U.S. Senator Sam Brownback applauded passage of his Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act. The bill passed today by roll call vote 99-1 as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005.
“The Decency bill that passed the Senate is a clear signal to broadcasters that Congress and the American people expect them to abide by the longstanding guidelines for use of the public airwaves,” said Brownback. “This bill will empower the FCC to levy fines that are updated to reflect the current market by allowing increased fines that will have a tangible, punitive effect. We have also given the FCC the flexibility to take into account several factors, including market size and financial ability, when levying fines so that all actions are appropriate to each incident.”
The bill increases fines per offense up to $275,000 with a cap of $3 million per day.
Brownback continued, “This bill was strongly supported by the House and the Senate, and more importantly, by the American people, who have deep concerns regarding questionable content on public airwaves clearly intended to ignore regulations that are designed to protect children and families from indecent material.”
The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act passed the Senate Commerce Committee in March, and similar legislation has already passed the House of Representatives. The amendment that passed the Senate did not include any of the amendments added to the bill in the Senate Commerce Committee. However, several Senators, including Conrad Burns of Montana, added second degree amendments to the Brownback amendment.
Brownback is a member of the Senate Commerce Committee and serves on the Communications Subcommittee.
(This update courtesy of Senator Brownback's office.)
