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Protecting
Children from Violent and Indecent Programming
Wednesday, February 11 2004 - 9:30 AM - SR- 253
The Testimony of Honorable John McCain
Chairman, Commerce Committee
I welcome the Federal Communications Commission and
Chairman Powell. Thank you for appearing before the Committee today to
discuss the pervasiveness of violent and indecent programming on
broadcast television. To be clear, the Committee had scheduled this
hearing before the Super Bowl aired due to members concerns about
increasingly violent and indecent programming.
By now, there isn't a person in this room who is
unfamiliar with CBS and the NFL's "fumble" during the Super Bowl
halftime show last week, which was viewed by an estimated 140 million
Americans, including millions of young children. And then, in an
instant, this issue became the subject of national debate. And
rightfully so.
This discussion should remind us that broadcasters have
been given spectrum - for free. As Americans who own that spectrum, we
have every right to expect something in return. We call it the public
interest. We expect broadcasters to make the best use of that spectrum
by providing news and information about our society and political
campaigns, children's programming, and even, entertainment.
But what constitutes entertainment clearly lies in the
eyes of the beholder. Forty years ago, Jack Paar famously walked off the "Tonight
Show" because the network had censored a joke he told involving a "water closet." From censoring a
"water closet" joke to airing nudity
– we've come a long way. However, that is exactly what makes it so
difficult to draw a line between what is and what is not appropriate
within the boundaries of the First Amendment.
Before the Super Bowl, CBS sister company MTV hyped the
halftime show as one that would provide a "shocking moment" and grab
viewers' attention. Well, they have succeeded. They now have the
attention of the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and
more than several members of Congress. Chairman Powell has called for
a "thorough and swift" investigation of the incident. Senators Allen,
Brownback, and Lindsay Graham have introduced a bill, S. 2056, that
would increase fines for indecency violations.
I remind my colleagues that last summer Senator
Hollings and I introduced our FCC Reauthorization bill, S. 1264, that
would not only raise fines ten-fold for broadcasters, but also direct
the FCC to count each indecent "utterance" individually, and encourage
license revocation proceedings in certain circumstances. The bill was
reported out of this Committee seven months ago, and I urge Senate
leadership to bring S. 1264 to the floor for immediate consideration
and passage. These fines have not been raised since 1989 - now is the
time, so companies don't continues to accept these fines as "the cost
of doing business."
I note, finally, that the scope of all of these bills
is limited to broadcast television. More than 85 percent of Americans
now receive their television programming from cable and satellite TV.
In fact, for the first time ever, cable's combined primetime viewership recently
surpassed that of broadcast.
Gene Kimmelman of Consumer's Union wrote to Senators this week
urging Congress to address indecent content on cable and satellite TV.
Mr. Kimmelman calls for Congress to take a new approach to offensive
content aired over pay television: "Instead of forcing consumers to
buy service tiers of 40, 50, or 75 channels which include networks
they never watch or channels they find offensive, Congress should
require cable and satellite operators to offer a la carte programming.
Let people pick and pay for only those channels they want ... [in
order] to save consumers money and empower those who are offended by
some of today's program offerings." Mr. Kimmelman's a la carte
suggestion sounds familiar to me, and more persuasive than ever in
providing parents control over their television sets.
But I suspect we will hear more about these issues in
the weeks to come. Again, I thank the Commissioners for being here.
Opening
Statement from Commerce Committee Chairman, John McCain
Summary of
Testimony of Michael Powell Chairman, Federal Communications
Commission
Testimony of Michael Copps Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
Testimony of Kevin Martin Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
Testimony of Kathleen Abernathy Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
Testimony of Jonathan Adelstein Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
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