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Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005

By: Ed Markey
By: Ed Markey
Date: June 6, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Technology and Communication


BROADCAST DECENCY ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - June 06, 2006)

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend Chairman UPTON for this legislation and commend as well Chairman Barton, Ranking Member Dingell for the cooperative bipartisan way this bill has been has been handled.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation, S. 193, is similar to legislation that previously passed the House. It was approved by the Senate unanimously a few weeks ago. This bill, simply put, raises the cap on possible fines that the FCC can levy for violations of its broadcast indecency rules from $32,500 per broadcast licensee to $325,000.

I would like to emphasize that this legislation does not make indecent broadcast illegal, nor does the bill define what is or is not indecent material. Indecent content aired over broadcast TV and radio is already illegal between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. What speech constitutes indecent material will be left to the FCC and the courts to determine.

Again, this legislation simply updates the statute with respect to the amount of money that the FCC can levy as a fine for violations of its rules, and establishes procedures for considering broadcast license awards, renewal, or revocation when repeated violations are found.

I think this legislation has obvious broad support on both sides of the aisle because it merely increases the amount of fines available to the FCC to enforce its existing rules. I intend to support it, and again commend Chairman UPTON, Chairman Barton, and Ranking Member JOHN DINGELL, and our other colleagues on this bill as well.

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