On May 4 , a hearing on the marketing and distribution of violent content to minors by the television , music , film and video-game industries was held by the United States Senate Committee on Commerce , Science and Transportation . The committee heard testimony from former Secretary of Education and Empower America co-founder William Bennett , the Archbishop of Denver Charles J. Chaput , professors and mental-health professionals . Speakers criticized the band , its label-mate Nine Inch Nails , and the 1999 film '' The Matrix '' for their alleged contribution to a cultural environment enabling violence such as the Columbine shootings . The committee requested that the Federal Trade Commission and the United States Department of Justice investigate the entertainment industry 's marketing practices to minors . The CEOs of four of the world 's largest music distributors declined the invitation to attend . Bennett denounced their absence and said it amounted to a " p ublic shaming . My hunch is they will continue to ignore you like they did today . " Outside observers such as Nina Crowley , director of the anti-censorship organization Mass Mic , expressed chagrin regarding the hearings , commenting that it was " a very stacked-looking thing . " Hilary Rosen , president and CEO of the RIAA , shared this opinion and thought " it was staged as political theater ... They just wanted to find a way to shame the industry , and I 'm not ashamed . " Senators Brownback , Hatch and Lieberman concluded the proceedings by requesting an investigation from the Federal Trade Commission and the United States Department of Justice on marketing practices of the entertainment industry to minors . The following month , President Bill Clinton granted that request lamenting that " kids steeped in the culture of violence do become desensitized to it and more capable of committing it . " The release of the FTC report on September 13 , led Lieberman , by then the vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket , and Hillary Clinton to introduce the Media Marketing Accountability Act of 2001 before the 107th United States Congress . This legislation proposed to ban the entertainment-industry from marketing suspected violent or explicit material to minors
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