II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 470

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the distribution

to the public of violent video programming during hours when children

are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 23 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1995

Mr. HOLLINGS (for himself and Mr. INOUYE) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,

Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the

distribution to the public of violent video programming

during hours when children are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience.

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 ‘‘Children’s Protection

5 from Violent Programming Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) Television influences children’s perception

2 of the values and behavior that are common and ac3 ceptable in society.

4 (2) Television station operators, cable television

5 system operators, and video programmers should fol6 low practices in connection with video programming

7 that take into consideration that television broadcast

8 and cable programming—

9 (A) has established a uniquely pervasive

10 presence in the lives of all Americans; and

11 (B) is readily accessible to children.

12 (3) Violent video programming influences chil13 dren, as does indecent programming.

14 (4) There is empirical evidence that children ex15 posed to violent video programming at a young age

16 have a higher tendency for violent and aggressive be17 havior later in life than those children not so ex18 posed. Children exposed to violent video program19 ming are prone to assume that acts of violence are

20 acceptable behavior and therefore to imitate such be21 havior.

22 (5) There is a compelling governmental interest

23 in limiting the negative influences of violent video

24 programming on children.
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1 (6) There is a compelling governmental interest

2 in channeling programming with violent content to

3 periods of the day when children are not likely to

4 comprise a substantial portion of the television audi5 ence.

6 (7) Restricting the hours when violent video

7 programming is shown is the least restrictive and

8 most narrowly tailored means to achieve that com9 pelling governmental interest.

10 (8) Warning labels about the violent content of

11 video programming will not in themselves prevent

12 children from watching violent video programming.

13 SEC. 3. UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION OF VIOLENT PROGRAM14 MING.

15 Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

16 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

17 following new section:

18 ‘‘SEC. 714. UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION OF VIOLENT PRO19 GRAMMING.

20 ‘‘(a) UNLAWFUL DISTRIBUTION.—It shall be unlaw21 ful for any person to—

22 ‘‘(1) distribute to the public any violent video

23 programming during hours when children are rea24 sonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of

25 the audience; or
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1 ‘‘(2) knowingly produce or provide material for

2 such distribution.

3 ‘‘(b) RULEMAKING PROCEEDING.—The Commission

4 shall conduct a rulemaking proceeding to implement the

5 provisions of this section and shall promulgate final regu6 lations pursuant to the proceeding not later than 9 months

7 after the date of enactment of the Children’s Protection

8 from Violent Programming Act of 1995. As part of that

9 proceeding, the Commission—

10 ‘‘(1) may exempt from the prohibition under

11 subsection (a) programming (including news pro12 grams, documentaries, educational programs, and

13 sporting events) whose distribution does not conflict

14 with the objective of protecting children from the

15 negative influences of violent video programming, as

16 that objective is reflected in the findings in section

17 2 of the Children’s Protection from Violent Pro18 gramming Act of 1995;

19 ‘‘(2) shall exempt premium and pay-per-view

20 cable programming; and

21 ‘‘(3) shall define the term ‘hours when children

22 are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial por23 tion of the audience’ and the term ‘violent video pro24 gramming’.
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1 ‘‘(c) REPEAT VIOLATIONS.—If a person repeatedly

2 violates this section or any regulation promulgated under

3 this section, the Commission shall, after notice and oppor4 tunity for hearing, immediately repeal any license issued

5 to that person under this Act.

6 ‘‘(d) CONSIDERATION OF VIOLATIONS IN LICENSE

7 RENEWALS.—The Commission shall consider, among the

8 elements in its review of an application for renewal of a

9 license under this Act, whether the licensee has complied

10 with this section and the regulations promulgated under

11 this section.

12 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term

13 ‘distribute’ means to send, transmit, retransmit, telecast,

14 broadcast, or cablecast, including by wire, microwave, or

15 satellite.’’.

16 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

17 The prohibition contained in section 714 of the Com18 munications Act of 1934 (as added by section 3 of this

19 Act) and the regulations promulgated thereunder shall be

20 effective on the date that is 1 year after the date of enact21 ment of this Act.

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