Department of Health and Human Services shall 
request the National Academy of Sciences to submit, not later than 15 
months after the date on which such arrangements are completed, a 
report on the results of the study and investigation to--
            (1) Congress;
            (2) the Federal Trade Commission;
            (3) the Federal Communications Commission; and
            (4) the Department of Health and Human Services.
                                                       Calendar No. 262

113th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 134

                          [Report No. 113-126]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To arrange for the National Academy of Sciences to study the impact of 
     violent video games and violent video programming on children.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           December 17, 2013

                       Reported with an amendment