I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2964

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission to establish a toll free telephone number for the

collection of complaints concerning violence and other patently offensive

material on broadcast and cable television, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 9, 1996

Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the

Federal Communications Commission to establish a toll

free telephone number for the collection of complaints

concerning violence and other patently offensive material

on broadcast and cable 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 ‘‘Parents Television

5 Empowerment Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The average American child watches 8,000

2 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television

3 before finishing elementary school.

4 (2) Many of the poorest and potentially most

5 vulnerable groups in our society are the heaviest

6 viewers of television.

7 (3) Television violence is often presented with8 out context or judgment as to its acceptability.

9 (4) Most of the violence on television is pre10 sented during times when children are likely to be

11 viewing.

12 (5) The 1972 Surgeon General’s Report, Tele13 vision and Growing Up: The Impact of Televised Vi14 olence, found that there was a significant and con15 sistent correlation between television viewing and ag16 gressive behavior and a direct, causal link between

17 exposure to televised violence and subsequent ag18 gressive behavior on the part of the viewer.

19 (6) The 1982 National Institute of Mental

20 Health report, Television and Behavior: Ten Years

21 of Scientific Progress and Implications for the

22 Eighties, found that ‘‘violence on television does lead

23 to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who

24 watch the programs,’’ and that some viewers learn

25 to be passive victims.
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1 (7) Numerous other studies establish a causal

2 connection between watching violence on television

3 and increasingly violent behavior of children.

4 (8) There has been a proliferation of television

5 talk shows that, in a race for ratings, air ever more

6 outrageous programs dealing with rape, incest, and

7 other sensitive topics in a manner that seeks to sen8 sationalize and shock rather than educate and in9 form. Although the impact on the hundreds of thou10 sands of children who view these programs has yet

11 to be fully documented, the programs have raised

12 strong concerns among psychologists.

13 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT.

14 Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 is

15 amended by adding at the end the following new section:

16 ‘‘SEC. 714. COMPILATION AND PUBLICATION OF COM17 PLAINTS CONCERNING VIOLENT PROGRAM18 MING.

19 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FACILITY FOR THE COL20 LECTION OF COMMENTS AND COMPLAINTS.—The Com21 mission shall, within 6 months after the date of enactment

22 of this section, establish a toll-free number for the collec23 tion of comments, suggestions, and complaints from the

24 public concerning the transmission by broadcast stations

25 or cable systems of programming containing depictions of
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1 violence and other patently offensive material. The Com2 mission shall take such steps as may be necessary to pub3 licize such number and the Commission’s functions under

4 this section.

5 ‘‘(b) PUBLICATION OF DATA CONCERNING COM6 PLAINTS.—The Commission shall publish in the Federal

7 Register, on a quarterly basis, a summary of the com8 ments, suggestions, and complaints received pursuant to

9 subsection (a) during the preceding period. Such summary

10 shall include—

11 ‘‘(1) a breakdown of the complaints by broad12 cast or cable network and broadcast station, and by

13 program name, date, and time;

14 ‘‘(2) an identification, with respect to the 50

15 programs for which the highest number of com16 plaints were received, of the production company,

17 the principal advertisers supporting network dis18 tribution, the broadcast or cable network and broad19 cast station, and the program name, date, and time;

20 and

21 ‘‘(3) a statement of observed trends in such

22 complaints as compared with complaints received

23 during prior periods.
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1 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS.—The Commission

2 shall transcribe the comments, suggestions, and com3 plaints received pursuant to this section and shall—

4 ‘‘(1) transmit to each licensee any comments,

5 suggestions, or complaints made with respect to its

6 station; and

7 ‘‘(2) make the transcribed comments, sugges8 tions, and complaints available for public inspection.

9 The Commission shall omit from any records transmitted

10 or made available under this subsection the name and ad11 dress of any caller requesting confidentiality.

12 ‘‘(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Commission shall

13 include in each annual report to Congress under section

14 4(k) an analysis of the complaints received pursuant to

15 this section. Such analysis shall include—

16 ‘‘(1) an evaluation of whether, consistent with

17 its obligations to serve the public interest and meet

18 the educational and informational need of children,

19 the broadcasting industry has effectively responded

20 to the comments, suggestions, and complaints re21 ceived pursuant to this section regarding video pro22 gramming containing depictions of violence and

23 other patently offensive material; and

24 ‘‘(2) such recommendations as the Commission

25 considers appropriate to secure more conscientious
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1 fulfillment of those obligations with regard to such

2 programming.’’.

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