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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1400

To amend section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 with respect

to the purchase of broadcasting time by candidates for public office.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 18, 1993

Mr. DINGELL (for himself and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934

with respect to the purchase of broadcasting time by

candidates for public office.

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 Advertising

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) in the 30 days preceding a primary, and in

9 the 45 days preceding a general election, candidates

10 for political office need to be able to buy, at the low-
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1 est commercially available rates, nonpreemptible ad2 vertising spots from broadcast stations and cable tel3 evision stations to ensure that their messages reach

4 the intended audience and that the voting public has

5 an opportunity to make informed decisions;

6 (2) since the Communications Act of 1934 was

7 amended in 1972 to guarantee the lowest unit

8 charge for candidates during these important

9 preelection periods, the method by which advertising

10 spots are sold in the broadcast and cable industries

11 has changed significantly;

12 (3) changes in the method for selling advertis13 ing spots have made the interpretation and enforce14 ment of the lowest unit charge provision difficult

15 and complex;

16 (4) clarification and simplification of the provi17 sions relating to charges for campaign-related uses

18 in the Communications Act of 1934 are necessary to

19 ensure compliance with the original intent of the

20 provision; and

21 (5) in granting discounts and setting charges

22 for advertising time, broadcasters and cable opera23 tors shall treat candidates for political office at least

24 as well as the most favored commercial advertisers.
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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.

2 Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

3 U.S.C. 315) is amended—

4 (1) in subsection (b)(1)—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘forty-five’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘30’’;

7 (B) by striking ‘‘sixty’’ and inserting ‘‘45’’;

8 and

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

10 station for the same class and amount of time

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

12 of the station for the same amount of time for

13 the same period’’;

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

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

16 (3) by inserting immediately after subsection

17 (b) the following new subsection:

18 ‘‘(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a li19 censee shall not preempt the use, during any period speci20 fied in subsection (b)(1), of a broadcasting station by a

21 legally qualified candidate for public office who has pur22 chased and paid for such use pursuant to the provisions

23 of subsection (b)(1).

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

25 station is preempted because of circumstances beyond the

26 control of the broadcasting station, any candidate adver-
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1 tising spot scheduled to be broadcast during that program

2 may also be preempted.’’; and

3 (4) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by para4 graph (2) of this section)—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para6 graph (1);

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

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

9 (C) by adding at the end thereof the fol10 lowing new paragraph:

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

12 paragraph (1)—

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

14 runoff election, is determined for the interval

15 beginning 60 days before such election and end16 ing on the date of that election; and

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

18 election, is determined for the interval begin19 ning 90 days before such election and ending on

20 the date of that election.’’.

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