July 29, 1996

OPENING REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT CHILDREN'S TELEVISION CONFERENCE

                           THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                               July 29, 1996     


	     
                  OPENING REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
                 AT CHILDREN'S TELEVISION CONFERENCE
	     
	     
                           The East Room     			     
                                  	     


10:00 A.M. EDT
	     
	     
	     	  
	     THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.  Thank you.  Good morning.  
We're delighted to see all of you here for this historic meeting.  A 
lot of you have come a long way, some of you on the red-eye, and I 
appreciate the efforts you've made to be here.
	     
	     We're here for a clear purpose:  to improve and expand 
educational television for our children.  The ability of the United 
States to make the 21st century the age of greatest possibility in 
our nation's history depends in no small measure on our ability to 
build strong families today; to help our parents to succeed not only 
in the workplace, but in their most important job, raising good, 
well-educated, well-balanced, successful children.
	     
	     That is why we have worked so hard to give our families 
more control over one of the most influential forces in our nation, 
television.  As all of you know better than I, it is now a major part 
of our national landscape.  A typical child watches 25,000 hours of 
television before his or her 18th birthday.  Preschoolers watch 28 
hours of television a week, and at least during the Olympics, so do 
Presidents.  
	     
	     We have dedicated ourselves to giving parents the power 
to screen out television they believe their children should not see.  
That's what the V-chip was all about.  I was proud to sign the 
telecommunications law with the V-chip requirement to give parents 
the ability to stop programming that they think is inappropriate for 
their young children to see.
	     
	     You in the entertainment industry have certainly been 
doing your part.  Meeting here in the White House five months ago, 
you volunteered to rate shows for content.  You came together as 
responsible, corporate citizens to give America's families an 
early-warning system.  Parents who use the V-chip will now be able to 
block objectionable shows before it's too late.
	     
	     Together these initiatives constitute an invaluable 
arsenal for America's parents.  And I'd also like to point out that 
this is a challenge being met in the appropriate way by people 
working together and coming together, not fighting and drifting 
apart.  
	     
	     But that is only half the battle.  As Americans we have 
to define ourselves not simply by what we stand against, but more 
importantly by what we stand for.  Now, we have the opportunity to 
use the airwaves for something positive -- educational programming as 
great as our kids.  Television can be a strong and positive force.  
It can help children to learn.  It can reinforce rather than 
undermine the values we work so hard to teach our children, showing 
children every day what it means to share, to respect themselves and 
others, to take responsibility for their actions, to have sympathy 
with others who have difficulties, even to recognize that "it's not 
easy being green."  

	     
	     This morning I would like to hear from you about what we 
can do to broaden the range of quality educational programming for 
children.  I hope we can focus on three specific issues.  First, I'd 
like to talk about the new research that shows how kids can learn 
valuable lessons from TV over the course of their young lifetimes.  
Second, I'd like to find out more about what good shows look like.  
Third, I'd like us to talk about how we can break down the barriers 
to the development and production of quality educational programming 
for children.
	     
	     Before we begin, I would like to make an announcement.  
For the past year I've been calling upon the Federal Communications 
Commission to require broadcasters to air a minimum of three hours of 
genuine educational programming a week -- three hours a week, 180 
minutes a week, about 2.5 percent of the entire schedule.  Such a 
requirement would halt a steep and troubling decline.  
	     
	     As recently as the early '80s, the three major networks 
aired several hours more than that of children's educational and 
informational shows.  But by 1990, they were down to two hours a week 
or less than two hours a week.  The number is inching up now, but we 
must do more.  The airwaves that broadcasters use, after all, belong 
to all of us.  And in exchange for their use, broadcasters are 
required to serve the public interest.  I cannot imagine anything 
that serves the public interest more than seeing to it that we give 
our children at least three hours of educational television a week. 
	     
	     That's why it gives me great pleasure to announce that 
the four major networks, the National Association of Broadcasters, 
and some of the leading advocates for educational television have 
come together to join me in supporting a new proposal to require 
broadcasters to air three hours of quality educational programming a 
week.
	     
	     This proposal fulfills the promise of the Children's 
Television Act -- that television should serve the educational and 
informational needs of our young people.  It gives broadcasters 
flexibility in how to meet those needs.  And it says to America's 
parents, you are not alone; we are all committed to working with you 
to see that educational programming for your children makes the 
grade.
	     
	     I urge the FCC to adopt this proposal, to make the 
three-hour rule the law of the land.  Television can build up young 
lives rather than tear them down.  
	     
	     I'd like to say a particular word of thanks to 
Congressman Ed Markey for his work on this issue, and a very special 
word of appreciation to the Vice President for his tireless  efforts, 
along with Greg Simon, to bring about this agreement.  I thank them 
very, very much.  Today we can work to imagine television as a force 
for good, to imagine what television for children would look like if 
it resembled what we imagined it was when we were children or when 
you first got started in this business.  
	     
	     In recent days, as families have gathered to watch the 
Olympics, we have all been reminded about the good that television 
can bring into our homes, how it can bring us together, how it can 
inspire and educate us.  This should be our standard.  I'm anxious 
now to get to work.  

	     And I'd like to invite three people to come up here for 
some comments of their own about the agreement that has been reached:  
Eddie Fritts, the president of the National Association of 
Broadcasters; Les Moonves, the president of CBS Entertainment; Peggy 
Charren, the founder of Action for Children's Television. 


             END                          10:06 A.M. EDT

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