June 7, 2006

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to S. 193, the so-called Broadcast Decency bill.

I am as concerned as any parent about the content of television programming. I don’t want my children exposed to inappropriate material. That’s why we don’t watch television in my family. But parents whose kids do watch television should take little comfort in this legislation. Nowhere in this bill is there a definition of offensive content. This legislation merely increases fines tenfold for what the Bush Administration deems to be indecent.

Our laws are only are only as good as the people who enforce them. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has a poor track record of selective censorship. Without strict standards to guide their actions, I don’t trust the Bush Administration to exercise appropriate judgment. We’ve reached the point in this country where questioning our leaders is called unpatriotic and characterized as aiding the terrorists; columnists are paid our tax dollars to spout the Bush Administration’s official propaganda; the very agency charged with maintaining a diversity of ideas on the airwaves wants to give free rein to a handful of corporations to control information; and where stations refuse to air the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” lest the Federal Communications Commission be ordered to find a sacrificial lamb to appease the religious right.

I don’t trust zealots to decide what Americans should and shouldn’t watch. Since religious conservatives are who the Administration and Republicans in Congress aim to please with this legislation, I vote no to giving the Administration more authority to undermine our freedom of speech.