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[Journal of the House of Representatives, 1995]
[Friday, August 4, 1995 (109), Para 109.18 Recorded Vote]
[Pages 1270-1271]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

para.109.18  recorded vote

  A recorded vote by electronic device was ordered in the Committee of 
the Whole on the following substitute amendment submitted by Mr. COBURN 
for the amendment submitted by Mr. MARKEY:
  Substitute amendment submitted by Mr. COBURN:

       Page 157, after line 21, insert the following new section 
     (and redesignate the succeeding sections and conform the 
     table of contents accordingly):

     SEC. 304. FAMILY VIEWING EMPOWERMENT.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Television is pervasive in daily life and exerts a 
     powerful influence over the perceptions of viewers, 
     especially children, concerning the society in which we live.
       (2) Children completing elementary school have been exposed 
     to 25 or more hours of television per week and as many as 11 
     hours per day.
       (3) Children completing elementary school have been exposed 
     to an estimated average of 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of 
     violence on television.
       (4) Studies indicate that the exposure of young children to 
     such levels of violent programming correlates to an increased 
     tendency toward and tolerance of violent and aggressive 
     behavior in later years.
       (5) Studies also suggest that the depiction of other 
     material such as sexual conduct in a cavalier and amoral 
     context may undermine the ability of parents to instill in 
     their children responsible attitudes regarding such 
     activities.
       (6) A significant relationship exists between exposure to 
     television violence and antisocial acts, including serious, 
     violent criminal offenses.
       (7) Parents and other viewers are increasingly demanding 
     that they be empowered to make and implement viewing choices 
     for themselves and their families.
       (8) The public is becoming increasingly aware of and 
     concerned about objectionable video programming content.
       (9) The broadcast television industry and other video 
     programmers have a responsibility to assess the impact of 
     their work and to understand the damage that comes from the 
     incessant, repetitive, mindless violence and irresponsible 
     content.
       (10) The broadcast television industry and other video 
     programming distributors should be committed to facilitating 
     viewers' access to the information and capabilities required 
     to prevent the exposure of their children to excessively 
     violent and otherwise objectionable and harmful video 
     programming.
       (11) The technology for implementing individual viewing 
     choices is rapidly advancing and numerous options for viewer 
     control are or soon will be available in the marketplace at 
     affordable prices.
       (12) There is a compelling national interest in ensuring 
     that parents are provided with the information and 
     capabilities required to prevent the exposure of their 
     children to excessively violent and otherwise objectionable 
     and harmful video programming.
       (b) Policy.--It is the policy of the United States to--
       (1) encourage broadcast television, cable, satellite, 
     syndication, other video programming distributors, and 
     relevant related industries (in consultation with appropriate 
     public interest groups and interested individuals from the 
     private sector) to--
       (A) establish a technology fund to encourage television and 
     electronics equipment manufacturers to facilitate the 
     development of technology which would empower parents to 
     block programming they deem inappropriate for their children;
       (B) report to the viewing public on the status of the 
     development of affordable, easy to use blocking technology; 
     and
       (C) establish and promote effective procedures, standards, 
     systems, advisories, or other mechanisms for ensuring that 
     users have easy and complete access to the information 
     necessary to effectively utilize blocking technology; and
       (2) evaluate whether, not later than 1 year after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, industry-wide procedures, 
     standards, systems advisories, or other mechanisms 
     established by the broadcast television, cable satellite, 
     syndication, other video programming distribution, and 
     relevant related industries--
       (A) are informing viewers regarding their options to 
     utilize blocking technology; and
       (B) encouraging the development of blocking technologies.
       (c) GAO Audit.--
       (1) Audit required.--No later than 18 months after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 
     submit to Congress an evaluation of--
       (A) the proliferation of new and existing blocking 
     technology;
       (B) the accessibility of information to empower viewing 
     choices; and
       (C) the consumer satisfaction with information and 
     technological solutions.
       (2) Contents of evaluation.--The evaluation shall--
       (A) describe the blocking technology available to viewers 
     including the costs thereof; and
       (B) assess the extent of consumer knowledge and attitudes 
     toward available blocking technologies;
       (3) describe steps taken by broadcast, cable, satellite, 
     syndication, and other video programming distribution 
     services to inform the public and promote the availability of 
     viewer empowerment technologies, devices, and techniques;
       (4) evaluate the degree to which viewer empowerment 
     technology is being utilized;
       (5) assess consumer satisfaction with technological 
     options; and
       (6) evaluate consumer demand for information and 
     technological solutions.

  Amendment submitted by Mr. MARKEY:

       Page 157, after line 21, insert the following new section 
     (and redesignate the succeeding sections and conform the 
     table of contents accordingly):

     SEC. 304. PARENTAL CHOICE IN TELEVISION PROGRAMMING.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Television influences children's perception of the 
     values and behavior that are common and acceptable in 
     society.
       (2) Television station operators, cable television system 
     operators, and video programmers should follow practices in 
     connection with video programming that take into 
     consideration that television broadcast and cable programming 
     has 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) Studies have shown that children exposed to violent 
     video programming at a young age have a higher tendency for 
     violent and aggressive behavior later in life than children 
     not so exposed, and that children exposed to violent video 
     programming are prone to assume that acts of violence are 
     acceptable behavior.
       (5) Children in the United States are, on average, exposed 
     to an estimated 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on 
     television by the time the child completes elementary school.
       (6) Studies indicate that children are affected by the 
     pervasiveness and casual treatment of sexual material on 
     television, eroding the ability of parents to develop 
     responsible attitudes and behavior in their children.
       (7) Parents express grave concern over violent and sexual 
     video programming and strongly support technology that would 
     give them greater control to block video programming in the 
     home that they consider harmful to their children.
       (8) There is a compelling governmental interest in 
     empowering parents to limit the negative influences of video 
     programming that is harmful to children.
       (9) Providing parents with timely information about the 
     nature of upcoming video programming and with the 
     technological tools that allow them easily to block violent, 
     sexual, or other programming that they believe harmful to 
     their children is the least restrictive and most narrowly 
     tailored means of achieving that compelling governmental 
     interest.
       (b) Establishment of Television Rating Code.--Section 303 
     of the Act (47 U.S.C. 303) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following:
       ``(v) Prescribe--
       ``(1) on the basis of recommendations from an advisory 
     committee established by the Commission that is composed of 
     parents, television broadcasters, television programming 
     producers, cable operators, appropriate public interest 
     groups, and other interested individuals from the private 
     sector and that is fairly balanced in terms of political 
     affiliation, the points of view represented, and the 
     functions to be performed by the committee, guidelines and 
     recommended procedures for the identification and rating of 
     video programming that contains sexual, violent, or other 
     indecent material about which parents should be informed 
     before it is displayed to children, provided that nothing in 
     this paragraph shall be construed to authorize any rating of 
     video programming on the basis of its political or religious 
     content; and
       ``(2) with respect to any video programming that has been 
     rated (whether or not in accordance with the guidelines and 
     recommendations prescribed under paragraph (1)), rules 
     requiring distributors of such video programming to transmit 
     such rating to permit parents to block the display of video 
     programming that they have determined is inappropriate for 
     their children.''.

[[Page 1271]]

       (c) Requirement for Manufacture of Televisions That Block 
     Programs.--Section 303 of the Act, as amended by subsection 
     (a), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(w) Require, in the case of apparatus designed to receive 
     television signals that are manufactured in the United States 
     or imported for use in the United States and that have a 
     picture screen 13 inches or greater in size (measured 
     diagonally), that such apparatus be equipped with circuitry 
     designed to enable viewers to block display of all programs 
     with a common rating, except as otherwise permitted by 
     regulations pursuant to section 330(c)(4).''.
       (d) Shipping or Importing of Televisions That Block 
     Programs.--
       (1) Regulations.--Section 330 of the Communications Act of 
     1934 (47 U.S.C. 330) is amended--
       (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
       (B) by adding after subsection (b) the following new 
     subsection (c):
       ``(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no person 
     shall ship in interstate commerce, manufacture, assemble, or 
     import from any foreign country into the United States any 
     apparatus described in section 303(w) of this Act except in 
     accordance with rules prescribed by the Commission pursuant 
     to the authority granted by that section.
       ``(2) This subsection shall not apply to carriers 
     transporting apparatus referred to in paragraph (1) without 
     trading it.
       ``(3) The rules prescribed by the Commission under this 
     subsection shall provide for the oversight by the Commission 
     of the adoption of standards by industry for blocking 
     technology. Such rules shall require that all such apparatus 
     be able to receive the rating signals which have been 
     transmitted by way of line 21 of the vertical blanking 
     interval and which conform to the signal and blocking 
     specifications established by industry under the supervision 
     of the Commission.
       ``(4) As new video technology is developed, the Commission 
     shall take such action as the Commission determines 
     appropriate to ensure that blocking service continues to be 
     available to consumers. If the Commission determines that an 
     alternative blocking technology exists that--
       ``(A) enables parents to block programming based on 
     identifying programs without ratings,
       ``(B) is available to consumers at a cost which is 
     comparable to the cost of technology that allows parents to 
     block programming based on common ratings, and
       ``(C) will allow parents to block a broad range of programs 
     on a multichannel system as effectively and as easily as 
     technology that allows parents to block programming based on 
     common ratings,

     the Commission shall amend the rules prescribed pursuant to 
     section 303(w) to require that the apparatus described in 
     such section be equipped with either the blocking technology 
     described in such section or the alternative blocking 
     technology described in this paragraph.''.
       (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 330(d) of such Act, as 
     redesignated by subsection (a)(1), is amended by striking 
     ``section 303(s), and section 303(u)'' and inserting in lieu 
     thereof ``and sections 303(s), 303(u), and 303(w)''.
       (e) Applicability and Effective Dates.--
       (1) Applicability of rating provision.--The amendment made 
     by subsection (b) of this section shall take effect 1 year 
     after the date of enactment of this Act, but only if the 
     Commission determines, in consultation with appropriate 
     public interest groups and interested individuals from the 
     private sector, that distributors of video programming have 
     not, by such date--
       (A) established voluntary rules for rating video 
     programming that contains sexual, violent, or other indecent 
     material about which parents should be informed before it is 
     displayed to children, and such rules are acceptable to the 
     Commission; and
       (B) agreed voluntarily to broadcast signals that contain 
     ratings of such programming.
       (2) Effective date of manufacturing provision.--In 
     prescribing regulations to implement the amendment made by 
     subsection (c), the Federal Communications Commission shall, 
     after consultation with the television manufacturing 
     industry, specify the effective date for the applicability of 
     the requirement to the apparatus covered by such amendment, 
     which date shall not be less than one year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act.

It was decided in the

Yeas

222

affirmative

Nays

201
```