[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2212 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2212
To require the Federal Communications Commission to comply with the
Administrative Procedures Act and to adhere to the policies and
purposes of Communications Act of 1934 favoring diversity of media
voices, vigorous economic competition, technological advancement, and
promotion of the public interest, convenience, and necessity, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 22, 2003
Mr. Conyers (for himself, Mr. Hinchey, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr.
Cummings, Mr. Case, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Lee, Mr. Filner, Ms. Watson, Ms.
Solis, Mr. Michaud, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mrs.
Jones of Ohio, and Mr. Watt) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to
the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Federal Communications Commission to comply with the
Administrative Procedures Act and to adhere to the policies and
purposes of Communications Act of 1934 favoring diversity of media
voices, vigorous economic competition, technological advancement, and
promotion of the public interest, convenience, and necessity, and for
other purposes.
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 ``Maintaining and Ensuring Diversity
and Integrity on the Airwaves Act of 2003'' or the ``MEDIA Act of
2003''.
SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES ACT.
Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following new subsection:
``(e) Notwithstanding subsection (b)(3), an agency may not
prescribe substantial and extensive revisions to its regulations unless
such revised regulations have been published in proposed form to afford
interested persons the opportunity under subsection (c) to submit data,
views, or arguments thereon.''.
SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF INTERVAL FOR REVIEWS.
(a) Amendment.--Subsection (a) of section 11 of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 161(a)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Biennial'' in the heading of such
subsection; and
(2) by striking ``In every even-numbered year (beginning
with 1998),'' and inserting ``Once each 5 years (beginning with
2008),''.
(b) Elimination of Special Treatment of Media Rules.--Section 202
of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-104; 110 Stat.
111) is amended by striking subsection (h).
SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE WITH POLICIES AND PURPOSES OF THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT
OF 1934.
Section 257 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 257) is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(d) Compliance With Policies and Purposes.--
``(1) Completion of review and report prior to deregulatory
actions.--The Commission shall not take any action under
section 11 of this Act to repeal or modify any regulation the
Commission determines to be no longer necessary in the public
interest unless--
``(A) the Commission has completed the report to
Congress required by subsection (c) of this section to
be submitted during 2003;
``(B) the Commission has included in a report to
Congress under subsection (c) of this section an
analysis of how any change of the existing regulations
(i) is consistent with the national policy as set forth
in subsection (b), and (ii) would affect the barriers
to entry identified under subsection (a) of this
section; and
``(C) the Commission determines that such repeal or
modification is consistent with the removal of such
barriers and with the policies and purposes set forth
in subsection (b) of this section.
``(2) Prohibition of license transfers pending completion
of requirements.--Unless the Commission has complied with the
requirements of this section (including the requirements of
paragraph (1) of this subsection), the Commission shall not
approve any application, or group of interrelated applications,
for the transfer or assignment under section 309 of any license
licenses for a television or radio broadcast station or
stations to any party if--
``(A) such aggregate value of the transaction or
transactions involving such station or stations is in
excess of $50,000,000; and
``(B) such party or any of its principal
stockholders, partners, or members, officers, or
directors, directly or indirectly, owns, operates, or
controls another television or radio broadcast
station.''.
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