The United States Senate yesterday passed S1902, the Children and Media Research Advancement Act (CAMRA).

The bi-partisan legislation was proposed last October by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) along with Sens. Clinton (D-NY), Brownback (R-KS), Santorum (R-PA), Bayh (D-IN), Enzi (R-WY) and Durbin (D-IL).

As reported by AdWeek, CAMRA mandates the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Academy of Sciences to establish a research program that will examine the impact of media on the social, cognitive and physical development of children.

"No one is looking out, in a systematic way," said Lieberman, "for the cumulative impact of today's newer electronic media on our children. The questions about the effects - positive or negative - of media on our children's health, education and development are too important to go unasked and unanswered."

CAMRA-funded research will focus on the effects of electronic media including T.V., computers, video games and the Internet. Studies would examine factors such as the media format, length of exposure, age of users, degree of parental involvement, and the venue in which media is used.
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Washington, D.C.'s other newspaper, the right-leaning Washington Times, took shots at video game legislation and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in today's editorial.

Noting that the Federal Trade Commission's Hot Coffee report is expected soon, the Times foresees a new wave of video game sales legislation.

(GP: The Times must mean a new new wave, or else they simply haven't been paying attention to the current flood of game-related bills.)

Decrying video game legislation as "mostly symbolic," the Times points out the inevitable First Amendment issues raised by content legislation before getting around to a bit of Democrat-bashing.

Along with Hillary, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) comes under fire for his co-sponsorship of the Family Entertainment Protection Act (FEPA), currently under consideration in the United States Senate.

"Smells like opportunism to us," the Times writes.

Curiously, the Times fails to mention that several conservative Republican senators have also jumped on the video game content bandwagon, including Sam Brownback (R-KS), who chaired a March 29th subcommittee hearing on the topic and Rick Santorum (R-PA). Additionally, Republican state legislators have sponsored video game legislation this year in Minnesota, Maryland, Louisiana and Oklahoma, all states which have either enacted or seem certain to enact video game laws.

Want to talk about it? You can discuss this story via the "comments" feature (click below), or in the new GamePolitics Forums...

Making the rounds of today's editorials, GP finds two items certain to be of interest to readers.

First stop is the Wichita Eagle, where Opinion Editor Phillip Brownlee gives kudos to Kansas' Republican Senator Sam Brownback for encouraging state legislatures to pass video game restrictions. Brownlee also questions why a bill proposed by Democratic State Rep. Jim Ward hasn't progressed. Brownlee concludes:

"In the end, of course, it's up to parents to act like parents and not let their children play inappropriate video games. And, no, playing a violent video game doesn't mean that a teen will go on a shooting rampage. But it is reasonable and responsible to expect that games rated for adults only are sold only to adults."

Next, Minnesota State Rep. Jeff Johnson, (R - pictured at left), chairman of the House Civil Law Committee, pens an op-ed for the Minneapolis-St. Paul StarTribune in support of video game legislation which he has proposed.

Johnson, who testified before Sen. Brownback's U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on video games last month, is the sponsor of HF1298, a bill which would assess $25 fines against under-17's who attempt to buy M-rated games.

Johnson writes, "My intent is not to make criminals out of kids or to make money for the state $25 at a time. But I hope the new law will catch the attention of at least a few of the painfully oblivious parents in our state who are paying absolutely no attention to some of the garbage their little kids are playing on their video game machines."

Johnson enumerates several games that concern him, including usual suspects GTA, Postal and Manhunt. Oddly enough, he includes Clock Tower 3, a so-so 2003 survival-horror game in his list. GP doubts the game gets played much by anyone these days, much less the under-17 crowd, but Johnson must have come across it somewhere. He also mentioned Clock Tower 3 in his testimony before the Brownback subcommittee.

Gamers are getting all political, and GP loves it!

We found this well written, extensively detailed letter to the editor in The Advocate (Baton Rouge). We don't know the writer, Jason Seneca, at least not by that name. But he's so smart, he must be a GP reader. Jason, if you're among us, please raise your hand.

Jason takes keyboard in hand to address twin "games as porn" bills under consideration by the Louisiana legislature. GP reported on the bills, introduced by Reps. A.G. Crowe (R) and Roy Burrell (D) a few weeks back. Jason writes, in part:

"I cannot speculate on Reps. Crowe's and Burrell's motivations for introducing such costly and frivolous legislation. Considering Louisiana's recent financial straits, I fail to see how taxpayers could support a motion that is unbalanced, has no basis in fact, will cost several hundred thousand dollars to support and is ultimately destined to fail. I urge our elected officials to employ the intelligence and foresight that their constituencies expect from them."

Impressive, Jason. And he's not the only one. Gamers have been taking advantage of the ESA's Video Game Voters Network to reach their elected officials. GP reader Sherwood42 wrote to Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and got a response:
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Professor Dmitri Williams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Chamaign was kind enough to alert GP to transcripts of witness testimony from Wednesday's Brownback subcommittee hearing. Dr. Williams expects full transcripts of the subcommittee's questioning of the various witnesses to be available in a few weeks.

Prof. Williams is the author of an influential longitudinal study which found that playing a violent online game (Asheron's Call 2) did not cause substantial increases in real-world aggression.

Meanwhile, the always-excellent Terra Nova blog, devoted to MMO issues, has a report on Prof. Williams' Senate appearance.

GamePolitics broke the news about yesterday's Senate hearing... Well, actually we broke it back on March 14th, but nobody took much notice - then. Now it seems everybody's tongue is wagging over Wednesday's extravaganza chaired by Sen. Sam Brownback, seen at left (R-KS).

Sadly, GP wasn't able to catch the hearing (life... it is so annoying at times). In the meantime, we're dying to read the reports of those who sat in or listened to the webcast. MTV's Stephen Totilo will have something on it, for sure. Some GP readers have been posting what they heard in our comments area. And, hey, if anyone has an audio file, don't hold back...

What follows is a brief summary of written testimony submitted to the subcommittee by non-attendees...

Hal Halpin, IEMA (retailers): "The IEMA remains firmly committed to ensuring that children do not gain access to video games their parents deem inappropriate for them. But just as the Government has not and should not involve itself in determining what movies minors may watch and what music they may listen to, the Government should not decide what games they may play..."

Crossan Andersen, VSDA (video stores): "while we must oppose legal restrictions, the home video industry understands we have an important role to play in helping ensure that children do not gain access to videos and video games their parents deem inappropriate for them. VSDA and its members are committed to actively assisting parents in this regard."

Leland Yee, California Assembly: "In Ginsberg v. New York, the Court said, 'even where there is an invasion of protected freedoms, the power of the state to control the conduct of children reaches beyond the scope of its authority over adults.' ...And finally, just last year, the Supreme Court ruled in... Roper v. Simmons, that children are different in the eyes of the law because of brain development."

The ESRB's Pat Vance, who appeared before the subcommittee, also has written testimony available here.

No, it's not a re-make of a Frank Capra film.

Assembly Speaker pro Tem Leland Yee, architect of California's contested video game law, has accepted an invitation to testify later this month before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights.

Yee was asked to appear by Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sam Brownback (R-KS). The hearing, listed as "State Regulation of Violent Video Games and the First Amendment," will feature a variety of nationally recognized political, legal and medical figures.

"I look forward to working with Congress as they examine legislation to protect children and families," said Yee. "Clearly, violent video games have become a national issue and I applaud Congress for taking a serious look at ways we can help parents raise healthier kids."

In addition to Brownback (Chair) and Feingold (Ranking Minority Member), the Subcommittee consists of Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC ), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Tom Coburn (R-OK).

The hearing is scheduled to take place on March 29, 2006.