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H.R. 3717 BROADCAST DECENCY ENFORCEMENT ACT, was approved for Full Committee
consideration, without amendment, by voice vote.
The following amendments were offered:
An en bloc amendment by Mr. Markey, No.
1, to (1) raise penalties for a violation of obscene, indecent, or profane
material to a level not to exceed 5% of the gross revenue of the most recent
fiscal year of the licensee, permittee, or application, except that a continuing
violation shall not exceed 10% of the gross revenue of the most recent fiscal; (2)
add a new section allowing the Commission to impose a penalty for an indecent
broadcast on the licensee or permittee, by requiring them to broadcast public
service announcements reaching an audience 10 times the size of the audience
that is estimated to have been reached by the indecent broadcast; and, (3) to
direct the Commission to require a cable operator to inform subscribers in the
monthly bill of a device, which the cable operator shall provide by sale or
lease, by which the subscriber can prohibit the viewing of a particular cable
service during periods selected by that subscriber, was WITHDRAWN.
An en bloc amendment by Mr. Stearns, No.
2, to (1) add a sense of the Congress that the National Association of
Broadcasters should reinstitute a family viewing policy into the Association's
code of conduct for television, which is similar to policy that existed from
1975-1983; and, (2) to increase fines
for nonlicensees tenfold, was WITHDRAWN.
An en bloc amendment by Mr. Rush, No. 3,
to (1) require each licensee or a broadcasting station to maintain a record
of each broadcast transmission for not less than 180 days after such
transmission; (2) set the implementation
date for one year after enactment; and, (3)
extend the definition of indecency to include the broadcasting of gratuitous
violence, was WITHDRAWN.
An amendment by Mrs. Wilson, No. 4, to
require that a violation of indecency prohibitions be taken into consideration
and treated as a serious violation for purposes of a license renewal, was
WITHDRAWN.
An amendment by Mr. Green, No. 5, to
indemnify affiliated broadcast station licensees or permittees from 90% of
penalties, if the material found to be obscene was produced by a network
organization, was WITHDRAWN.
An amendment by Mr. Walden, No. 6, to
require the Commission to take into account additional factors when considering
indecency penalties, such as a violator's ability to pay, the size of the
markets which stations are located in, and the producer of the material found to
be obscene, was WITHDRAWN.
An amendment by Mr. Wynn, No. 7, to
require revocation proceedings by the Commission for 3 or more violations of
indecency prohibitions against a license or permittee, was WITHDRAWN.
THE SUBCOMMITTEE ADJOURNED SUBJECT TO THE CALL OF THE CHAIR. |
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