Voluntary Alcohol Advertising Standards for Children Act

Summary: Voluntary Alcohol Advertising Standards for Children Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), on the basis of recommendations from an advisory committee established by the FCC, to prescribe a code of conduct (code) that limits the exposure and appeal to minors of alcoholic beverage advertisements in video programming, taking into consideration the content, frequency, timing, and program placement of such ads as well as the role of public information messages about the risks of alcohol use by minors.  Outlines advisory committee requirements.  Provides an antitrust exemption, with limitations, for any action or agreement among persons in the television industry undertaken to develop and disseminate such a voluntary code. 
Requires the FCC to prescribe such code within one year after enactment of this Act, unless the television industry has established a voluntary code which is acceptable to the FCC. 
Requires the FCC to include in a currently required annual report an assessment of the extent to which a code has been successfully implemented, and complied with, by video programming distributors.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Voluntary Alcohol Advertising 
Standards for Children Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Television advertising influences children's perception 
        of the values and behavior that are common and acceptable in 
        society.
            (2) Television station operators and cable television 
        system operators should follow practices in connection with the 
        advertising of alcoholic beverages that take into consideration 
        that television broadcast and cable advertising have 
        established a uniquely pervasive presence in the lives of 
        American children.
            (3) The average American child is exposed to 25 hours of 
        television each week and some children are exposed to as much 
        as 11 hours of television a day.
            (4) In 1995, alcohol producers, led by brewers, spent 
        $682,600,000 advertising their products in the broadcast media. 
        Much of that advertising appeared on sports programming, in 
        prime time, or at other times when substantial numbers of 
        underage persons were in the viewing and listening audience. 
        Many of the themes used in the ads--humor, parties, athletic 
        pursuits--have great appeal for young people. The most popular 
        beer ads use animated characters, animals, or music which also 
        amuse and attract children and teens.
            (5) The current advertising codes of brewers and 
        distillers, even when observed by industry members, provide 
        inadequate standards to restrain most of the current 
        advertising messages that reach young people and teach them to 
        drink. These codes are unenforceable, do not apply to all 
        alcohol companies, and institutionalize, rather than restrict, 
        advertising practices that subject young people to massive, 
        continuous, and persuasive inducements to drink. Although 
        individual broadcast networks and independent stations have 
        adopted standards governing the acceptance of advertising for 
        alcoholic beverages, those standards lack uniformity, do not 
        apply to all broadcasters, nor do they help shield large 
        audiences of underage persons from alcohol promotions.
            (6) Alcohol producers claim to have no interest in 
        attracting underage persons, for whom the purchase and use of 
        their products are illegal. The development of voluntary 
        broadcast industry alcohol advertising standards to protect 
        children would avoid broader government restrictions on alcohol 
        advertising and permit alcohol producers to continue to 
        legitimately promote their products to adult consumers. 
        Therefore, enforceable voluntary broadcast standards provide a 
        minimally restrictive, necessary condition on alcohol producer 
        marketing activities, one that is consistent with their 
        business missions and social responsibility.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF TELEVISION ADVERTISING 
              CODES.

    Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 337. ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF TELEVISION ADVERTISING 
              CODES.

    ``(a) Authority To Prescribe Standards.--Except as otherwise 
provided by this section, the Commission shall prescribe, on the basis 
of recommendations from an advisory committee established by the 
Commission, a code of conduct that limits the exposure and appeal to 
minors of alcoholic beverage advertisements in video programming, 
taking into consideration the content, frequency, timing, and program 
placement of such ads, as well as the role of public information 
messages about the risks of alcohol use by minors.
    ``(b) Advisory Committee Requirements.--In establishing an advisory 
committee for purposes of subsection (a) of this section, the 
Commission shall--
            ``(1) ensure that such committee is composed of parents, 
        television broadcasters, cable operators, appropriate public 
        interest groups, and other interested individuals from the 
        private sector and is fairly balanced in terms of political 
        affiliation, the points of view represented, and the functions 
        to be performed by the committee;
            ``(2) provide to the committee such staff and resources as 
        may be necessary to permit it to perform its functions 
        efficiently and promptly; and
            ``(3) require the committee to submit a final report of its 
        recommendations within one year after the date of the 
        appointment of the initial members.
    ``(c) Antitrust Exemption.--
            ``(1) Exemption.--The antitrust laws shall not apply to any 
        joint discussion, consideration, review, action, or agreement 
        by or among persons in the television industry for the purpose 
        of, and limited to, developing and disseminating a voluntary 
        code designed to limit the exposure and appeal to minors of 
        alcoholic beverage advertisements in video programming.
            ``(2) Limitations.--The exemption provided in paragraph 
        (1)--
                    ``(A) shall not apply to any joint discussion, 
                consideration, review, action, or agreement which 
                results in a boycott of any person; and
                    ``(B) shall apply only to any joint discussion, 
                consideration, review, action, or agreement engaged in 
                only during the 1-year period beginning on the date of 
                the enactment of this section.
    ``(d) Enforcement of Codes by Forfeiture Penalties.--For the 
purposes of sections 503 and 504 of this Act, any advertising code 
established pursuant to subsection (a) or (c) of this section shall be 
considered to be a regulation prescribed by the Commission pursuant to 
this Act.
    ``(e) Applicability of Requirement for Commission To Prescribe 
Code.--The requirement of subsection (a) shall take effect 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this section, but only if the Commission 
determines, in consultation with appropriate public interest groups and 
interested individuals from the private sector, that--
            ``(1) persons in the television industry have not, by such 
        date, established and implemented a voluntary code of conduct 
        that limits the exposure and appeal to minors of alcoholic 
        beverage advertisements in video programming, taking into 
        consideration the content, frequency, timing, and program 
        placement of such ads, as well as the role of public 
        information messages about the risks of alcohol used by minors; 
        and
            ``(2) such code is acceptable to the Commission.
    ``(f) Annual Report.--The Commission shall include in each annual 
report pursuant to section 4(k) of this Act submitted after the date of 
enactment of this section an assessment of the extent to which a code 
established under subsection (a) or (c) of this section has been 
successfully implemented, and is rigorously complied with, by 
distributors of video programming.
    ``(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) The term `antitrust laws' has the meaning given it in 
        subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act (15 
        U.S.C. 12(a)), except that such term includes section 5 of the 
        Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent that 
        such section 5 applies to unfair methods of competition.
            ``(2) The term `person in the television industry' means a 
        television network, any entity which produces programming 
        (including theatrical motion pictures) for telecasting or 
        telecasts programming, the National Cable Television 
        Association, the Association of Independent Television 
        Stations, Incorporated, the National Association of 
        Broadcasters, the Motion Picture Association of America, the 
        Community Antenna Television Association, and each of the 
        networks' affiliate organizations, and shall include any 
        individual acting on behalf of such person.
            ``(3) The term `video programming' has the meaning provided 
        in section 602 of this Act.''.