I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1390

To provide means of limiting the exposure of children to violent programming

on television, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 1995

Mr. JACOBS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Commerce

A BILL

To provide means of limiting the exposure of children to

violent programming on television, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Childrens’ Media Pro5 tection Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) On average, a child in the United States is

9 exposed to 27 hours of television each week, and
2

•HR 1390 IH

1 some children are exposed to as much as 11 hours

2 of television each day.

3 (2) The average American child watches 8,000

4 murders and 100,000 acts of other violence on tele5 vision by the time the child completes elementary

6 school.

7 (3) By the age of 18 years, the average Amer8 ican teenager has watched 200,000 acts of violence

9 on television, including 40,000 murders.

10 (4) The Times Mirror Center reports that a re11 cent poll of Americans indicates that 72 percent of

12 the American people believe that there is too much

13 violence on television, and, according to a survey by

14 U.S. News and World Report dated May 1994, 91

15 percent of American voters believe that mayhem in

16 the media contributes to violence in real life.

17 (5) On several occasions since 1975, The Jour18 nal of the American Medical Association has alerted

19 the medical community to the adverse effects of tele20 vised violence on child development, including an in21 crease in the level of aggressive behavior and violent

22 behavior among children who view it.

23 (6) The National Commission on Children rec24 ommended in 1991 that producers of television pro-
3

•HR 1390 IH

1 grams exercise greater restraint in the content of

2 programming for children.

3 (7) A report of the Harry Frank Guggenheim

4 Foundation, dated May 1993, indicates that there is

5 an irrefutable connection between the amount of vio6 lence depicted in the television programs watched by

7 children and increased aggressive behavior among

8 children.

9 (8) It is in the National interest that parents

10 be empowered with the technology to block the view11 ing of television programs whose content is overly

12 violent or objectionable for other reasons.

13 (9) Technology currently exists to permit the

14 manufacture of television receivers that are capable

15 of permitting parents to block television programs

16 having violent or otherwise objectionable content.

17 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TELEVISION VIOLENCE RAT18 ING CODE.

19 Section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

20 U.S.C. 303) is amended by adding at the end the follow21 ing:

22 ‘‘(v) Prescribe, in consultation with television broad23 casters, cable operators, appropriate public interest

24 groups, and interested individuals from the private sector,

25 rules for rating the level of violence in television program-
4

•HR 1390 IH

1 ming, including rules for the transmission by television

2 broadcast systems and cable systems of signals containing

3 specifications for blocking violent programming.’’.

4 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR MANUFACTURE OF TELE5 VISIONS THAT BLOCK PROGRAMS.

6 Section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

7 U.S.C. 303), as amended by section 3, is further amended

8 by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(w) Require, in the case of apparatus designed to

10 receive television signals that are manufactured in the

11 United States or imported for use in the United States

12 and that have a picture screen 13 inches or greater in

13 size (measured diagonally), that such apparatus—

14 ‘‘(1) be equipped with circuitry designed to en15 able viewers to block the display of channels, pro16 grams, and time slots; and

17 ‘‘(2) enable viewers to block display of all pro18 grams with a common rating.’’.

19 SEC. 5. SHIPPING OR IMPORTING OF TELEVISIONS THAT

20 BLOCK PROGRAMS.

21 (a) REGULATIONS.—Section 330 of the Communica22 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 330) is amended—

23 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub24 section (d); and
5

•HR 1390 IH

1 (2) by adding after subsection (b) the following

2 new subsection (c):

3 ‘‘(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no per4 son shall ship in interstate commerce, manufacture, as5 semble, or import from any foreign country into the

6 United States any apparatus described in section 303(w)

7 of this Act except in accordance with rules prescribed by

8 the Commission pursuant to the authority granted by that

9 section.

10 ‘‘(2) This subsection shall not apply to carriers trans11 porting apparatus referred to in paragraph (1) without

12 trading it.

13 ‘‘(3) The rules prescribed by the Commission under

14 this subsection shall provide performance standards for

15 blocking technology. Such rules shall require that all such

16 apparatus be able to receive the rating signals which have

17 been transmitted by way of line 21 of the vertical blanking

18 interval and which conform to the signal and blocking

19 specifications established by the Commission.

20 ‘‘(4) As new video technology is developed, the Com21 mission shall take such action as the Commission deter22 mines appropriate to ensure that blocking service contin23 ues to be available to consumers.’’.

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 330(d) of

25 such Act, as redesignated by subsection (a)(1), is amended
6

•HR 1390 IH

1 by striking ‘‘section 303(s), and section 303(u)’’ and in2 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘and sections 303(s), 303(u), and

3 303(w)’’.

4 SEC. 6. ELIMINATION OF VIOLENT PROGRAMMING ON TEL5 EVISION DURING CERTAIN HOURS.

6 Title I of the Children’s Television Act of 1990 (47

7 U.S.C. 303a et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

8 following:

9 ‘‘PROHIBITION ON VIOLENT PROGRAMMING

10 ‘‘SEC. 105. (a) The Commission shall, within 30 days

11 of the date of the enactment of this Act, initiate a rule12 making proceeding to prescribe a prohibition on the broad13 cast on commercial television and by public telecommuni14 cations entities, including the broadcast by cable opera15 tors, from the hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., inclusive, of

16 programming that contains gratuitous violence.

17 ‘‘(b) As used in this section:

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘cable operator’ has the meaning

19 given such term in section 602 of the Communica20 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 522).

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘programming’ includes adver22 tisements but does not include bona fide newscasts,

23 bona fide news interviews, bona fide news documen24 taries, and on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news

25 events.
7

•HR 1390 IH

1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘public telecommunications en2 tity’ has the meaning given such term in section

3 397(12) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

4 U.S.C. 397(12)).’’.

5 SEC. 7. BROADCAST ON TELEVISION AND CABLE OF EDU6 CATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL PROGRAM7 MING FOR CHILDREN.

8 (a) BROADCAST TELEVISION.—Section 309 of the

9 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309) is amended

10 by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(k) EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATION PROGRAM12 MING FOR CHILDREN.—In granting an application for a

13 license for a television broadcasting station (including an

14 application for renewal of such a license), the Commission

15 shall impose such conditions upon the applicant as the

16 Commission requires in order to ensure that the applicant

17 complies under the license with the standards for chil18 dren’s television programming established under section

19 102 of the Children’s Television Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C.

20 303a) and otherwise serves the educational and informa21 tional needs of children through its overall program22 ming.’’.

23 (b) CABLE SERVICE.—Part III of title VI of the

24 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541 et seq.) is

25 amended by adding at the end the following:
8

•HR 1390 IH

1 ‘‘EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATION PROGRAMMING FOR

2 CHILDREN

3 ‘‘SEC. 629. A franchise, including the renewal of a

4 franchise, may not be awarded under this part unless the

5 cable operator to be awarded the franchise agrees to com6 ply with the standards for children’s television program7 ming established under section 102 of the Children’s Tele8 vision Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a) and to otherwise

9 serve the educational and informational needs of children

10 in the provision of cable service under the franchise.’’.

Æ