I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1948

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the discrimination,

in the purchase or placement of advertisements for wire or cable communications, against minority owed or formatted communications entities,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 26, 1999

Mr. RUSH (for himself, Mr. HILLIARD, and Mr. TOWNS) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the

discrimination, in the purchase or placement of advertisements for wire or cable communications, against minority

owed or formatted communications entities, and for other

purposes.

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 ‘‘Broadcasters Fairness

5 in Advertising Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION AGAINST

2 MINORITY OWNED OR FORMATTED COMMU3 NICATIONS ENTITIES IN PURCHASE OR

4 PLACEMENT OF ADVERTISEMENTS FOR WIRE

5 OR RADIO COMMUNICATIONS.

6 Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

7 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section

8 701 the following new section:

9 ‘‘SEC. 702. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION

10 AGAINST MINORITY OWNED OR FORMATTED

11 COMMUNICATIONS ENTITIES IN PURCHASE

12 OR PLACEMENT OF ADVERTISEMENTS FOR

13 WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATIONS.

14 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any per15 son to purchase or place any advertisement, by any per16 son, in a manner which discriminates against any commu17 nications entity by reason of the race, color, or ethnic

18 background of—

19 ‘‘(1) any owner of the entity, or

20 ‘‘(2) the group to which the communications

21 format of the entity is predominantly designed to

22 appeal.

23 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF COMMUNICATIONS.—The term

24 ‘communications entity’ means any person who engages

25 in—

26 ‘‘(1) wire communication; or
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1 ‘‘(2) radio communication.

2 ‘‘(c) FCC ENFORCEMENT.—The Commission shall

3 adopt regulations to carry out the prohibition under sub4 section (a) and to prevent activity prohibited under such

5 subsection.

6 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT BY PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC7 TION.—

8 ‘‘(1) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any person aggrieved

9 by a violation of subsection (a) may bring a civil ac10 tion on behalf of the person and other persons simi11 larly situated in an appropriate United States dis12 trict court or in any other court of competent juris13 diction.

14 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE REMEDIES.—A civil action

15 may be brought under this subsection for a violation

16 of subsection (a) without regard to the status of any

17 administrative proceeding or other action under this

18 Act by the Commission regarding the activity that is

19 the basis for the allegation of the violation.

20 ‘‘(3) ENTITLEMENT TO RELIEF.—In a civil ac21 tion under this subsection, if the court finds that a

22 violation of subsection (a) has occurred, the court

23 may award damages for the aggrieved person to re24 cover lost profits, consequential damages, and all

25 other appropriate relief to make the person whole,
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1 including reasonable attorneys’ fees. The court shall,

2 in the case of any person aggrieved by a willful and

3 wanton violation of subsection (a), treble the amount

4 recovered under the preceding sentence.

5 ‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY.—The regulations issued under

6 this section shall apply to conduct occurring after the date

7 of the enactment of the Broadcasters Fairness in Adver8 tising Act of 1999.’’.

9 SEC. 3. ENSURING FEDERAL CONTRACTS ARE NOT AWARD10 ED TO ADVERTISERS WHO DISCRIMINATE

11 AGAINST MINORITY OWNED OR FORMATTED

12 COMMUNICATIONS ENTITIES IN PURCHASE

13 OR PLACEMENT OF ADVERTISEMENTS FOR

14 WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATIONS.

15 (a) CERTIFICATION.—The head of an executive agen16 cy may not solicit an offer from, award a contract to, ex17 tend an existing contract with, or, when approval by the

18 agency head of the award of a subcontract is required,

19 approve the award of a subcontract to, an offeror or con20 tractor, unless the offeror or contractor has certified in

21 writing to the agency head that the offeror or contractor

22 has not engaged, and will not during the period of the

23 contract or subcontract engage, in any purchase or place24 ment of any advertisement in a manner which discrimi-
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1 nates against any communications entity by reason of the

2 race, color, or ethnic background of—

3 (1) any owner of the entity, or

4 (2) the group to which the communications for5 mat of the entity is predominantly designed to ap6 peal.

7 (b) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

8 following definitions shall apply:

9 (1) COMMUNICATIONS ENTITY.—The term

10 ‘‘communications entity’’ has the meaning given the

11 term in section 702(b) of the Communications Act

12 of 1934.

13 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive

14 agency’’ has the meaning given such term in section

15 4 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act

16 (41 U.S.C. 403).

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