Washington, DC—Today U.S. Senator Herb Kohl called on the Federal Trade Commission and the Government Accountability Office to strengthen the video game rating system. In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, Senator Kohl asked the Commission to update its annual media violence report to focus on violent video games and minors' access to mature rated games. Kohl will also ask the General Accountability Office to review the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), the industry group that determines video game ratings, to determine whether their ratings are accurate and properly enforced. The ESRB was created under Sen. Kohl's leadership.

"We don't raise our children to be assassins, drug lords, or gang leaders," said Kohl. "The video game industry must be accountable for their product. And the retailers must responsible for enforcing it. All we ask for is a reliable, accurate and effective ratings system with impeccable integrity."

In their recent 2005 video game industry report card, the National Institute on Media and the Family raised concerns about the accuracy of the ESRB ratings and their enforcement by retailers. The report found that underage children were able to purchase an M or "mature" rated video game 44% of the time. M-rated games are intended for ages 17 and above. The National Institute on Media and the Family also reported that T-rated (Teen) and M-rated games contain an increasingly amount of violence, sexual content and obscenity.

"Parents across America deserve a ratings system for video games that works," said Kohl. "A functioning rating system gives parents the power to parent -- it lets them understand and control the content of the video games their kids play."

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