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Witness List Set for Senate Decency Hearing

WASHINGTON — The Senate Commerce Committee’s first day of hearings this year on broadcast and Internet-related issues will be held on Thursday, Jan. 19. The agenda will include issues of decency and pornography.

The first hearing, slated for 10 a.m., will cover the general topic of decency and includes two panels of witnesses. The first set of panelists are: Jack Valenti, former chair/CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America; Charles W. Ergen, chair/CEO of EchoStar Communications; and David Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast.

The second set of five panelists are: Bruce Reese, joint board chair for the National Association of Broadcasters; L. Brent Bozell III, president of Parents Television Council; Marty Franks, executive vice president of CBS; Alan Rosenberg, president of Screen Actors Guild; and Jeff McIntyre, legislative and federal affairs officer at the American Psychological Association.

An afternoon session at 2:30 p.m. will focus on Internet pornography. No witness list was currently available from the committee’s website.

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