article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Children's Media Protection Act of 1995''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress makes the following findings: (1) On average, a child in the United States is exposed to 27 hours of television each week, and some children are exposed to as much as 11 hours of television each day. (2) The average American child watches 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of other violence on television by the time the child completes elementary school. (3) By the age of 18 years, the average American teenager has watched 200,000 acts of violence on television, including 40,000 murders. (4) The Times Mirror Center reports that a recent poll of Americans indicates that 72 percent of the American people believe that there is too much violence on television, and, according to a survey by U.S. News and World Report dated May 1994, 91 percent of American voters believe that mayhem in the media contributes to violence in real life. (5) On several occasions since 1975, The Journal of the American Medical Association has alerted the medical community to the adverse effects of televised violence on child development, including an increase in the level of aggressive behavior and violent behavior among children who view it. (6) The National Commission on Children recommended in 1991 that producers of television programs exercise greater restraint in the content of programming for children. (7) A report of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, dated May 1993, indicates that there is an irrefutable connection between the amount of violence depicted in the television programs watched by children and increased aggressive behavior among children. (8) It is in the national interest that parents be empowered with the technology to block the viewing of television programs that are clearly inappropriate for children because of their sexual, violent, or indecent content. (9) Technology currently exists to permit the manufacture of television receivers that are capable of permitting parents to block such television programs. SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TELEVISION RATING CODE. Section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 303) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(v) Prescribe-- ``(1) on the basis of recommendations from an advisory committee established by the Commission that is composed of television broadcasters, television programming producers, cable operators, appropriate public interest groups, and other interested individuals from the private sector and that is fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented and the functions to be performed by the committee, rules to identify and rate sexual, violent, and indecent television programming that is clearly inappropriate for children, and ``(2) rules for the transmission by distributors of television programming of signals that contain an identification of the rating (pursuant to the rules prescribed under paragraph (1)) of the programming being distributed and that permit television viewers to block sexual, violent, and indecent television programming that is clearly inappropriate for children.''. SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR MANUFACTURE OF TELEVISIONS THAT BLOCK PROGRAMS. Section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 303), as amended by section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the following: ``(w) Require, in the case of apparatus designed to receive television signals that are manufactured in the United States or imported for use in the United States and that have a picture screen 13 inches or greater in size (measured diagonally), that such apparatus-- ``(1) be equipped with circuitry designed to enable viewers to block the display of channels, programs, and time slots; and ``(2) enable viewers to block display of all programs with a common rating.''. SEC. 5. SHIPPING OR IMPORTING OF TELEVISIONS THAT BLOCK PROGRAMS. (a) Regulations.--Section 330 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 330) is amended-- (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and (2) by adding after subsection (b) the following new subsection (c): ``(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no person shall ship in interstate commerce, manufacture, assemble, or import from any foreign country into the United States any apparatus described in section 303(w) of this Act except in accordance with rules prescribed by the Commission pursuant to the authority granted by that section. ``(2) This subsection shall not apply to carriers transporting apparatus referred to in paragraph (1) without trading it. ``(3) The rules prescribed by the Commission under this subsection shall provide performance standards for blocking technology. Such rules shall require that all such apparatus be able to receive the rating signals which have been transmitted by way of line 21 of the vertical blanking interval and which conform to the signal and blocking specifications established by the Commission. ``(4) As new video technology is developed, the Commission shall take such action as the Commission determines appropriate to ensure that blocking service continues to be available to consumers.''. (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 330(d) of such Act, as redesignated by subsection (a)(1), is amended by striking ``section 303(s), and section 303(u)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``and sections 303(s), 303(u), and 303(w)''. SEC. 6. ELIMINATION OF TELEVISION PROGRAMMING THAT IS INAPPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN DURING CERTAIN HOURS. Title I of the Children's Television Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``prohibition on programming that is inappropriate for children ``Sec. 105. (a) The Commission shall, within 30 days of the date of the enactment of this Act, initiate a rule-making proceeding to prescribe a prohibition on the broadcast on commercial television and by public telecommunications entities, including the broadcast by cable operators, from the hours of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., inclusive, of programming that contains sexual, violent, and indecent television programming that is clearly inappropriate for children. ``(b) As used in this section: ``(1) The term `cable operator' has the meaning given such term in section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 522). ``(2) The term `programming' includes advertisements but does not include bona fide newscasts, bona fide news interviews, bona fide news documentaries, and on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events. ``(3) The term `public telecommunications entity' has the meaning given such term in section 397(12) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397(12)).''. SEC. 7. BROADCAST ON TELEVISION AND CABLE OF EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL PROGRAMMING FOR CHILDREN. (a) Broadcast Television.--Section 309 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(k) Educational and Information Programming for Children.--In granting an application for a license for a television broadcasting station (including an application for renewal of such a license), the Commission shall impose such conditions upon the applicant as the Commission requires in order to ensure that the applicant complies under the license with the standards for children's television programming established under section 102 of the Children's Television Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a) and otherwise serves the educational and informational needs of children through its overall programming.''. (b) Cable Service.--Part III of title VI of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``SEC. 629. EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATION PROGRAMMING FOR CHILDREN ``Sec. 629. A franchise, including the renewal of a franchise, may not be awarded under this part unless the cable operator to be awarded the franchise agrees to comply with the standards for children's television programming established under section 102 of the Children's Television Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a) and to otherwise serve the educational and informational needs of children in the provision of cable service under the franchise.''.
summary: Children's Media Protection Act of 1995 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) prescribe rules to identify and rate sexual, violent, and indecent television programming that is clearly inappropriate for children; (2) prescribe rules for the transmission by television programming distributors of signals that identify the programming rating and permit viewers to block such inappropriate programming; and (3) require television sets with picture screens of 13 inches or greater to be equipped with blocking circuitry and enable viewers to block display of all programs with a common rating. Prohibits any person from shipping, manufacturing, assembling, or importing any television not so equipped. Requires performance standards for blocking technology. (Sec. 6) Directs the FCC to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to prescribe a prohibition on the broadcast on commercial television and any public telecommunications entities between 6 o'clock a.m. and 9 o'clock p.m. of such inappropriate programming. (Sec. 7) Directs the FCC, in granting an application for a television broadcast license, to impose conditions which ensure that the applicant complies with the standards for children's television programming as established under the Children's Television Act of 1990 and otherwise serves the educational and informational needs of children through its overall programming. Prohibits a cable franchise award or renewal unless the cable operator complies with such standards.