Devoted to show business and the entertainment industry

New Jersey Democrat Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg sat watching a presentation of clips of violent TV action on Tuesday, and got so sick of it about halfway through that he asked for it to be turned off.

"We've seen enough," he said, after scenes from "NCIS," "The Shield" and "Rescue Me" played. "I think we all know what's out there is disgusting."

There is consensus across the board on the problem of violent content on television and how it's inappropriate for children, but most legislators don't seem to know what to do about it, if anything.

At this time the Federal Communications Commission has no power to fine or regulate violence on TV, their power lies with indecency issues.

Democrat Sen. John D. Rockefeller says he wants to see that change and promises to introduce legislation in August that will regulate "indecent, violent and profane content." He added that it was a problem of corporate Hollywood greed that keeps them on "a never-ending race to the bottom."

"We now know that the entertainment and broadcasting industry has proven itself unable and unwilling to police itself," Rockefeller said. "I fear that graphic violent programming has become so pervasive and has been shown to be so harmful, we are left with no choice but to have the government step in."
 
A report by the FCC saying Hollywood has failed to protect children from violent shows has created the new impetus to get something done.

The loss of the late Jack Valenti, who was able to help stem off this coarse of action, makes it tougher for Hollywood to stop it from going forward. He had an ally in Democrat Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, who now says he'll support the legislation introduced by Rockefeller.

Some feel that it won't pass constitutional muster, but it won't be known unless the bill is introduced and the process started.