I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2036

To protect children.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 8, 1999

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

on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the

Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To protect children.

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 Defense Act

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM EXPLICIT MATE7 RIAL.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 71 of title 18, United

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing:
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1 ‘‘§ 1471. Protection of minors

2 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Whoever in interstate or foreign

3 commerce knowingly solicits, sells, loans, or exhibits to a

4 minor, any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, video

5 game, motion picture film, or similar visual representation

6 or image, book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter, or

7 sound recording, containing explicit sexual or violent ma8 terial or detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts

9 of explicit sexual or violent material which, taken as a

10 whole—

11 ‘‘(1) predominantly appeals to the prurient,

12 shameful, or morbid interest of minors;

13 ‘‘(2) is patently offensive to prevailing stand14 ards in the adult community as a whole with respect

15 to what is suitable material for minors; and

16 ‘‘(3) is utterly without redeeming social impor17 tance for minors;

18 shall be punished as provided in subsection (c) of this sec19 tion.

20 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in subsection (a)—

21 ‘‘(1) the term ‘knowingly’ means having general

22 knowledge of, or reason to know, or a belief or

23 ground for belief which warrants further inspection

24 or inquiry of—

25 ‘‘(A) the character and content of any ma26 terial described in subsection (a) which is rea-
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1 sonably susceptible of examination by the de2 fendant; and

3 ‘‘(B) the age of the minor;

4 but an honest mistake is a defense against a pros5 ecution under this section if the defendant made a

6 reasonable bona fide attempt to ascertain the true

7 age of such minor;

8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘minor’ means any person under

9 the age of 17 years; and

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘sexual or violent material’ means

11 the depiction of the human male or female genitals,

12 pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque

13 covering; the female breast with less than a fully

14 opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top

15 of the nipple; covered male genitals in a discernibly

16 turgid state; acts of masturbation, homosexuality, or

17 sexual intercourse; physical contact with a person’s

18 clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks,

19 or if such person be a female, breast; or sadistic or

20 masochistic activity, including flagellation or torture

21 by or upon a person, acts of mutilation of the

22 human body, or rape.

23 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—The punishment for an offense

24 under this section is—
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1 ‘‘(1) a fine under this title or imprisonment for

2 not more than 5 years, or both, in the case of an

3 offense which does not occur after a conviction for

4 another offense under this section; and

5 ‘‘(2) a fine under this title or imprisonment for

6 not more than 10 years, or both, in the case of an

7 offense which occurs after a conviction for another

8 offense under this section.’’.

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

10 at the beginning of chapter 71 of title 18, United States

11 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new

12 item:

‘‘1471. Protection of minors.’’.

13 SEC. 3. PRE-PURCHASE DISCLOSURE OF LYRICS PACKAGED

14 WITH SOUND RECORDINGS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 121 of title 18, United

16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing:

18 ‘‘§ 2712. Disclosure of lyrics packaged with sound re19 cordings

20 ‘‘(a) PRE-PURCHASE RIGHT OF REVIEW.—Any retail

21 establishment engaged in the sale of sound recordings in

22 interstate or foreign commerce shall make available for on23 site review, upon the request of a person over the age of

24 18 years, the lyrics packaged with any sound recording

25 offered for sale by such retail establishment.
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1 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—The term ‘retail establishment’

2 means any physical place of business which sells directly

3 to a consumer, but does not include mail order, catalog,

4 or on-line sales of sound recordings.

5 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—If it is known that a retail estab6 lishment described in subsection (a) is knowingly not mak7 ing available for review lyrics in the manner required by

8 that subsection, such retail establishment shall be notified

9 by a lawfully authorized law enforcement officer or agent

10 of the United States and if thereafter such retail establish11 ment continues to knowingly not make available for review

12 such lyrics, such retail establishment shall be fined $1,000

13 for each day in which it knowingly fails to make available

14 for review such lyrics until such time as it comes into com15 pliance with subsection (a).’’.

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters

17 at the beginning of chapter 121 of title 18, United States

18 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec19 tion 2711 the following:

‘‘2712. Disclosure of lyrics packaged with sound recordings.’’.

20 SEC. 4. STUDY OF EFFECTS OF ENTERTAINMENT ON CHIL21 DREN.

22 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The National Institutes of

23 Health shall conduct a study of the effects of video games

24 and music on child development and youth violence.
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1 (b) ELEMENTS.—The study under subsection (a)

2 shall address—

3 (1) whether, and to what extent, video games

4 and music affect the emotional and psychological de5 velopment of juveniles; and

6 (2) whether violence in video games and music

7 contributes to juvenile delinquency and youth vio8 lence.

9 SEC. 5. TEMPORARY ANTITRUST IMMUNITY TO PERMIT

10 THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY TO SET

11 GUIDELINES TO HELP PROTECT CHILDREN

12 FROM HARMFUL MATERIAL.

13 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find14 ings:

15 (1) Television is seen and heard in nearly every

16 United States home and is a uniquely pervasive

17 presence in the daily lives of Americans. The average

18 American home has 2.5 televisions, and a television

19 is turned on in the average American home 7 hours

20 every day.

21 (2) Television plays a particularly significant

22 role in the lives of children. Figures provided by

23 Nielsen Research show that children between the

24 ages of 2 years and 11 years spend an average of

25 21 hours in front of a television each week.
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1 (3) Television has an enormous capability to in2 fluence perceptions, especially those of children, of

3 the values and behaviors that are common and ac4 ceptable in society.

5 (4) The influence of television is so great that

6 its images and messages often can be harmful to the

7 development of children. Social science research

8 amply documents a strong correlation between the

9 exposure of children to televised violence and a num10 ber of behavioral and psychological problems.

11 (5) Hundreds of studies have proven conclu12 sively that children who are consistently exposed to

13 violence on television have a higher tendency to ex14 hibit violent and aggressive behavior, both as chil15 dren and later in life.

16 (6) Such studies also show that repeated expo17 sure to violent programming causes children to be18 come desensitized to and more accepting of real-life

19 violence and to grow more fearful and less trusting

20 of their surroundings.

21 (7) A growing body of social science research

22 indicates that sexual content on television can also

23 have a significant influence on the attitudes and be24 haviors of young viewers. This research suggests

25 that heavy exposure to programming with strong
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1 sexual content contributes to the early commence2 ment of sexual activity among teenagers.

3 (8) Members of the National Association of

4 Broadcasters (NAB) adhered for many years to a

5 comprehensive code of conduct that was based on an

6 understanding of the influence exerted by television

7 and on a widely held sense of responsibility for using

8 that influence carefully.

9 (9) This code of conduct, the Television Code of

10 the National Association of Broadcasters, articulated

11 this sense of responsibility as follows:

12 (A) ‘‘In selecting program subjects and

13 themes, great care must be exercised to be sure

14 that the treatment and presentation are made

15 in good faith and not for the purpose of sensa16 tionalism or to shock or exploit the audience or

17 appeal to prurient interests or morbid curi18 osity.’’.

19 (B) ‘‘Broadcasters have a special responsi20 bility toward children. Programs designed pri21 marily for children should take into account the

22 range of interests and needs of children, from

23 instructional and cultural material to a wide va24 riety of entertainment material. In their total25 ity, programs should contribute to the sound,
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1 balanced development of children to help them

2 achieve a sense of the world at large and in3 formed adjustments to their society.’’.

4 (C) ‘‘Violence, physical, or psychological,

5 may only be projected in responsibly handled

6 contexts, not used exploitatively. Programs in7 volving violence present the consequences of it

8 to its victims and perpetrators. Presentation of

9 the details of violence should avoid the exces10 sive, the gratuitous and the instructional.’’.

11 (D) ‘‘The presentation of marriage, family,

12 and similarly important human relationships,

13 and material with sexual connotations, shall not

14 be treated exploitatively or irresponsibly, but

15 with sensitivity.’’.

16 (E) ‘‘Above and beyond the requirements

17 of the law, broadcasters must consider the fam18 ily atmosphere in which many of their programs

19 are viewed. There shall be no graphic portrayal

20 of sexual acts by sight or sound. The portrayal

21 of implied sexual acts must be essential to the

22 plot and presented in a responsible and tasteful

23 manner.’’.

24 (10) The National Association of Broadcasters

25 abandoned the code of conduct in 1983 after three
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1 provisions of the code restricting the sale of adver2 tising were challenged by the Department of Justice

3 on antitrust grounds and a Federal district court

4 issued a summary judgment against the National

5 Association of Broadcasters regarding one of the

6 provisions on those grounds. However, none of the

7 programming standards of the code were challenged.

8 (11) While the code of conduct was in effect, its

9 programming standards were never found to have

10 violated any antitrust law.

11 (12) Since the National Association of Broad12 casters abandoned the code of conduct, program13 ming standards on broadcast and cable television

14 have deteriorated dramatically.

15 (13) In the absence of effective programming

16 standards, public concern about the impact of tele17 vision on children, and on society as a whole, has

18 risen substantially. Polls routinely show that more

19 than 80 percent of Americans are worried by the in20 creasingly graphic nature of sex, violence, and vul21 garity on television and by the amount of program22 ming that openly sanctions or glorifies criminal,

23 antisocial, and degrading behavior.

24 (14) At the urging of Congress, the television

25 industry has taken some steps to respond to public
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1 concerns about programming standards and content.

2 The broadcast television industry agreed in 1992 to

3 adopt a set of voluntary guidelines designed to ‘‘pro4 scribe gratuitous or excessive portrayals of violence’’.

5 Shortly thereafter, both the broadcast and cable tele6 vision industries agreed to conduct independent

7 studies of the violent content in their programming

8 and make those reports public.

9 (15) In 1996, the television industry as a whole

10 made a commitment to develop a comprehensive rat11 ing system to label programming that may be harm12 ful or inappropriate for children. That system was

13 implemented at the beginning of 1999.

14 (16) Despite these efforts to respond to public

15 concern about the impact of television on children,

16 millions of Americans, especially parents with young

17 children, remain angry and frustrated at the sinking

18 standards of television programming, the reluctance

19 of the industry to police itself, and the harmful in20 fluence of television on the well-being of the children

21 and the values of the United States.

22 (17) The Department of Justice issued a ruling

23 in 1993 indicating that additional efforts by the tele24 vision industry to develop and implement voluntary

25 programming guidelines would not violate the anti-
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1 trust laws. The ruling states that ‘‘such activities

2 may be likened to traditional standard setting efforts

3 that do not necessarily restrain competition and may

4 have significant procompetitive benefits. . . . Such

5 guidelines could serve to disseminate valuable infor6 mation on program content to both advertisers and

7 television viewers. Accurate information can enhance

8 the demand for, and increase the output of, an in9 dustry’s products or services.’’.

10 (18) The Children’s Television Act of 1990

11 (Public Law 101–437) states that television broad12 casters in the United States have a clear obligation

13 to meet the educational and informational needs of

14 children.

15 (19) Several independent analyses have dem16 onstrated that the television broadcasters in the

17 United States have not fulfilled their obligations

18 under the Children’s Television Act of 1990 and

19 have not noticeably expanded the amount of edu20 cational and informational programming directed at

21 young viewers since the enactment of that Act.

22 (20) The popularity of video and personal com23 puter (PC) games is growing steadily among chil24 dren. Although most popular video and personal

25 computer games are educational or harmless in na-
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1 ture, many of the most popular are extremely vio2 lent. One recent study by Strategic Record Research

3 found that 64 percent of teenagers played video or

4 personal computer games on a regular basis. Other

5 surveys of children as young as elementary school

6 age found that almost half of them list violent com7 puter games among their favorites.

8 (21) Violent video games often present violence

9 in a glamorized light. Game players are often cast

10 in the role of shooter, with points scored for each

11 ‘‘kill’’. Similarly, advertising for such games often

12 touts violent content as a selling point—the more

13 graphic and extreme, the better.

14 (22) As the popularity and graphic nature of

15 such video games grows, so do their potential to neg16 atively influence impressionable children.

17 (23) Music is another extremely pervasive and

18 popular form of entertainment. American children

19 and teenagers listen to music more than any other

20 demographic group. The Journal of American Medi21 cine reported that between the 7th and 12th grades

22 the average teenager listens to 10,500 hours of rock

23 or rap music, just slightly less than the entire num24 ber of hours spent in the classroom from kinder25 garten through high school.
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1 (24) Teens are among the heaviest purchasers

2 of music, and are most likely to favor music genres

3 that depict, and often appear to glamorize violence.

4 (25) Music has a powerful ability to influence

5 perceptions, attitudes, and emotional state. The use

6 of music as therapy indicates its potential to in7 crease emotional, psychological, and physical health.

8 That influence can be used for ill as well.

9 (b) PURPOSES; CONSTRUCTION.—

10 (1) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section

11 are to permit the entertainment industry—

12 (A) to work collaboratively to respond to

13 growing public concern about television pro14 gramming, movies, video games, Internet con15 tent, and music lyrics, and the harmful influ16 ence of such programming, movies, games, con17 tent, and lyrics on children;

18 (B) to develop a set of voluntary program19 ming guidelines similar to those contained in

20 the Television Code of the National Association

21 of Broadcasters; and

22 (C) to implement the guidelines in a man23 ner that alleviates the negative impact of tele24 vision programming, movies, video games,

25 Internet content, and music lyrics on the devel-
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1 opment of children in the United States and

2 stimulates the development and broadcast of

3 educational and informational programming for

4 such children.

5 (2) CONSTRUCTION.—This section may not be

6 construed as—

7 (A) providing the Federal Government

8 with any authority to restrict television pro9 gramming, movies, video games, Internet con10 tent, or music lyrics that is in addition to the

11 authority to restrict such programming, movies,

12 games, content, or lyrics under law as of the

13 date of the enactment of this Act; or

14 (B) approving any action of the Federal

15 Government to restrict such programming,

16 movies, games, content, or lyrics that is in addi17 tion to any actions undertaken for that purpose

18 by the Federal Government under law as of

19 such date.

20 (c) EXEMPTION OF VOLUNTARY AGREEMENTS ON

21 GUIDELINES FOR CERTAIN ENTERTAINMENT MATERIAL

22 FROM APPLICABILITY OF ANTITRUST LAWS.—

23 (1) EXEMPTION.—Subject to paragraph (2),

24 the antitrust laws shall not apply to any joint dis25 cussion, consideration, review, action, or agreement
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1 by or among persons in the entertainment industry

2 for the purpose of developing and disseminating vol3 untary guidelines designed—

4 (A) to alleviate the negative impact of tele5 cast material, movies, video games, Internet

6 content, and music lyrics containing—

7 (i) violence, sexual content, criminal

8 behavior; or

9 (ii) other subjects that are not appro10 priate for children; or

11 (B) to promote telecast material, movies,

12 video games, Internet content, or music lyrics

13 that are educational, informational, or other14 wise beneficial to the development of children.

15 (2) LIMITATION.—The exemption provided in

16 paragraph (1) shall not apply to any joint discus17 sion, consideration, review, action, or agreement

18 that—

19 (A) results in a boycott of any person; or

20 (B) concerns the purchase or sale of adver21 tising, including restrictions on the number of

22 products that may be advertised in a commer23 cial, the number of times a program may be in24 terrupted for commercials, and the number of
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1 consecutive commercials permitted within each

2 interruption.

3 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:

4 (A) ANTITRUST LAWS.—The term ‘‘anti5 trust laws’’—

6 (i) has the meaning given it in sub7 section (a) of the first section of the Clay8 ton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)), except that

9 such term includes section 5 of the Federal

10 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to

11 the extent such section 5 applies to unfair

12 methods of competition; and

13 (ii) includes any State law similar to

14 the laws referred to in subparagraph (A).

15 (B) INTERNET.—The term ‘‘Internet’’

16 means the combination of computer facilities

17 and electromagnetic transmission media, and

18 related equipment and software, comprising the

19 interconnected worldwide network of computer

20 networks that employ the Transmission Control

21 Protocol/Internet Protocol or any successor pro22 tocol to transmit information.

23 (C) MOVIES.—The term ‘‘movies’’ means

24 theatrical motion pictures.
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1 (D) PERSON IN THE ENTERTAINMENT IN2 DUSTRY.—The term ‘‘person in the entertain3 ment industry’’ means a television network, any

4 person that produces or distributes television

5 programming (including theatrical motion pic6 tures), the National Cable Television Associa7 tion, the Association of Independent Television

8 Stations, Incorporated, the National Association

9 of Broadcasters, the Motion Picture Association

10 of America, each of the affiliate organizations

11 of the television networks, the Interactive Dig12 ital Software Association, any person that pro13 duces or distributes video games, the Recording

14 Industry Association of America, and any per15 son that produces or distributes music, and in16 cludes any individual acting on behalf of any of

17 the above.

18 (E) TELECAST.—The term ‘‘telecast mate19 rial’’ means any program broadcast by a tele20 vision broadcast station or transmitted by a

21 cable television system.

22 (d) SUNSET.—Subsection (d) shall apply only with

23 respect to conduct that occurs in the period beginning on

24 the date of the enactment of this Act and ending 3 years

25 after such date.
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1 SEC. 6. PROMOTING GRASSROOTS SOLUTIONS TO YOUTH

2 VIOLENCE.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL YOUTH CRIME

4 PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The Attorney

5 General shall, subject to appropriations, award a grant to

6 the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (re7 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘National Center’’) to en8 able the National Center to award subgrants to grassroots

9 entities in the following 9 cities:

10 (1) Washington, District of Columbia.

11 (2) Detroit, Michigan.

12 (3) Hartford, Connecticut.

13 (4) Indianapolis, Indiana.

14 (5) Chicago (and surrounding metropolitan

15 area), Illinois.

16 (6) Dallas, Texas.

17 (7) Los Angeles, California.

18 (8) Norfolk, Virginia.

19 (9) Houston, Texas.

20 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a

22 subgrant under this section, a grassroots entity re23 ferred to in subsection (a) shall submit an applica24 tion to the National Center to fund intervention

25 models that establish violence-free zones.
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1 (2) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In awarding sub2 grants under this section, the National Center shall

3 consider—

4 (A) the track record of a grassroots entity

5 and key participating individuals in youth group

6 mediation and crime prevention;

7 (B) the engagement and participation of a

8 grassroots entity with other local organizations;

9 and

10 (C) the ability of a grassroots entity to

11 enter into partnerships with local housing au12 thorities, law enforcement agencies, and other

13 public entities.

14 (c) USES OF FUNDS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Funds received under this

16 section shall be used for youth mediation, youth

17 mentoring, life skills training, job creation and en18 trepreneurship, organizational development and

19 training, development of long-term intervention

20 plans, collaboration with law enforcement, com21 prehensive support services and local agency part22 nerships, or other activities to further community

23 objectives in reducing youth crime and violence.

24 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The National

25 Center, in cooperation with the Attorney General,
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1 shall also provide technical assistance for startup

2 projects in other cities.

3 (3) FISCAL CONTROLS.—The Attorney General

4 is authorized to establish and maintain all appro5 priate fiscal controls of sub-grantees under sub6 section (a).

7 (d) REPORTS.—The National Center shall submit a

8 report to the Attorney General evaluating the effectiveness

9 of grassroots agencies and other public entities involved

10 in the demonstration project.

11 (e) DEFINITIONS.—

12 For purposes of this section—

13 (1) the term ‘‘grassroots entity’’ means a not14 for-profit community organization with dem15 onstrated effectiveness in mediating and addressing

16 youth violence by empowering at-risk youth to be17 come agents of peace and community restoration;

18 and

19 (2) the term ‘‘National Center for Neighbor20 hood Enterprise’’ is a not-for-profit organization in21 corporated in the District of Columbia.

22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

24 appropriated to carry out this section—

25 (A) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2000;
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1 (B) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2001;

2 (C) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2002;

3 (D) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and

4 (E) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

5 (2) RESERVATION.—The National Center for

6 Neighborhood Enterprise may use not more than 20

7 percent of the amounts appropriated pursuant to

8 paragraph (1) in any fiscal year for administrative

9 costs, technical assistance and training, comprehen10 sive support services, and evaluation of participating

11 grassroots entities.

Æ