Congress drops ERLC-backed measures

By Tom Strode - Oct 15, 2004 - comment

Congress turned aside two measures strongly supported by the ERLC before recessing until after the Nov. 2 election.

Conference committees from the Senate and House of Representatives dropped a measure that would have increased broadcast indecency fines and a provision empowering the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products. The broadcast indecency language was removed from the Department of Defense authorization bill, while the tobacco measure was deleted from corporate tax legislation.

In a move endorsed by the ERLC, the conference committee for the Defense authorization bill dropped language that would have expanded hate-crimes protections to homosexuals.

The removal of the hate-crimes provision was the “one bright spot” in a “mixed bag” of results, said Barrett Duke, the ERLC’s vice president for public policy. The ERLC will continue to pursue passage of both the tobacco and broadcast indecency proposals, Duke said.

When the Defense conference committee deleted the broadcast indecency language, Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., quickly acted to revive it. He reintroduced the measure as a stand-alone bill the next day, Oct. 8, in hopes the Senate may take up it up when it returns Nov. 16.

The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, H.R. 3717, would increase the maximum fine to $500,000 for a single violation of decency standards by a radio or television station. The most the Federal Communications Commission can levy for a violation now is $27,500. The House-approved bill also would call for the FCC to hold license revocation proceedings after three violations by a radio or TV station.

The Senate approved in July an amendment that would have given the FDA for the first time regulatory authority over the manufacturing, marketing, labeling, distribution and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products. The House’s version of the corporate tax bill did not provide for FDA oversight of tobacco, and its conferees prevailed in negotiations over the proposal.

The Senate acted to include “gender, sexual orientation or disability” among categories protected by hate-crimes laws by amending the Defense authorization bill in June. The amendment passed 65-33. “Sexual orientation” is a classification that includes homosexuality. The categories currently protected from hate crimes are race, color, religion and national origin. The House’s version of the authorization bill did not include the hate-crimes language.

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