I have been a leader in encouraging increased corporate responsibility among the entertainment industry and combating entertainment violence and vulgarity. Over the past several years, I have convened and chaired several hearings and forums on the impact of violent entertainment on children, and the marketing of violent, adult-rated entertainment to kids.

In addition, I proposed the Federal Trade Commission report on the marketing of adult-rated entertainment to children, an idea that was later adopted by then-President Clinton. I also convened the first-ever Public Health Summit on Entertainment Violence, which included the release of a consensus statement signed by the six major medical organizations, articulating the public health consensus on the impact of violent entertainment on kids.

The development of our nation's children is vital and the way in which media impacts their ability to grow and develop is imperative.  For many years, I have been concerned about the impact media has on our children. 

In the 109th Congress, I joined with Senators Joseph Lieberman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Rick Santorum, and Mary Landrieu, to introduce the Children and Medical Research Advancement Act or CAMRA, S.2447. This bill will establish a research program within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to examine the role of media in children's cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and behavioral development.

Today, electronic media is changing more rapidly than parents and teachers can understand. The CAMRA Act would establish the first ever coordinated research program to look into the effects of this media on children. The bill places a special emphasis on the effects of electronic media on very young children, and on the link between such media and the growing epidemic of childhood obesity.

I believe this bill will make a valuable contribution to American families because it provides parents with what they are missing - accurate, unbiased data about the impact of electronic media, both the content and experience, on children's cognitive, emotional, and physical development.

Protecting our nation's children and ensuring that parents have the most accurate and complete information on the effects of media on their children should remain our top priority. I look forward to continuing to work on an issue that is vital to our society.

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently released their report on electronic media in the lives of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers--ages 0 to 6 years old. Not surprisingly, the study found that children today are reared in a media saturated environment. According to the study, 99 percent of all children live in a home with a TV set and 50 percent of these children live in a home with three (3) or more TVs of which 36 percent have a TV in their bedroom.  30 percent of children ages zero to three years and 43 percent of four to six year olds have a TV in their bedroom. Additionally, 27 percent of children have their own VCR or DVD player in their rooms and 10 percent have their own video game console in their room as well. Further, 73 percent of children ages 0 to 6 have a computer at home, and 49 percent of these young people have a video game player. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under two (2) do not watch any television.  The Academy further states that all children over two (2) should be limited to one or two hours of educational screen media a day. The Kaiser study found that in a typical day, 68 percent of all children under two use screen media -59 percent watch TV, 42 percent watch a video or DVD, five percent (5%) use computers and three percent (3%) play video games.  The study also found that 74 percent of all infants and toddlers have watched TV before the age of two.