[Infowarrior] - Bush Signs Legislation On Broadcast Decency

[Richard Forno]

Bush Signs Legislation On Broadcast Decency
http://www.freepress.net/news/16072

>From Washington Post, June 16, 2006
By Peter Baker

Complaining that television and radio shows in recent years have ³too often
pushed the bounds of decency,² President Bush signed legislation yesterday
to escalate dramatically the penalties against broadcasters who violate
federal standards.

³The language is becoming coarser during the times when it¹s more likely
children will be watching television,² Bush said, citing a study of
nighttime programming. ³It¹s a bad trend, a bad sign.² He noted that
complaints to regulators have exploded since he took office. ³People are
saying, ŒWe¹re tired of it, and we expect the government to do something
about it.¹ ³

The ceremony came on a busy day for Bush as he tended to various matters in
between his surprise visit to Baghdad this week and a domestic fundraising
trip starting today followed by a European summit next week. In back-to-back
events, Bush also gave a speech calling for action on stalled global trade
talks, signed a bill to improve coal mine safety and authorized creation of
the world¹s largest protected marine reserve.

The White House decided to showcase the signing of the Broadcast Decency
Enforcement Act at a time when Bush and Republican congressional allies are
trying to reassure disaffected conservative supporters that they remain
committed to conservative causes. With midterm elections approaching, Bush
recently gave two speeches promoting a constitutional amendment banning
same-sex marriage and the Senate plans to vote on another amendment that
outlaws flag burning.

The decency act, coming two years after one of singer Janet Jackson¹s
breasts was exposed in a ³wardrobe malfunction² during a Super Bowl halftime
show, increases the maximum penalty for broadcasting indecent material on
radio or television between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. from $32,500 to $325,000. The
new law does not change the standards of indecency, which is defined as
³patently offensive² sexual or excretory content.

Broadcasters and free-speech advocates argue that the legislation attacks
expression and unfairly targets broadcast networks while cable and satellite
programming remains beyond the reach of federal regulation. The main
television networks and affiliates recently sued to challenge the
government¹s power to regulate on-air content.

The National Association of Broadcasters yesterday released the same
statement it issued when the legislation passed, calling ³responsible
self-regulation² the preferred path and asserting that any rules ³should be
applied equally² to cable and satellite outlets.

Bush also signed legislation to bolster safety in coal mines after a spate
of deadly accidents, including the January explosion in West Virginia that
trapped a dozen men who ultimately died. The lone survivor of that accident,
Randal McCloy Jr., attended yesterday¹s ceremony. The new law requires more
emergency supplies of breathable air, more accessible rescue teams and
higher fines for violations.

At a separate event, the president signed a proclamation designating 140,000
square miles of sea and uninhabited islands northwest of Hawaii a national
monument, an area larger than all but four states. The designation affords
federal protection for the home of 7,000 marine species, including virtually
the entire population of endangered Hawaiian monk seals.

The president also devoted part of his day to international trade and
development, addressing a group formed by former secretaries of state Colin
L. Powell and Madeleine K. Albright aimed at reducing global poverty. Bush
used the occasion to urge Congress to pass his proposed increases in foreign
aid and to press foreign leaders to work harder to reach a global trade deal
with a June 30 deadline for basic agreements looming.

Accompanied by newly sworn-in U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab,
Bush acknowledged that the so-called Doha trade talks have encountered
³tough sledding² but said he would push for breakthroughs to lower trade
barriers when he travels to Austria and Hungary next week.

³In my view, countries in Europe have to make a tough decision on farming
and the G-20 countries have to make a tough decision on manufacturing,² he
said, referring to a group of 20 developing nations. ³And the United States
is prepared to make a tough decision along with them. That¹s my message to
the world.²

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