Postal Service Electric Motor Vehicle Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill

(H.R. 6533) to implement the recommendations of the Federal Communications Commission report to the Congress regarding low-power FM service, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank Chairman Boucher, and to let Mr. Boucher know that it has been a privilege to work with him during our years together on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and especially during the 2 years he served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and of the Subcommittee on Communications Technology and the Internet. He has been a great colleague and partner in legislation and a great friend, and I want to wish Chairman Boucher only the best in his next steps.

I also want to thank Chairman Waxman for strongly supporting this bill that will give local communities across this country access to their airwaves. I am grateful for the support that this bill has from both sides of the aisle, from myself, the former vice chairman of the Communications Subcommittee, to the future vice chairman of the Communications Subcommittee, this bill's lead cosponsor and my good friend, Lee Terry from Omaha.

We have been working together to bring local community-oriented radio to more cities, counties, and neighborhoods across the country for 10 years now, and I would say to my friend that I think we are finally on the last leg of this journey.

This bill will allow churches, schools, neighborhood groups, and others to put community-oriented programming on the air, and it will help first responders provide those communities with critical information in times of natural disasters and other emergencies.

You see, when the Federal Communications Commission created the Low Power FM radio service, they sought to create opportunities for new voices on the airwaves and to allow local schools, churches, and other community-based organizations to provide programming that is responsive to local community needs and interests. Congress, however, passed the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act in 2000, and many of those organizations were prevented from communicating to their members, supporters, and residents on the FM radio dial. That bill called for a field study performed by the MITRE Corporation, and for the FCC to recommend to us what we should do.

In 2004, on a unanimous bipartisan basis, the Federal Communications Commission issued a report to Congress which stated that, ``Congress should readdress this issue and modify the statute to eliminate the third adjacent channel distant separation requirements for LPFM stations.''

For a second time, in November of 2007, and for a third time, again, in September 2009, all five FCC Commissioners agreed that Congress should lift the restriction on LPFM stations and allow them to license new stations in more communities. The bill we have under debate today, the Local Community Radio Act of 2009, does just that.

When they are allowed to exist under current law, LPFM stations have proven to be a vital source of information during local or national emergencies. And these stations promote the arts and education from religious organizations, community groups, organizations promoting literacy, and many other civically oriented organizations; stations like:

KOCZ in Opelousas, Louisiana, which is operated by the Southern Development Foundation, a group active in the African American community. The station broadcasts public affairs shows, religious programing, hip-hop and zydeco music 24 hours a day. Zydeco music is central to the cultural heritage of the Acadiana region but had mostly disappeared from the airwaves dominated by commercial radio; or

WRFR in Rockland, Maine, which broadcasts talk and call-in shows on issues important to the community on a variety of things. Though six other stations have their transmitters in the station's home in Knox County, WRFR is the only station that originates its programming there; and

WQRZ in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, which remained on the air during Hurricane Katrina and served as the Emergency Operations Center for Hancock County during the worst storm there in a century.

But Congress has to act on the Commission's recommendations; otherwise, similar stations are prevented from operating in communities across America, communities like mine, which are too large to have any slots for any LPFM stations at 4th adjacent, but could fit several at 3rd.

But you don't have to take my word for it--every FCC Commissioner since 2003 has vouched for this--or the MITRE Corporation's outside study's word for it either. We all know this is going to work because it already works.

Currently, large commercial and noncommercial FM stations duplicate and extend their signals on these same 3rd adjacent channels that the FCC wants to also make available to new noncommercial stations.

This bill has broad support, as evidenced in these letters from almost a dozen leaders, from Catholic and Protestant faiths like the United Church of Christ and the National Association of Evangelicals; a letter from two dozen national and local public interests, civil rights, local groups; and another letter from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; and, finally, this letter from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and the Prometheus Radio Project, all of whom support this bill.

Exactly a year and a day ago, the House passed an earlier version of this legislation, H.R. 4711, a fine bill, but the broadcasters' concerns kept it bottled up in the Senate all year.

I am pleased to tell you that at the 11th hour, in the nick of time the various stakeholders were able to reach an agreement over the disputed language, and all of the Senate holds have been lifted.

This version of the bill was supported by everyone with a stake in broadcasting: Small noncommercial stations, big noncommercial stations like NPR, big commercial stations like the National Association of Broadcasters. This bill deserves my colleagues' support, unanimous support, as well.

The time has finally come for Congress to rewrite this law. The time has come to make the airwaves available to the people they serve. As I said a year ago, the time has come to bring low power to the people.

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for support of this legislation.

List of Organizations That Sent Letters of Support

Director--California Indian Heritage Council (No PDF),

Association of California Water Agencies, Wateruse

Association, American Water Works Association, Association of

Metropolitan Water Agencies, La Clinica de La Raza, A

Community Voice Louisiana, Nancy Skinner, Assemblywoman for

the 14th District, National Resource Defense Council,

California Safe Schools (no PDF).

Planning and Conservation League, Council of the District

of Columbia, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission,

California Public Health Association, Environmental Defense

Fund, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Environmental

Justice Coalition for Water, California Rural Legal

Assistance Foundation, Community Water Center, Southern

California Watershed Alliance.

Clean Water Action, Urban Semillas, Friends of the River,

Institute for Socio-Economic Justice, Planning and

Conservation League, North Richmond Shoreline Open Space

Alliance, California League of Conservation Voters,

California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health,

San Jerardo Co-Op Inc, Karuk Tribe.

Sierra Club, Consumer Union, Contra Costa Water District,

Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Environmental Defense Fund,

Ellen Corbett, 10th Senate District, Planning and

Conservation League (second one), PMI, Vermont PRIG, and

Action Now.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.

I want to thank my friend for his support of the bill. I know he is looking forward to being able to listen to his favorite hip hop music on his favorite low power FM station in Florida.

This has been a long journey. We have tried earnestly to address all of the concerns that the broadcasters have, and there were many at times. But I think we finally reached a point where we all agree, broadcasters, commercial and noncommercial, that we now have a process in place that protects their interests and their concerns and allows local communities now to have this valuable resource.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.

I just want to share with my colleagues, we have been waiting. We were told this letter was en route, and it has arrived. Just for the record, this is the letter from the National Association of Broadcasters which was addressed to myself and Mr. Terry informing us both that they are now in support of this bill, that they appreciate the work that our staffs have done with them, along with the Senate cosponsor, and that they support the bill.

Another piece of good news. CBO has scored this bill. It has no budgetary impact. The CBO score is zero. Another piece of good news for my colleagues who are concerned about cost.

Last, I think it is only fair that we recognize that a lot of people have worked very, very hard on this bill. I would be remiss personally if I didn't thank Kenneth DeGraff, who staffs me on the Telecom Subcommittee, who has put his heart and soul into this legislation and is more responsible than anybody in my office for seeing this day come today.

Also from the Prometheus Radio Project, Pete Tridish; Cheryl Leanza from the United Church of Christ; Michael Daum with Senator Cantwell's office; Lee Dunn with Senator McCain's office. There have been many, many people who have worked hard. I know that Lee Terry, his staff too has worked very hard on this issue, and that all of our staffs deserve credit. They are the unsung heroes behind the scenes that do all the work. Brad Schweer with Lee Terry's office has been just great on this too.

So I want to thank my colleagues.

I reserve the balance of my time.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, this bill passed unanimously in the House of Representatives when it was H.R. 1147. This bill has broad bipartisan support.

I want to thank all of my colleagues for their work, and I would hope that we could have a unanimous vote today on the House floor when the bill is brought up.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself of such time as I may consume.

I think the gentleman did an excellent job. I obviously support this bill. We support it on this side. I think the gentleman said everything, but we are going to also hear from the principal cosponsor, Lee Terry from Nebraska, who has worked with you. I am told you folks have worked together for almost 8 years. So this is a very significant accomplishment.

I would defend the National Association of Broadcasters because during this process they did have some very technical concerns. I understand now they are supporting it. The new concessions that they brought out I think were helpful, although I am sorry it took so long to bring it together.

It permits any citizen to complain to the FCC that a low power radio station is causing interference to any full power radio station and requires the FCC to shut down the station within 1 business day.

It requires a low power FM station to seek a waiver from the FCC to use the most modern and efficient engineering methods to find spectrum for their station.

It mandates that a full power station that wants to relocate will be able to knock a low power radio station off the air, but permits the FCC to use waivers and other means to find spectrum for displaced low power FM stations.

I say that only because there are businesses that have in place broadcast spectrum that are operating, have operated for many years, and their concern was that the churches, the community centers, the schools and universities and their low power stations might interfere. I think that that was a legitimate concern. I am glad that the National Association of Broadcasters has now conceded these and worked them out.

Obviously, I think any of us in this body would agree that it is a very important part of democracy to have some of these, shall we say, eclectic type of stations that offer, as you say, church music and church services and hip-hop music. They are tailored in a special way, plus they are available for emergency services. So I commend you and Mr. Lee Terry, who is going to speak shortly, on this.

Basically the legislation expands the opportunity for, as we say, all of these groups to the 116 million Americans in the top 50 radio markets in the country who thus far have been excluded. It accomplishes this by returning the authority to the FCC for licensing decisions related to low power FM stations.

Major features of the bill, which is very similar to the bill that passed the House last year, are that it fully protects full power stations from interference by new low power radio stations. It responds to the concerns of the NPR and the NAB and protects reading for the blind services. The Senate bill added a requirement that the FCC conduct a study on the economic impact of low power FM stations. So this is all part of the process.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to yield to the distinguished gentleman from Nebraska, who also has been the principal author of this bill and worked again tirelessly for 8 years. I would say to my friend on the other side, AKOZ, is that the station that I should listen to for this?

With that, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I think the gentleman has pointed out this is a bipartisan bill. It took awhile. The National Association of Broadcasters are now supporting this, it doesn't cost any money, so I urge its adoption.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6533, the Local Community

Radio Act of 2010. I want to thank Chairman Boucher for his leadership in guiding this bipartisan bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee and the House last year. I also want to recognize and thank Mr. Doyle and Mr. Terry--the original sponsors of the bill--for their tireless leadership in pushing this legislation forward, and for their commitment to expanding diversity, localism, and competition in our media landscape. Mr. Doyle has been an energetic champion of local community radio, and I greatly appreciate his leadership, flexibility, and perseverance.

I have long-supported expanding Low Power FM radio services. This bill removes a statutory barrier to the creation of potentially thousands of new low power stations across the country. The creation of these stations will further the overriding national policy goals of promoting broadcast localism and diversity. At the same time, this legislation fully protects incumbent radio broadcasters from unreasonable interference, with a clear dispute resolution process to mitigate interference with station transmissions.

In December 2009, the House has approved the Local Community Radio Act by voice vote. Since that time, however, the bill has been held up in the Senate due to ongoing concerns from some broadcasters. To address these concerns, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Terry, Senator Cantwell, and Senator McCain have been working diligently to eliminate outstanding objections so we can finally pass this legislation and send it to President Obama for signature. It is my hope that the Senate will take up H.R. 6533 promptly and do just that.

Most notably, this revised version of the bill incorporates additional interference remediation procedures preferred by the broadcasters. I am pleased that H.R. 6533 now has the full support of the National Association of Broadcasters. I want to thank NAB for working with us cooperatively to move this legislation closer to passage. I also want to thank the Prometheus Radio Project, the United Church of Christ, and other long-time supporters of Low Power FM services for their input and support.

This is a good bipartisan bill that will promote localism and diversity over the airwaves. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6533.

The gentleman from Jacksonville, Florida, knows the hip- hop station. I am impressed.

But this is grassroots radio. We have had pirate radio. Now we are going to have legitimate grassroots radio. This is empowering to those that have little or no voice in their communities. This is why the gentleman from Pittsburgh and I have worked so diligently over the last 8-10 years. Actually it goes back almost 12 years, when we helped get the MITRE Study, so we could know based on science whether or not there would be interference or not. And when that study, a thorough study, came back and said there would be no interference, Mike and I began the process of making sure that we could allow on the third adjacency communities to have a licensed FM station.

That is what low power is about, communities. It is not going to blast from Omaha to Lincoln. It probably won't even go from East Omaha to midtown in Omaha or in Pittsburgh. But the reality is it will serve the community.

Just in my district alone, in the Omaha metropolitan area, since beginning this process we have had dozens of community groups contact us about when they will be able to apply for a low power FM station. This includes the Chicano Awareness Center. This includes Catholic Charities. This includes Salem Baptist Church, which is located in the heart of the most impoverished area of my district, one of the most impoverished, unfortunately for the Omaha area, and one of the most impoverished areas in the United States and in the African American community. One of their issues is that they don't have a particular voice for the African American or North Omaha community. So this is why it is empowering. They finally have the opportunity now to have a radio voice with which to communicate community issues.

Today Mike says this is low power to the people. It is the essence of grassroots radio. This is a day to celebrate for all of our community groups, because they will now be empowered once the Senate takes this up, since all of the objections have been dealt with in the appropriate manner. So this is truly a day for them to celebrate.