“Washington, July 21–At a press conference today on Capitol Hill,

former Education Secretary William J. Bennett and a bipartisan group of Senators will release an “Appeal to Hollywood,” signed by more than fifty prominent Americans, including two former presidents.

The appeal calls upon the entertainment industry–television, film,

music, video, and electronic games–to devise a voluntary code of

conduct, establishing minimum standards for each entertainment medium

and committing the entertainment industry to, among other measures, an

overall reduction in violence.

Speaking at the press conference, along with Bennett, will be Senators

Joe Lieberman, Sam Brownback, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and John McCain.

Among the signers of the appeal are former Presidents Carter and Ford,

Generals Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf, Nobel Peace Prize winner

Elie Wiesel, former Senator Sam Nunn, former Governor Mario Cuomo, and

C. DeLores Tucker, chair of the National Political Congress of Black

Women, along with prominent entertainers Steve Allen, Naomi Judd, Carol

Lawrence, and JoanVan Ark

.

Citizens will be able to read the full text of the appeal and add their

names as signatories on the World Wide Web at www.media-appeal.org

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