Last week, the Senate squelched an amendment by Republican Sam Brownback that would toughen rules against broadcast indecency. But the hope for new safeguards is not dead. A bill authored by Democrat John Rockefeller of West Virginia aims to clean up network television.
Rockefeller’s proposal, introduced in the Commerce Committee, was fast-tracked by Chairman Daniel Inouye, also a Democrat. Known as the Protecting Children from Indecent Programming Act, Rockefeller press officer Steven Broderick said it would put a short leash on networks that insist they have the right to use expletives any time of day.
It "would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to actually enforce its regulations regarding the broadcast of indecent programming on television," he told Family News in Focus.
Daniel Weiss, senior analyst for media and sexuality at Focus on the Family Action, said, "Rockefeller's bill clarifies that Congress does, in fact, intend the FCC to have the ability to find single instances of profanity or single images to be indecent.
"This is a common-sense bill crafted to undo a nonsense decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals," he said. "It is clear Congress has heard the public and is responding to the will of the people."
Meanwhile, the networks are in court trying to win the right to use indecent language with impunity. Parents Television Council President Tim Winter is hoping for change.
“We’re disappointed that we’re still having the conversation," he said, "and yet at the same time we’re hopeful that something can be done quickly, expeditiously, before (senators) go on their August vacation.”
The Commerce Committee plans to take up the bill this week.
"It can't be stressed enough how crucial the grassroots was to the introduction of this bill," Weiss said. "People need to understand that when they speak up, they do make a difference."
