The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on September 20 approved, 16-2, a bill (S. 876) to prohibit violent television programming during the hours when children are most likely to watch. Committee Chair John McCain (R-AZ) voted present.
The mark-up came a week after the committee heard testimony on a new report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which concluded that programs and products with violent content are actively marketed to children.
Under S. 876, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would draft regulations to define the “hours when children are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience.” Broadcasting licenses issued by the FCC would be revoked from entities that repeatedly violate the prohibition on distributing “violent video programming” during those hours. Exceptions would be made for violent content in news programs, sporting event broadcasts, and programs appearing on premium and pay-per-view cable channels.
The version of S. 876 approved by the committee included a substitute amendment offered by the sponsor, Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-SC). The substitute added a provision requiring the FCC to study the potential effectiveness of v-chip technology in filtering violent and obscene content from televisions watched by children.
Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) originally intended to offer an amendment requiring the FTC to continue to monitor the marketing of media with violent content. However, Sen. Hollings agreed to include the proposed language in his substitute amendment.
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) sought to offer an amendment, which drew objections from Sen. Hollings. The amendment would have exempted the television, film, music, and video game industries from certain antitrust laws in order to establish their own voluntary code of conduct. Sen. Brownback expressed concern about media content, but called for allowing the industries to control their own content in order to avoid unconstitutional limits.
Several members of the committee, including Sens. McCain and Hollings, acknowledged Sen. Brownback’s concerns. However, Sen. Hollings added that code of conduct and antitrust issues fall under the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “There is no question that this amendment would be subject to a point of order,” said Sen. Hollings.
Sen. McCain added, “The antitrust issue is important…but Sen. Hollings’ objection is understandable.” Ultimately, the committee did not consider Sen. Brownback’s amendment.
