II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2645

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 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 (a) CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING.—

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

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

10 (B) through (F) and inserting the following: 
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1 ‘‘(B) There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

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

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

4 amount of non-Federal financial support received by pub5 lic broadcasting entities during the second fiscal year pre6 ceding each such fiscal year, except that the amount so 

7 appropriated shall not exceed— 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Fund, (notwith16 standing any other provision of this subsection) specifi17 cally for transition from the use of analog to digital tech18 nology for the provision of public telecommunications serv19 ices and for the acquisition or production of digital pro20 gramming of local, regional, and national interest—

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

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

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

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

25 ‘‘(v) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 
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1 ‘‘(D) Funds appropriated under this subsection shall 

2 remain available until expended and shall be disbursed by 

3 the Secretary of the Treasury for obligation and expendi4 ture as soon after appropriation as practicable. The Cor5 poration shall distribute funds authorized by subpara6 graph (C) and allocated to public broadcast stations under 

7 this subsection as expeditiously as practicable when made 

8 available by the Secretary of the Treasury, and in a man9 ner that is determined, in consultation with public radio 

10 and television licensees or permittees and their designated 

11 representatives.’’. 

12 (b) PUBLIC BROADCASTING INTERCONNECTION SYS13 TEM.—Section 396(k)(10) of the Communications Act of 

14 1934 (47 U.S.C. 396(k)(10)) is amended by striking sub15 paragraphs (B) and (C) and inserting the following: 

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

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

18 year 2005. If the amount appropriated to the Satellite 

19 Interconnection Fund for fiscal year 2005 is less than 

20 $250,000,000, the amount by which that sum exceeds the 

21 amount appropriated is authorized to be appropriated for 

22 fiscal years 2006 through 2008 until the full 

23 $250,000,000 has been appropriated to the Fund. Funds 

24 appropriated to the Satellite Interconnection Fund shall 

25 remain available until expended. 
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1 ‘‘(C) The Secretary of the Treasury shall make avail2 able and disburse to the Corporation, at the beginning of 

3 fiscal year 2005 and of each succeeding fiscal year there4 after, such funds as have been appropriated to the Sat5 ellite Interconnection Fund for the fiscal year in which 

6 such disbursement is to be made.’’. 

7 (c) PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES PRO8 GRAM GRANTS.—Section 391 of the Communications Act 

9 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 391) is amended—

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

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

12 ‘‘$50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, $52,000,000 for 

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

14 $56,240,000 for fiscal year 2008, $58,490,000 for 

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

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

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

18 and inserting ‘‘facilities, including analog and digital 

19 broadcast facilities and equipment,’’. 

20 SEC. 3. RECOUPMENT OF FUNDS BY CORPORATION. 

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

22 (47 U.S.C. 396(k)) is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

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

25 to this section to any public broadcast station unless 
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1 it agrees that, upon request by the Corporation, at 

2 such time as it ceases to provide public telecommuni3 cations services or transfers or assigns its broadcast 

4 license or permit to an entity that will not provide 

5 public telecommunications services (as defined in 

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

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

8 for all grants made by the Corporation; and 

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

10 Corporation during the prior 5 years for the 

11 purchase or construction of public telecommuni12 cations facilities, return an amount that is no 

13 more than an amount bearing the same ratio to 

14 the current value of such facilities at the time 

15 of cessation of public telecommunications serv16 ice as the ratio that the Corporation’s contribu17 tion bore to the total cost of purchasing or con18 structing such facilities.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. REDEFINITION OF PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS 

20 SERVICES TO INCLUDE NEW TECHNOLOGIES. 

21 (a) TRANSITION AND PROGRAMMING AUTHORIZA22 TION.—Section 396(k)(1)(C) of the Communications Act 

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

24 2(a) of this Act, is further amended by striking ‘‘public 
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1 broadcasting services,’’ and inserting ‘‘public tele2 communications services,’’. 

3 (b) PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TO IN4 CLUDE NEW TECHNOLOGIES.—Section 397(14) of the 

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

6 amended to read as follows: 

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

8 means noncommercial educational and cultural—

9 ‘‘(A) radio and television programming or 

10 other content; and 

11 ‘‘(B) instructional or informational mate12 rial (including data) transmitted electroni13 cally.’’. 

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

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

16 1934 (47 U.S.C. 396(k)(7)) is amended by striking ‘‘to 

17 the production and acquisition of programming.’’ and in18 serting ‘‘to the support of content, programming, and 

19 services, especially those that serve the needs and interests 

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

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