Brownback Amendments to Empower FCC Against Indecent and Violent Television Content

Press Release

Brownback Amendments to Empower FCC Against Indecent and Violent Television Content

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback on Thursday will offer two amendments to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, both of which are related to the Federal Communications Commission's broadcast decency regulations.

"Broadcasters should not be allowed to use the public airways to disseminate violent or obscene material," said Brownback. "The abundance of indecent material on television is one indication of the coarsening of our culture."

The first amendment Brownback plans to offer will continue support for the FCC to fine broadcasters who air indecent, profane, or obscene content. A recent federal court ruling would prohibit the FCC from fining broadcasters for "fleeting expletives," the one-time use of an expletive in a broadcast. The second amendment Brownback plans to offer authorizes the FCC to fine broadcasters for airing excessively violent content during the hours when children are most likely to be in the audience.

Brownback continued, "Parents should not have such a difficult time protecting their children from broadcast television. The FCC's ability to restrict the gratuitous use of obscene, violent, and indecent content on broadcast television is essential to the protection of children and families." Senator Brownback is a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Source