ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1985):
SENATOR JOHN DANFORTH: The violence, the sex, the general sleaziness….

TEXT ON SCREEN:
Every so often, Congress holds a hearing on the perils of popular culture…

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1985):
SENATOR JOHN DANFORTH: Rock music…

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR ERNEST HOLLINGS: Violence on television.

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Video games…

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1997):
SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK: Music violence…

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 2001):
REPRESENTATIVE EDWARD MARKEY: Media violence…

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 2007):
REPRESENTATIVE BOBBY RUSH: Hip-hop…

TEXT ON SCREEN:
The topic changes, but the script stays pretty much the same.

1: This is not about censorship.

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: We’re not talking here about censorship, but about citizenship.

ARCHIVAL:
MAN: The First Amendment is not under attack here. 

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR ERNEST HOLLINGS: We all believe in the First Amendment. 

TEXT ON SCREEN:

2: This is about decency.

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1985):
SENATOR PAULA HAWKINS: The title of that tape was “Hot for Teacher.”

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1985):
SUSAN BAKER (CO-FOUNDER OF PARENTS MUSIC RESOURCE CENTER ): I F-U-C-K like a beast.

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Consider a song like “Slap a Ho.”

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR HERBERT KOHL: Lethal enforcers…

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR JAMES EXON: Madonna’s “Sex” book that I haven’t seen, but I read reports of it… 

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Marilyn Manson, Tupac Shakur, Cannibal Corpse, Snoop Doggy Dogg.

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR ERNEST HOLLINGS: Buffcoat and Beaver, or Beaver and something else. I haven’t seen it. I don’t watch it. 

TEXT ON SCREEN:

3. I mean, I had no idea!

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN):
SENATOR PAUL SIMON: I turned on my television set and all of a sudden I saw someone being sawed in half by a chainsaw. 

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN):
REPRESENTATIVE JANE HARMON: My first encounter with Eminem lyrics was in my car, when one of my kids put the CD on the car stereo. 

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN):
REPRESENTATIVE BARBARA CUBIN: It’s a very appealing beat. It’s sort of like a tribal beat…

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN):
REPRESENTATIVE JANE HARMON: It was horrifying. 

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN):
REPRESENTATIVE BARBARA CUBIN: … but when you hear the words “raping your mother, killing your mother,” umm, I think the industry should be embarrassed. 

TEXT ON SCREEN:

4. Shame on you.

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1985):
SENATOR JOHN DANFORTH: A good part of what has gone wrong in this country is due to our mass media. 

ARCHIVAL:
MAN: Repeated exposure to song lyrics describing rape, incest, sexual violence and perversion is like sandpaper to the soul.

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN):
MAN: Shame on people who produce that trash. It’s child abuse, in my judgment. 

TEXT ON SCREEN:

5. What are we going to do about it?

Nothing.

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: We are going to convene again.

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN):
MAN: We hope to get some dialogue going across the country.

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN):
REPRESENTATIVE JANE HARMON: I’m better equipped to make the judgment about my kids than is the federal government. 

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 2007):
REPRESENTATIVE BOBBY RUSH: We’re never going to be called on to vote on this issue. 

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN, 1993):
SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: The best thing you can do is to self-regulate. Hearing is adjourned. Thank you all. 

ARCHIVAL (C-SPAN):
MAN: That concludes a five-hour hearing.

(END)