Washington, DC -- Senators Joe Lieberman (CT), Sam Brownback (KS), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Rick Santorum (PA) today re-introduced legislation authorizing new research into the effects of viewing and using all types of media, including television, computer games, and the Internet, on children's cognitive, social, physical and psychological development.

The Children and Media Research Advancement (CAMRA) Act would authorize $10 million in the first year and $90 million over five years to establish a program within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development aimed at establishing a coherent research program to examine the role of all forms of electronic media on children's cognitive, social, physical and psychological development.

"America is a media-rich society, but despite the flood of information, we still lack perhaps the most important piece of information -- what effect are media having on our children?" Lieberman said. "As policymakers -- and as parents -- we have a responsibility to examine the positive and negative effects of media on our children, a responsibility this legislation can better enable us to fulfill. No one is looking out, in a systematic way, for what media our children are using. The questions about the effects of media on our children's health, education and development are too important to go unasked and unanswered."

"The development of our nation's children is vital, and understanding the way in which media impacts their ability to grow and develop is imperative," Brownback said. "Providing parents and guardians with the most accurate information and current research regarding the impact media has on their children is essential. To do anything less would be a terrible injustice to our children."

"One of our challenges as parents and policymakers is that technology keeps advancing. The definition of media in our children's lives is a moving target," said Senator Clinton. "We need better, more current research to study the impact of the new interactive, digital and wireless media dominating our kids' lives, and that's what the CAMRA Act will give us."

"The development of adolescents is largely dependent on the environmental influences that are present in a child's daily life," said Senator Santorum. "Media is such a prevalent and influential presence in our society that it is important that we understand the impact it has on our youth. Hopefully, through a better understanding of the power of media, we can use it in a healthy and productive way to educate our children."

Senators Mary Landrieu (LA), Richard Durbin (IL) and John Ensign (NV) are also co-sponsors of the bill, which will be referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

The Senators first introduced CAMRA in May of 2004 with the endorsement of a broad array of child advocacy organizations, including the Children's Digital Media Center, the Center for Media and Child Health at Harvard University Medical School, Children Now, the American Psychological Association, Common Sense Media and the Parents Television Council.

A study released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that children ages 8 to 18 spent an average of 6 ½ hours per day with media, including watching TV, listening to music, using computers, playing video games and reading. The study also found that young people have access to an unprecedented amount of media in their homes.

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