II 

Calendar No. 786

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2645

[Report No. 108–396] 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize appropriations for 

the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2004

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

OCTOBER 8, 2004

Reported by Mr. MCCAIN, without amendment 

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize 

appropriations for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 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 ‘‘Public Broadcasting 

5 Reauthorization Act of 2004’’. 
2

•S 2645 RS 

1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING.—

3 Section 396(k)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

4 U.S.C. 396(k)(1)) is amended by striking subparagraphs 

5 (B) through (F) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(B) There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

7 Fund, for each of the fiscal years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 

8 and 2011, an amount equal to 40 percent of the total 

9 amount of non-Federal financial support received by pub10 lic broadcasting entities during the second fiscal year pre11 ceding each such fiscal year, except that the amount so 

12 appropriated shall not exceed— 

13 ‘‘(i) $416,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

14 ‘‘(ii) $432,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

15 ‘‘(iii) $450,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

16 ‘‘(iv) $468,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

17 ‘‘(v) $487,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 

18 ‘‘(C) In addition to any amounts authorized under 

19 any other provision of this or any other Act, there are 

20 authorized to be appropriated to the Fund, (notwith21 standing any other provision of this subsection) specifi22 cally for transition from the use of analog to digital tech23 nology for the provision of public telecommunications serv24 ices and for the acquisition or production of digital pro25 gramming of local, regional, and national interest—

26 ‘‘(i) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 
3

•S 2645 RS 

1 ‘‘(ii) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

2 ‘‘(iii) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

3 ‘‘(iv) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

4 ‘‘(v) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

5 ‘‘(D) Funds appropriated under this subsection shall 

6 remain available until expended and shall be disbursed by 

7 the Secretary of the Treasury for obligation and expendi8 ture as soon after appropriation as practicable. The Cor9 poration shall distribute funds authorized by subpara10 graph (C) and allocated to public broadcast stations under 

11 this subsection as expeditiously as practicable when made 

12 available by the Secretary of the Treasury, and in a man13 ner that is determined, in consultation with public radio 

14 and television licensees or permittees and their designated 

15 representatives.’’. 

16 (b) PUBLIC BROADCASTING INTERCONNECTION SYS17 TEM.—Section 396(k)(10) of the Communications Act of 

18 1934 (47 U.S.C. 396(k)(10)) is amended by striking sub19 paragraphs (B) and (C) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 

21 Satellite Interconnection Fund $250,000,000 for fiscal 

22 year 2005. If the amount appropriated to the Satellite 

23 Interconnection Fund for fiscal year 2005 is less than 

24 $250,000,000, the amount by which that sum exceeds the 

25 amount appropriated is authorized to be appropriated for 
4

•S 2645 RS 

1 fiscal years 2006 through 2008 until the full 

2 $250,000,000 has been appropriated to the Fund. Funds 

3 appropriated to the Satellite Interconnection Fund shall 

4 remain available until expended. 

5 ‘‘(C) The Secretary of the Treasury shall make avail6 able and disburse to the Corporation, at the beginning of 

7 fiscal year 2005 and of each succeeding fiscal year there8 after, such funds as have been appropriated to the Sat9 ellite Interconnection Fund for the fiscal year in which 

10 such disbursement is to be made.’’. 

11 (c) PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES PRO12 GRAM GRANTS.—Section 391 of the Communications Act 

13 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 391) is amended—

14 (1) by striking ‘‘$42,000,000 for each of the 

15 fiscal years 1992, 1993, and 1994,’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘$50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, $52,000,000 for 

17 fiscal year 2006, $54,008,000 for fiscal year 2007, 

18 $56,240,000 for fiscal year 2008, $58,490,000 for 

19 fiscal year 2009, $60,820,000 for fiscal year 2010, 

20 and $63,250,000 for fiscal year 2011,’’; and 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘facilities’’ each place it occurs 

22 and inserting ‘‘facilities, including analog and digital 

23 broadcast facilities and equipment,’’. 
5

•S 2645 RS 

1 SEC. 3. RECOUPMENT OF FUNDS BY CORPORATION. 

2 Section 396(k) of the Communications Act of 1934 

3 (47 U.S.C. 396(k)) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(13) Funds may not be distributed pursuant 

6 to this section to any public broadcast station unless 

7 it agrees that, upon request by the Corporation, at 

8 such time as it ceases to provide public telecommuni9 cations services or transfers or assigns its broadcast 

10 license or permit to an entity that will not provide 

11 public telecommunications services (as defined in 

12 section 397(14) of this Act), it will—

13 ‘‘(A) return any or all unexpended funds 

14 for all grants made by the Corporation; and 

15 ‘‘(B) with respect to grants made by the 

16 Corporation during the prior 5 years for the 

17 purchase or construction of public telecommuni18 cations facilities, return an amount that is no 

19 more than an amount bearing the same ratio to 

20 the current value of such facilities at the time 

21 of cessation of public telecommunications serv22 ice as the ratio that the Corporation’s contribu23 tion bore to the total cost of purchasing or con24 structing such facilities.’’. 
6

•S 2645 RS 

1 SEC. 4. REDEFINITION OF PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS 

2 SERVICES TO INCLUDE NEW TECHNOLOGIES. 

3 (a) TRANSITION AND PROGRAMMING AUTHORIZA4 TION.—Section 396(k)(1)(C) of the Communications Act 

5 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 396(k)(1)(C)), as amended by section 

6 2(a) of this Act, is further amended by striking ‘‘public 

7 broadcasting services,’’ and inserting ‘‘public tele8 communications services,’’. 

9 (b) PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TO IN10 CLUDE NEW TECHNOLOGIES.—Section 397(14) of the 

11 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C 397(14)) is 

12 amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(14) The term ‘public telecommunications services’ 

14 means noncommercial educational and cultural—

15 ‘‘(A) radio and television programming or 

16 other content; and 

17 ‘‘(B) instructional or informational mate18 rial (including data) transmitted electroni19 cally.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. LOCAL CONTENT, PROGRAMMING, AND SERVICES. 

21 Section 396(k)(7) of the Communications Act of 

22 1934 (47 U.S.C. 396(k)(7)) is amended by striking ‘‘to 

23 the production and acquisition of programming.’’ and in24 serting ‘‘to the support of content, programming, and 

25 services, especially those that serve the needs and interests 

26 of the recipient’s local community.’’. 

Calendar No. 786

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2645

[Report No. 108–396] 

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to auPublic Broadcasting, and for other purposes. thorize appropriations for the Corporation for 

OCTOBER 8, 2004

Reported without amendment