2002 To Be
Busy Year on Capitol Hill
Year-End Wrap-Up
by Jonathan Yarowsky
NATO Washington Counsel
Beginning with
the hotly debated, if not hotly disputed, 2000 presidential election
and ending with the aftermath of the incomprehensible events of
Sept. 11, last year was, by any calculation, a most difficult and
extraordinary year in our collective memory. As we start 2002, let
us briefly review the past year with particular focus on its impact
on NATO members.
2000 Elections
– In what was surely one of the closest national election cycles
in years, 2001 began with the presidential election being thrown
into the courts and ultimately being decided by a 5-4 Supreme Court
ruling. The finality of the election (needed by all) and its effects
on Capitol Hill were just beginning to come into focus, when the
body politic was shaken up again (as described below).
Following the casting of the electoral votes, and the inauguration
of George W. Bush, Congress went back to business. After a long
debate, the Senate reached a unique power-sharing agreement which
reflected in committee memberships, budgets and office space that
body’s new 50-50 split between the parties.
Republicans were
able to retain their technical “control” of the Senate
— resting on the fact that vice president Dick Cheney, as president
of the Senate, had the tie breaking vote — by negotiating into
the agreement the condition that in the event of a tie vote on a
bill or nomination in Senate subcommittee of full committee, the
full committee chairman or Majority Leader of the Senate (then Trent
Lott) respectively would have the right to move the bill or nomination
for floor consideration. As historic as this agreement was, its
brevity of duration was all the more dramatic.
Jeffords
Party Switch – Just as it seemed that President Bush and
Congress were settling into their “new business” mode,
another unprecedented event shook the halls of Congress. On May
24, Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont announced that he would leave the
Republican party to become an independent. As a result of his party
switch, Democrats suddenly became the majority party in the Senate
and, starting June 5, gained all the incidents of power and prerogative
that such control means: control of committees and with it the setting
of agendas.
Media Violence
– As could be expected, there was continued focus during the
course of 2001 on the issue of media violence. As in 2000, no legislation
was enacted, as many members realized that the issue is fraught
with complexity. Early in the year, surgeon general David Satcher
released his much-awaited report entitled Youth
Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General. Although
the report itself received a modicum of news coverage, it actually
carried an important observation about the root causes of youth
violence. To paraphrase the surgeon general’s response —
there is no single factor or combination of factors that can predict
youth violence.
Satcher went on to observe that
“a diverse body of research provides strong evidence that exposure
to violence in the media can increase children’s aggressive
behavior in the short term. Some studies suggest that long-term
effects exist, and there are strong theoretical reasons that this
is the case. But many questions remain regarding the short- and
long-term effects of media violence, especially on violent behavior.
Despite considerable advances in research, it is not yet possible
to determine with accuracy how various factors — length of
exposure, type of exposure, site of exposure and age of subject,
among others — will predict violent behavior in adolescents
and adults.”
Federal Trade
Commission Reports – The FTC also released two highly anticipated
media violence reports. In April, the FTC issued an
“interim” report
on the entertainment industry’s marketing of media violence
to children. In that report, the FTC found that NATO members were
living up to the promises
they made in September 2000, which indicated that
NATO members: would not show trailers for R-rated films before any
G- or PG-rated films; would only show trailers for R-rated movies
before PG-13 films if those movies were consistent in tone and content
with the feature film; and would “seek ways to include rating
information in their Websites, and/or to link with sites that contain
additional ratings information.” As a result of this report,
several hearings were held in both the House and Senate.
In December the FTC released its annual
review on the same topic. While the motion picture
industry (encompassing the memberships of both the MPAA and NATO)
was praised for keeping to its commitment to restrict placement
of trailers for R-rated films and for displaying ratings information
for specific films on theatre Websites, the report found that there
was virtually no change in the ability of children to purchase tickets
to R-rated films. Despite NATO’s repeated statements and efforts
to increase ratings enforcement, the report found that “slightly
more than half of theatres (52 percent) refused to sell tickets
to an R-rated movie to the shoppers, and only 39 percent of the
cashiers asked the shopper’s age at point of sale.” While
brief attention was given to this report by Congress at the end
of 2001, there was the understandable pressure to move forward on
finishing the budget and legislation related to the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks. Undoubtedly, there will be renewed attention on the issue
of media violence in the second session of the 107th Congress.
Minimum Wage
– The legislative debate over minimum wage was superseded by
the larger debate over the stimulus package and the need to help
displaced workers receive extended unemployment and healthcare benefits.
As you will recall, the last time the minimum wage was increased
was the fall of 1997. For all these reasons, we strongly anticipate
that there will be a minimum wage bill considered in the second
session of the 107th Congress. In fact, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.)
has already said publicly that he will seek a vote on a minimum
wage increase this year.
2002 will most certainly be a busy year, as control of both houses
of Congress hangs in a precarious and unpredictable state. Republicans
and Democrats have already started setting their agendas with a
view to how best gain the critical few seats needed for majority
control. As we move further from the events of Sept. 11 we also
expect that Congress will turn its attention to a variety of issues
affecting the exhibition industry. Issues surrounding media violence,
increasing the minimum wage, antitrust, and digital and online cinema,
as well as general oversight of the entertainment industry, are
sure to attract attention this year. As such, we remind NATO members
to continue their dedicated work in ensuring a safe movie-viewing
experience as well as a sound workplace.
Finally, we also look forward to Capitol Hill Day, which will take
place May 8 in Washington, D.C. during the NATO spring board meeting.
It will be a pleasure to work with the real “dream team”
— NATO members bringing their message directly to the halls
of Congress. 
