Contact: Jennifer Fedor, Concerned Women for America, 202-488-7000 ext. 126

WASHINGTON, July 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- Tomorrow the Senate Commerce Committee will discuss a bill to allow the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prohibit the use of indecent images and profanity on broadcast television during times of the day when children and families are most likely the audience.  S. 1780 was introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) after an outcry from Americans fed up with offensive material on broadcast networks.

Shari Rendall, CWA's Director of Legislation and Public Policy, said, "Violence and inappropriate language have reached epidemic proportions on television.  A recent poll conducted by the Associated Press shows that about 70 percent of people said there is too much violence on television.  Broadcast television needs to be held accountable for the programming that is being put on the screen.  The quality of television is no longer as 'family oriented' as it once was.  Today's prime time television has become unsuitable for families and is often against their values, making it impossible for families to watch programming together."

CWA President Wendy Wright commented, "CWA members have activated the 'V-chip' on their televisions to see what it would filter out, selecting nothing above PG.  They report that from 6:30 p.m. on there was no signal capable of being shown on TV. This means that nothing on broadcast television was appropriate for a PG audience.  As one member noted, 'That was a real eye opener. … I knew it was bad, but didn't realize that on broadcast TV there would be no sitcoms, drama, etc. that could be shown.'  Americans deserve better than this, but broadcast networks will not provide it unless the government protects Americans from indecent images and profanity." 

Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.