AFTRA Action Gram

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March 21, 2004

Let your voice be heard

Next week the Senate will vote on the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act (SB 2056) which directly impacts performers and announcers and has significant ramifications for free speech and artistic freedom.

If you share our concerns, return this petition to petition@aftra.com  with your name and address and send it on to your friends so they can speak out on this issue.

Petitions must be returned no later than Midnight, Tuesday, March 23 and will be submitted to the Senate shortly thereafter.

To Members of the United States Senate:

We, the undersigned, ask you to reject the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act (SB 2056) because its standards are vague and its penalties are both excessive and misdirected.

We are seriously concerned that this legislation represents an unconstitutional threat to the First Amendment and would have an immediate and significant chilling effect on artistic freedom. As evidenced by recent events, the definition of indecency is an amorphous, moving target.

Key provisions of this legislation increase the existing fines on individual performers or announcers by almost 5000% (from $11,000 to $500,000) for an initial indecency – eliminating the current requirement that a warning be issued and without any regard for ability to pay. Incredibly, this amount is almost double the fine that can be levied against a corporation that holds a broadcast license ($275,000). Fines could even be imposed on performers or announcers for taped rather than live material, which the licensee makes the decision to broadcast.

Given the fact that the Federal Communications Commission has never fined an individual performer or announcer, this legislation codifies a striking shift away from the FCC's long-standing policy that holds that the broadcast licensee is responsible for programming decisions.

For these reasons, we believe this bill requires serious reconsideration before it provides an acceptable solution to the issue of indecent material on the public airwaves. We ask you to resist the urge to act expeditiously and instead take the time to act thoughtfully.