I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2837

To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish standards

to reduce the amount of programming which contains violence from

broadcast television and radio.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 3, 1993

Mr. BRYANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish standards to reduce the amount of programming

which contains violence from broadcast television and

radio.

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 ‘‘Television and Radio

5 Program Violence Reduction Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) Television and radio programming are

2 bringing ever-increasing levels of violent program3 ming into the American home. Over 25 percent of

4 prime-time television shows contain ‘very violent’

5 material, according to the National Coalition on Tel6 evision Violence.

7 (2) Prime time violence tripled during the

8 1980’s, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports.

9 (3) Programs developed for children are espe10 cially violent. A University of Pennsylvania study

11 found that children’s programming contains over 30

12 violent acts per hour.

13 (4) Before the average child finishes grade

14 school, he or she sees 8,000 murders and 100,000

15 acts of violence on television.

16 (5) Numerous academic studies have built up

17 astonishing evidence that shows children tend to imi18 tate the behavior they see on television. The Na19 tional Institute of Mental Health finds that violence

20 on television leads to aggressive behavior by children

21 and teenagers who watch violent programs.

22 (6) Three different Surgeons General, the At23 torney General’s Task Force on Family Violence, the

24 American Medical Association, the American Psy25 chiatric Association, the American Academy of Pedi-
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1 atrics, and other authorities have all found that

2 viewing televised violence is harmful to children.

3 (7) Americans watch enormous amounts of tele4 vision, and many children will watch television for

5 twice as many hours (22,000 hours) as they attend

6 school.

7 (8) Many children watch violent television pro8 grams without adult supervision or guidance.

9 (9) More than 20 years of research has led to

10 a consensus that watching televised violence in11 creases children’s aggressiveness and desensitizes

12 them to the effects and implications of violence, and

13 the solidity of the agreement among respected sci14 entists that televised violence is harmful nullifies ar15 guments to the contrary by the television industry.

16 (10) There is a need to find solutions that limit

17 the harmful influence of television and radio violence

18 and yet maintain our freedom of expression.

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

20 As used in this Act:

21 (1) The term ‘‘violence’’ means any action that

22 has as an element the use or threatened use of phys23 ical force against the person of another, or against

24 one’s self, with intent to cause bodily harm to such

25 person or one’s self. For purposes of this Act, an ac-
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1 tion may involve violence regardless of whether or

2 not such action or threat of action occurs in a realis3 tic or serious context or in a humorous or cartoon

4 type context.

5 (2) The term ‘‘programming’’ includes cartoons.

6 (3) The term ‘‘child’’ or ‘‘children’’ means any

7 individual or individuals under 18 years of age.

8 (4) The term ‘‘person’’ shall have the same

9 meaning given that term under section 602(14) of

10 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

11 522(14)).

12 (5) The term ‘‘cable operator’’ shall have the

13 same meaning given that term under section 602(4)

14 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

15 522(4)).

16 (6) The term ‘‘cable service’’ shall have the

17 same meaning given that term under section 602(5)

18 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

19 522(5)).

20 (7) The term ‘‘television or radio broadcast li21 censee’’ means a ‘‘licensee’’ as defined in section

22 3(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

23 153(c)) authorized to engage in television or radio

24 broadcasting, including independent television broad25 casting.
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1 (8) The term ‘‘franchising authority’’ shall have

2 the same meaning given that term under section

3 602(10) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

4 U.S.C. 522(10)).

5 SEC. 4. RULEMAKING REQUIRED.

6 (a) STANDARDS.—The Federal Communications

7 Commission shall, within 60 days after the date of the

8 enactment of this section, initiate a rulemaking proceeding

9 to prescribe standards applicable to television and radio

10 broadcast licensees and cable operators providing cable

11 service under a franchise granted by a franchising author12 ity, requiring such television or radio broadcast licensees

13 and cable operators, including cable programmers, to re14 duce the broadcasting of all video and audio programming

15 which contains violence.

16 (b) FINAL STANDARDS.—The Commission shall,

17 within 150 days following the date of the enactment of

18 this Act, prescribe final standards in accordance with this

19 section.

20 SEC. 5. VIOLATIONS.

21 (a) VIOLATIONS.—If a person violates any rule or

22 regulation issued or promulgated pursuant to section 3,

23 the Federal Communications Commission shall, after no24 tice and opportunity for hearing, impose on the person a

25 civil fine of not more than $5,000. For purposes of this
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1 subsection, each program in violation constitutes a sepa2 rate violation.

3 (b) INTENTIONAL VIOLATIONS.—If a person inten4 tionally violates any rule or regulation issued or promul5 gated pursuant to section 3, the Federal Communications

6 Commission shall, after notice and opportunity for hear7 ing, impose on the person a civil fine of not less than

8 $10,000 or more than $25,000. For purposes of this

9 subsection, each program in violation constitutes a sepa10 rate violation.

11 (c) REPEATED VIOLATIONS.—If a person repeatedly

12 violates any rule or regulation issued or promulgated pur13 suant to section 3, the Federal Communications Commis14 sion shall, after notice and opportunity for hearing, imme15 diately repeal the person’s broadcast license in the case

16 of a broadcaster, and immediately repeal the person’s sat17 ellite license in the case of the cable operator.

18 SEC. 6. EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN VIDEO PROGRAMMING.

19 The Federal Communications Commission may ex20 empt, as public interest requires, certain video and audio

21 programming from the requirements of section 3, includ22 ing news broadcasts, sporting events, educational pro23 gramming and documentaries.
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1 SEC. 7. CONSIDERATION OF VIOLATIONS IN BROADCAST

2 LICENSE RENEWAL.

3 The Federal Communications Commission shall con4 sider, among the elements in its review of an application

5 for renewal of a television or radio broadcast license, in6 cluding an independent television broadcaster, whether the

7 licensee has complied with the standards required to be

8 prescribed under section 3 of this Act.

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