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Union Calendar No. 368
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4201
[Report No. 106-662]
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify the service
obligations of noncommercial educational broadcast stations.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 6, 2000
Mr. Pickering (for himself, Mr. Oxley, Mr. Tauzin, Mr. Largent, and Mr.
Stearns) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Commerce
June 9, 2000
Additional sponsors: Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Gillmor, Mr. Armey, Mr. Ehrlich,
Mrs. Cubin, Mr. DeLay, Mr. Fossella, Mr. Deal of Georgia, Mr. Cox, Mr.
Baker, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Ramstad, Mr.
Whitfield, Mr. Burr of North Carolina, Mr. Dickey, Mr. Tancredo, Mr.
Goodlatte, Mr. Rogan, Mr. Bilirakis, Mrs. Wilson, Mr. Coburn, Mr.
Blunt, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Hall of Texas, Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Terry, Mr.
Shows, and Mr. Green of Wisconsin
June 9, 2000
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April
6, 2000]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify the service
obligations of noncommercial educational broadcast stations.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Noncommercial Broadcasting Freedom
of Expression Act of 2000''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In the additional guidance contained in the Federal
Communication Commission's memorandum opinion and order in WQED
Pittsburgh (FCC 99-393), adopted December 15, 1999, and
released December 29, 1999, the Commission attempted to impose
content-based programming requirements on noncommercial
educational television broadcasters without the benefit of
notice and comment in a rulemaking proceeding.
(2) In doing so, the Commission did not adequately consider
the implications of its proposed guidelines on the rights of
such broadcasters under First Amendment and the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act.
(3) Noncommercial educational broadcasters should be
responsible for using the station to primarily serve an
educational, instructional, cultural, or religious purpose in
its community of license, and for making judgments about the
types of programming that serve those purposes.
(4) Religious programming contributes to serving the
educational and cultural needs of the public, and should be
treated by the Commission on a par with other educational and
cultural programming.
(5) Because noncommercial broadcasters are not permitted to
sell air time, they should not be required to provide free air
time to commercial entities or political candidates.
(6) The Commission should not engage in regulating the
content of speech broadcast by noncommercial educational
stations.
SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF SERVICE OBLIGATIONS OF NONCOMMERCIAL
EDUCATIONAL OR PUBLIC BROADCAST STATIONS.
(a) Service Conditions.--Section 309 of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 309) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(m) Service Conditions on Noncommercial Educational and Public
Broadcast Stations.--
``(1) In general.--A nonprofit organization shall be
eligible to hold a noncommercial educational radio or
television license if the station is used primarily to
broadcast material that the organization determines serves an
educational, instructional, cultural, or religious purpose (or
any combination of such purposes) in the station's community of
license, unless that determination is arbitrary or
unreasonable.
``(2) Additional content-based requirements prohibited.--
The Commission shall not--
``(A) impose or enforce any quantitative
requirement on noncommercial educational radio or
television licenses based on the number of hours of
programming that serve educational, instructional,
cultural, or religious purposes; or
``(B) impose or enforce any other requirement on
the content of the programming broadcast by a licensee,
permittee, or applicant for a noncommercial educational
radio or television license that is not imposed and
enforced on a licensee, permittee, or applicant for a
commercial radio or television license, respectively.
``(3) Rules of construction.--Nothing in this subsection
shall be construed as affecting--
``(A) any obligation of noncommercial educational
television broadcast stations under the Children's
Television Act of 1990 (47 U.S.C. 303a, 303b); or
``(B) the requirements of section 396, 399, 399A,
and 399B of this Act.''.
(b) Political Broadcasting Exemption.--Section 312(a)(7) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 312(a)(7)) is amended by
inserting ``, other than a noncommercial educational broadcast
station,'' after ``use of a broadcasting station''.
(c) Audit of Compliance With Donor Privacy Protection
Requirements.--Section 396(l)(3)(B)(ii) of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 396(l)(3)(B)(ii)) is amended--
(1) in subclause (I), by inserting before the semicolon the
following: ``, and shall include a determination of the
compliance of the entity with the requirements of subsection
(k)(12)''; and
(2) in subclause (II), by inserting before the semicolon
the following: ``, except that such statement shall include a
statement regarding the extent of the compliance of the entity
with the requirements of subsection (k)(12)''.
(d) Implementation.--Consistent with the requirements of section 4
of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall amend sections
73.1930 through 73.1944 of its rules (47 C.F.R. 73.1930-73.1944) to
provide that those sections do not apply to noncommercial educational
broadcast stations.
SEC. 4. RULEMAKING.
(a) Limitation.--After the date of enactment of this Act, the
Federal Communications Commission shall not establish, expand, or
otherwise modify requirements relating to the service obligations of
noncommercial educational radio or television stations except by means
of agency rulemaking conducted in accordance with chapter 5 of title 5,
United States Code, and other applicable law (including the amendments
made by section 3).
(b) Rulemaking Deadline.--The Federal Communications Commission
shall prescribe such revisions to its regulations as may be necessary
to comply with the amendment made by section 3 within 270 days after
the date of enactment of this Act.
Union Calendar No. 368
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4201
[Report No. 106-662]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify the service
obligations of noncommercial educational broadcast stations.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 9, 2000
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
Pages: 1 Other Popular 106th Congressional Bills Documents:
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