III

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 56

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the importance of ‘‘family

friendly’’ programming on television.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 14, 1999

Mr. VOINOVICH (for himself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. DEWINE,

Mrs. LINCOLN, and Mr. GORTON) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Tranportation

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the importance

of ‘‘family friendly’’ programming on television.

Whereas American children and adolescents spend between

22 and 28 hours each week viewing television;

Whereas American homes have an average of 2.75 television

sets, and 87 percent of homes with children have more

than 1 television set;

Whereas there is a need to increase the availability of programs suitable for the entire family during prime time

viewing hours;

Whereas surveys of television content demonstrate that many

programs contain substantial sexual or violent content;
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•SCON 56 IS

Whereas although parents are ultimately responsible for appropriately supervising their children’s television viewing,

it is also important to provide positive, ‘‘family friendly’’

programming that is suitable for parents and children to

watch together;

Whereas efforts should be made by television networks, studios, and the production community to produce more

quality family friendly programs and to air those programs during times when parents and children are likely

to be viewing together;

Whereas members of the Family Friendly Programming

Forum are concerned about the availability of family

friendly television programs during prime time viewing

hours; and

Whereas Congress encourages activities by the Forum and

other entities designed to promote family friendly programming, including—

(1) participating in meetings with leadership of

major television networks, studios, and production companies to express concerns;

(2) expressing the importance of family friendly programming at industry conferences, meetings, and forums;

(3) honoring outstanding family friendly television

programs with a new tribute, the Family Program

Awards, to be held annually in Los Angeles, California;

(4) establishing a development fund to finance family friendly scripts; and

(5) underwriting scholarships at television studies

departments at institutions of higher education to encourage student interest in family friendly programming:

Now, therefore, be it
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•SCON 56 IS

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring), That Congress—

3 (1) recognizes and honors the efforts of the

4 Family Friendly Programming Forum and other en5 tities supporting family friendly programming;

6 (2) supports efforts to encourage television net7 works, studios, and the production community to

8 produce more quality family friendly programs;

9 (3) supports the proposed Family Friendly Pro10 gramming Awards, development fund, and scholar11 ships, all of which are designed to encourage, recog12 nize, and celebrate creative excellence in, and com13 mitment to, family friendly programming; and

14 (4) encourages the media and American adver15 tisers to further a family friendly television environ16 ment within which appropriate advertisements can

17 accompany the programming.

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