These are important questions, and we need to address them. And we need to get answers from entertainment executives who refuse to exercise corporate responsibility, and even refuse to respond to Senate requests to answer their questions in hearings. These companies are poisoning the cultural environment in which our children live. It is a vile thing to profit off of peddling violence and vulgarity to children. This is a cultural problem which demands cultural solutions.
TV is the chief purveyor of our nation's stories.
The content of those stories, and the quality of those programs, will do much to shape the values, attitudes, and assumptions of the next generation. It is a tremendous power, one that cannot be taken lightly. I look forward to working with each of you here towards the common goal of protecting free expression while encouraging TV programming that is edifying, as well as entertaining.