"If we sit around and wait until we believe we have the perfect bill, in the meantime, thousands will be murdered from lessons they learn on television," he said.

The bill, to be introduced in late April or early May, would represent a major departure from the agency's existing approach of only penalizing TV and radio stations for running afoul of indecency guidelines governing sexually explicit and profane content.

Fueling the legislative push is a report that the FCC will soon issue to Congress concluding that lawmakers can regulate excessively violent fare without violating the First Amendment. Broadcast and cable outlets argue that the government should not act as censors or intervene in artistic and business decisions.

Inouye's remarks, coming one week before the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas, are certain to cause headaches for TV executives who were unable to block Congress last year from hiking indecency fines tenfold.

The lawmaker also revealed plans to introduce legislation updating the $7.3 billion universal service program by July at the latest.

"If you look at the makeup of the committee, most of them represent rural America. You can't ignore that," Inouye said. He might try to move that bill and related ones between January and June 2008. "If you don't finish up your work next year by June, forget it. It's election time."

While he favors pursuing a series of targeted communications measures instead of sweeping legislation, no final decision has been made. "That's the question we have not resolved yet," he said. The senator acknowledged that the targeted approach has a weakness: "You can't just work on one aspect and not the others."

Meanwhile, he confirmed that telecom issues, which took center stage on Capitol Hill in 2006, are largely on the backburner. His committee will tackle the subject "if time permits," but Congress is far more preoccupied with Iraq and other pressing issues, he said.

Regarding the digital TV transition, Inouye hinted the panel might scrutinize a government coupon program designed to help Americans purchase equipment needed to keep analog sets functioning after the Feb. 17, 2009 switchover.

He echoed Democrats' concerns that the effort is underfunded and too restrictive, but opposes extending the deadline because it sends the wrong message.

Nevertheless, he offered this cautionary note: "Mr. Dingell is not the only one thinking about [delaying the deadline.] There are a lot us here thinking about it," he said referring to his House counterpart, Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., who has said the deadline might need to be postponed.

Inouye spoke after a Tuesday Senate Commerce hearing in which Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., called for passage of legislation he offered with Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, to bolster emergency 9-1-1 service. "Boy, did we need that during Katrina," said Nelson, pointing out that many emergency call centers during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath were inoperable because they were under water.