Eshoo's Bill to Prevent Loud TV Ads Passes Subcommittee

Eshoo's Bill to Prevent Loud TV Ads Passes Subcommittee

Washington, D.C. - Legislation regulating the volume of commercial advertisements cleared its first hurtle today on its way toward passage in the U.S. House of Representatives.  H.R. 1084, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, passed out of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet by a voice vote and will face full committee consideration. 

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Palo Alto), the sponsor of the bill, issued the following statement:

"I'm pleased by the Subcommittee's overwhelming support and its recognition of this problem and I'm gratified by the bill's passage.  The problem of loud commercials is not new.  It has bothered consumers and endangered their hearing for decades.  Under the CALM Act, consumers will control the sound and no one else will be able to take that control from them.  As the chief sponsor and as a consumer, I look forward to the day this bill becomes law."

During the mark-up Rep. Eshoo also submitted an amendment to the CALM Act which directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt technology standards developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee to solve the volume issue.  It also provides a one year grace period for providers to comply once the law passes and allows the FCC to grant hardship waivers for up to two years.

Rep. Eshoo said, "These changes strengthen the bill and allow small stations and operators ample time to comply with the law.  There will not be an open-ended waiver process that drags on for several years.  Consumers have waited long enough for this simple but critical change to take place."

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