GRASSFIRE.ORG APPLAUDS HOUSE ACTION ON INDECENCY FINES

Grassfire.org to Deliver 200,000 Petitions in Support of New Legislation

WASHINGTON, DC  – Since October of 2003, Grassfire.org, an online conservative issues advocacy organization, has been leading the fight to return decency to the airwaves. Last Friday, the efforts of Grassfire.org and its supporters were reciprocated as the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004 (HR3717) that will increase fines for broadcast indecency 18-fold to $500,000 per violation.

“We applaud those in Congress who have listened to the citizens of this nation and are moving so forcefully to bring decency standards back to the airwaves,” said Steve Elliott, president of Grassfire.org.

On March 24, 2004, Grassfire.org will deliver more than 200,000 petitions to both Representative Fred Upton (R-MI) and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) who introduced these bills (HR 3717, S2056). “Most of our petition deliveries are intended to call attention to an issue that needs attention,” said Elliott. “This petition presentation represents a massive show of citizen support and is our way of saying ‘thank you’ for taking action and putting this issue on the fast-track.”

Since the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) October decision to excuse Irish rocker Bono’s F-word utterance during a live broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards, Grassfire.org has spearheaded efforts to rally support for stronger broadcast decency standards. In doing so, more than 10,000 letters were sent to the each of the FCC commissioners and members of Congress and thousands of phone calls were made in support of the legislation.

“When Grassfire initiated this campaign, we took a lot of heat for insinuating that Bono’s remark was opening the door for more obscenity,” said Elliott. “Since then, the Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, and Nicole Ritchie incidents have proven us right and further underscoring the need to take action.
To this end, we are grateful for all of the support we received and the response from both the citizens and the Government.”

Grassfire.org is an online grassroots organization that provides tools to individuals and organizations seeking to expand their impact on many of today’s most important issues. By providing services to more than 1.5 million citizens and dozens of organizations, Grassfire.org is one of the largest online grassroots networks in the nation.