[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1902 Referred in House (RFH)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1902
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 14, 2006
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize funding for the
establishment of a program on children and the media within the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention to study the role and impact of
electronic media in the development of children.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Children and Media Research
Advancement Act'' or the ``CAMRA Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
It is the purpose of this Act to enable the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention to--
(1) examine the role and positive and negative impact of
electronic media in children's and adolescents' cognitive,
social, emotional, physical, and behavioral development; and
(2) provide for a report to Congress containing the
empirical evidence and other results produced by the research
funded through grants under this Act.
SEC. 3. RESEARCH ON THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.
Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
280g et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating the second section 399O (relating to
grants to foster public health responses to domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking) as section 399P;
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 399Q. RESEARCH ON THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.
``(a) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations,
the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (referred to in this section as the `Director'),
shall enter into a contract with the National Academy of Science or
another appropriate entity to review, synthesize, and report on
research, and establish research priorities, regarding the roles and
impact of electronic media (including television, motion pictures,
DVD's, interactive video games, digital music, the Internet, and cell
phones) and exposures to such media on youth in the following core
areas of development:
``(1) Cognitive.--Cognitive areas such as language
development, attention span, problem solving skills (such as
the ability to conduct multiple tasks or `multitask'), visual
and spatial skills, reading, and other learning abilities.
``(2) Physical.--Physical areas such as physical
coordination, diet, exercise, sleeping and eating routines.
``(3) Socio-behavioral.--Socio-behavioral areas such as
family activities and peer relationships including indoor and
outdoor play time, interactions with parents, consumption
habits, social relationships, aggression, and positive social
behavior.
``(b) Research Program.--
``(1) In general.--Taking into account the report provided
for under subsection (a), the Secretary, acting through the
Director and in coordination with the Director of the National
Institutes of Health, shall, subject to the availability of
appropriations, award grants for research concerning the role
and impact of electronic media on the cognitive, physical, and
socio-behavioral development of youth.
``(2) Requirements.--The research provided for under
paragraph (1) shall comply with the following requirements:
``(A) Such research shall focus on the impact of
factors such as media content (whether direct or
indirect), format, length of exposure, age of youth,
venue, and nature of parental involvement.
``(B) Such research shall not duplicate other
Federal research activities.
``(C) For purposes of such research, electronic
media shall include television, motion pictures, DVD's,
interactive video games, digital music, the Internet,
and cell phones.
``(3) Eligible entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant
under this subsection, an entity shall--
``(A) prepare and submit to the Director an
application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Director shall
require; and
``(B) agree to use amounts received under the grant
to carry out activities as described in this
subsection.
``(c) Reports.--
``(1) Report to the director.--Not later than 15 months
after the date of the enactment of this section, the report
provided for under subsection (a) shall be submitted to the
Director and to the appropriate committees of Congress.
``(2) Report to congress.--Not later than December 31,
2012, the Secretary, acting through the Director, shall prepare
and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report
that--
``(A) synthesizes the results of--
``(i) research carried out under the grant
program under subsection (b); and
``(ii) other related research, including
research conducted by the private or public
sector and other Federal entities; and
``(B) outlines existing research gaps in light of
the information described in subparagraph (A).
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section, such sums as may be necessary
for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2012.''.
Passed the Senate September 13, 2006.
Attest:
EMILY J. REYNOLDS,
Secretary.