I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 352

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to expand the broadcasting

of information on election campaigns.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. SLATTERY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to expand the

broadcasting of information on election campaigns.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Campaign Information

5 Improvement Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. NONPREEMPTIBLE ADVERTISING; LOWEST UNIT

7 CHARGES.

8 Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

9 U.S.C. 315) is amended—

10 (1) in subsection (b)(1)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘forty-five’’ and inserting

2 in lieu thereof ‘‘30’’;

3 (B) by striking ‘‘sixty’’ and inserting in

4 lieu thereof ‘‘45’’; and

5 (C) by striking ‘‘lowest unit charge of the

6 station for the same class and amount of time

7 for the same period’’ and insert ‘‘lowest charge

8 of the station for the same amount of time for

9 the same time of day and day of week’’;

10 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as

11 subsections (d) and (e), respectively;

12 (3) by inserting immediately after subsection

13 (b) the following new subsection:

14 ‘‘(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a li15 censee shall not preempt the use, during any period speci16 fied in subsection (b)(1), of a broadcasting station by a

17 legally qualified candidate for public office who has pur18 chased and paid for such use pursuant to the provisions

19 of subsection (b)(1).

20 ‘‘(2) If a program to be broadcast by a broadcasting

21 station is preempted because of circumstances beyond the

22 control of the broadcasting station, any candidate adver23 tising spot scheduled to be broadcast during that program

24 may also be preempted.’’; and
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1 (4) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by para2 graph (2) of this section)—

3 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para4 graph (1);

5 (B) by striking the period at the end of

6 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

7 (C) by adding at the end thereof the fol8 lowing new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(3) a station’s lowest charge for purposes of

10 paragraph (1)—

11 ‘‘(A) with respect to a primary or primary

12 runoff election, is determined for the interval

13 beginning 60 days before such election and end14 ing on the date of that election; and

15 ‘‘(B) with respect to a general or special

16 election, is determined for the interval begin17 ning 90 days before such election and ending on

18 the date of that election.’’.

19 SEC. 3. FREE BROADCAST TIME FOR POLICY DEBATES.

20 (a) CONDITION OF LICENSE RENEWAL.—Section

21 309(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

22 309(h)) is amended by inserting before the period at the

23 end thereof the following: ‘‘; and (4) every broadcast sta24 tion license issued under this Act shall be subject to the
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1 free broadcast time obligations imposed by section

2 315(c)’’.

3 (b) FREE-TIME OBLIGATIONS.—Section 315 of the

4 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amend5 ed—

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as

7 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow9 ing new subsection:

10 ‘‘(c)(1) Each license for a broadcasting station shall

11 annually make available free broadcast time for policy de12 bates in accordance with the requirements of this sub13 section. The Commission shall not renew the license of any

14 licensee who substantially fails or refuses to comply with

15 the requirements of this subsection, but such licensee shall

16 not be subject to any other sanction or remedy for such

17 failure or refusal.

18 ‘‘(2) A licensee subject to this subsection shall allot

19 free broadcast time for policy debates in accordance with

20 the following standards:

21 ‘‘(A) Such licensee shall allot not less than 30

22 minutes of free broadcast time during each even23 numbered year to—

24 ‘‘(i) the candidates for the House of Rep25 resentatives of each qualified political party for
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1 any congressional district that falls within the

2 grade B contour of such stations signal; and

3 ‘‘(ii) the candidates for the Senate of each

4 qualified political party of the State within

5 which the preponderance of the station’s audi6 ence resides.

7 ‘‘(B) The broadcast time allotted by any li8 censee shall be allotted so that—

9 ‘‘(i) the broadcast is during the hours of 7

10 to 10 p.m. on weekdays; and

11 ‘‘(ii) the broadcast is during the four

12 weeks immediately preceding election day.

13 ‘‘(3) A political party shall be treated as a qualified

14 political party for purposes of paragraph (2) if the can15 didate for President of such party in the most recent presi16 dential election received more than 5 percent of the total

17 number of votes cast by individuals for that office.

18 ‘‘(4) A licensee allots free broadcast time as required

19 by this subsection by broadcasting the joint appearance

20 by each of the candidates described in paragraph (2)(A)

21 (i) or (ii) at a forum for the discussion of political issues,

22 or, if any such candidate refuses to so appear, the appear23 ance by the remainder of such candidates not refusing to

24 appear.
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1 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection, and no use of free

2 broadcast time allotted under this subsection, shall be con3 strued to restrict or otherwise affect the purchase of ad4 vertising time under subsection (b) of this section.’’.

5 (c) FREE CABLE TIME.—Section 611 of the Commu6 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 531) is amended—

7 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub8 section (g); and

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the follow10 ing new subsection:

11 ‘‘(f) A cable operator shall annually make available

12 free cable time for policy debates in accordance with the

13 requirements of regulations prescribed by the Commission.

14 Such regulations shall, to the extent practicable, require

15 each such cable operator to provide such free cable time

16 in the same amounts and manner, to the same candidates,

17 and subject to the same conditions as free broadcast time

18 is required to be provided by broadcast station licensees

19 under section 315(c) of this Act. No franchise authority

20 shall renew the franchise of any cable operator who sub21 stantially fails or refuses to comply with such regulations,

22 but such operator shall not be subject to any other sanc23 tion or remedy for such failure or refusal.’’.

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