[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 INTRODUCTION OF THE CLEAN AIRWAVES ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DOUG OSE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 8, 2003

  Mr. OSE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Clean Airwaves Act, 
legislation designed to prohibit seven profane words from being 
broadcast over America's airwaves. Existing guidelines and standards 
that govern our airwaves and communications mediums allow profane 
language to infiltrate the hearts and minds of our nation's youth. I 
rise today to protect our children from existing rules and regulations 
that leave them vulnerable to obscene, indecent, and profane speech 
through broadcast communication.
  The purpose of the Clean Airwaves Act is to amend section 1464 of 
Title 18 of the United States Code from which the Federal 
Communications Commission derives its authority to regulate the use of 
profane language used in broadcast communications. This legislation 
will help close the loophole on profanity on our public airwaves, 
leaving our children free from exposure to offensive and crude speech 
broadcast over America's airwaves.
  In FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, the U.S. Supreme Court stated, ``Among 
the reasons for specially treating indecent broadcasting is the 
uniquely pervasive presence that medium of expression occupies in the 
lives of our people. Broadcasts extend into the privacy of the home and 
it is impossible to completely avoid those that are patently 
offensive''. Subsequently, public broadcasting is more accessible to 
children.
  The current FCC guidelines regarding indecency determinations aren't 
strong enough to stop harmful, indecent, and profane language broadcast 
over America's airwaves. It is wholly necessary to give the FCC the 
tools it needs in order to protect our broadcast airwaves. Currently 
under FCC policy, indecency determinations hinge on two factors. First, 
material must describe or depict sexual or excretory organs or 
activities. Second, the material must be patently offensive as measured 
by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium. The 
vagueness of this stipulation creates a loophole that inevitably allows 
specific profane language to be broadcast.
  One notorious example of a profane broadcast aired at the Golden 
Globe Awards program in January of 2003. In this broadcast, performer 
Bono uttered a phrase that may not be repeated at this time and 
qualified as indeed profane and indecent by a rational and normal 
standard. The FCC has in its authority, the power to enforce statutory 
and regulatory provisions restricting indecency and obscenity. However, 
in the Golden Globe Awards example, the FCC concluded that the use of 
the word as an adjective or expletive to emphasize an exclamation did 
not meet their threshold for indecency. The FCC further stated in the 
October 3, 2003 Memorandum Opinion and Order that ``in similar 
circumstances, we have found that offensive language used as an insult 
rather than as a description of sexual or excretory activity or organs 
is not within the scope of the commission's prohibition of indecent 
program content.'' As a result, the use of particular profane language 
was aired to the public and no action was taken to ensure it would not 
take place in the future.
  Therefore, I reiterate the necessity to act upon this loophole in the 
U.S. Code to ensure that the public is free from inappropriate 
communications over public broadcasts and that our airwaves be clean of 
obscenity, indecency, and profanity.

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