109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5737
To restore the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to issue
regulations on marketing and advertising to children.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 29, 2006
Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To restore the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to issue
regulations on marketing and advertising to children.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Children's Health Federal Trade Commission
Authority Restoration Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings- Congress finds that--
(1) over 12 million children and adolescents, ages 2 through 19, are overweight,
a rate that has tripled in the last 40 years;
(2) overweight children have a more than 70 percent chance of being overweight
adults;
(3) type 2 diabetes, a disease that is mainly associated with adults,
has become widespread in children in recent years;
(4) children are obese in part because they watch too much television,
with each child on average watching over 2 hours each day;
(5) the congressionally chartered Institute of Medicine found extraordinary
growth in new food products targeted to children, from just 52 new product
introductions in 1994 to close to 500 in 2005;
(6) an estimated $15 billion was spent on junk food marketing in 2005;
(7) in the late 1970s, the Federal Trade Commission recommended banning
television advertising directed at children under the age of 8 after research
indicated that marketing to young children was unfair because they do
not understand the persuasive intent of advertising, but was never granted
the authority to do so by Congress; and
(8) a recent Institute of Medicine report found that the Federal Trade
Commission should be granted the authority to regulate advertising directed
at children.
(b) Purpose- The purpose of this Act is to restore the authority of the
Federal Trade Commission to issue regulations that restrict the marketing
or advertising of foods and beverages to children under the age of 18 years
if the Federal Trade Commission determines that there is evidence that consumption
of certain foods and beverages is detrimental to the health of children.
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO REGULATE MARKETING AND ADVERTISING TO CHILDREN.
Section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a) is amended
by striking subsection (h).
END
