ATTENTION TENNESSEE RESIDENTS: Immediate Action Required

Please read the following letter from David Fowler, President of the Family Action Council of Tennessee.

Help stop obscenity on cable TV in Tennessee. Your action is needed before noon on Tuesday, March 11.

Dear Friend of Tennessee Families,

Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 11, at noon, the House Civil Practice subcommittee will vote on HB 1108. This bill would criminalize the broadcasting on television, satellite and cable of obscene programming and the advertising of obscene materials. It would also restrict the time in which material harmful to minors could be broadcast.

There are two members we believe are on the fence and they need to hear from you today.You may recall the bill came before this subcommittee two weeks ago. It did not appear that a majority of the subcommittee would support the bill. But the hundreds of emails that came in from so many of you and other concerned citizens gave some members pause.

Some members began to rethink their opposition to the bill. They wanted to find some way they could vote for the bill. So for the last two weeks, we have been working with the bill's sponsors, Sen. Doug Jackson (D-Dickson) and Rep. Mike Turner (D-Nashville), to try to draft an amendment that would satisfy some members of the House Civil Practice Subcommittee without undermining the bill's purpose. It seems that some members want to let the cable companies off the hook and only go after the "networks" that run the bad programming. But too many of these networks do not have enough of a "connection" to Tennessee to be prosecuted here.

That is why the cable companies must be included. Certainly the cable companies have a moral responsibility for how they allow their property to be used. Just like "landlords," cable companies should make it clearly known to their "tenants" (the networks whose programs they air) that the leased property is not be used to broadcast or advertise obscene materials.

Two weeks ago your emails made a difference. Now, though, the wealthy cable companies and the powerful Tennessee Broadcasters Association are lobbying against the bill. Tennessee families need you to be a lobbyist for them!

Two weeks ago your emails snatched this bill from defeat. But if it is to pass, you will once again have to make the difference.

Please contact Rep. Henry Fincher and Rep. John Lundberg today. Their votes are critical.

David Fowler,President

Click the following link to send your message: http://votervoice.net/target.aspx?id=factn:21624982