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Press Release

Upton Reintroduces Bipartisan Measure to Clean Up the Airwaves
Legislation will raise the fines for indecency to $500,000 - Measure is same as Upton bill that passed the House last year

H.R. 310 is the first bill that Upton has introduced in the new 109th Congress

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, has reintroduced legislation to increase the financial penalties which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can levy on broadcasters who air indecent material over the public airwaves. Among other things, Upton's bipartisan measure, H.R. 310, raises the amount the FCC can fine broadcasters for airing indecent material from $32,500 to $500,000 per violation. Upton's measure passed the House last year and similar legislation passed the Senate, but final agreement could not be reached before the end of the 108th Congress. Other original co-sponsors of H.R. 310 include Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA), Joe Barton (R-TX) and John Dingell (D-MI).

"We were close to getting this on the books last year, but we will complete the job this time around, particularly since we are jumping on it right out of the gate," said Upton. "It is my hope that we can expedite the legislation and deliver something of real value to American families. At their current levels, fines are more of a cost of doing business rather than a deterrent. With passage of this legislation, I am confident that broadcasters will think twice about pushing the envelope."

Just over a year ago, Upton introduced H.R. 3717, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, after all 5 FCC Commissioners, both Republican and Democrat, had lamented that the current level of fines was too low. H.R. 3717, passed the House last March 11th by a vote of 391 to 22 and the Senate passed similar legislation by a vote of 99 to 1 on June 22nd.

"When broadcasters sign on the dotted line to receive their licenses, they are agreeing to follow decency standards," said Upton. "Using the public airwaves comes with the responsibility to follow the FCC decency standards that apply to programming that airs during the family hours of 6:00am to 10:00pm - the likeliest times that children may be tuned in. My bill does not touch decency standards - the laws for indecency have been on the books for decades and they have been upheld in the courts."

In addition to raising the fines, Upton's legislation also mandates a license revocation hearing (but does not dictate the outcome of the hearing) after the third offense by a broadcaster (the FCC currently has the authority to hold such a hearing after the first offense, but is not mandated to do so) and also imposes on the FCC a 180 day "shot clock" to act on indecency complaints filed by consumers. Additionally, the bill raises the amount the FCC can fine networks and entertainers who willfully or intentionally violate indecency standards from $11,000 to $500,000. The bill also includes protections for affiliates from fines in instances, like last year's Super Bowl, where they did not know what was soon to be broadcast by the network.

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