I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 998
To preserve local radio broadcast emergency and other services and to require 
the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a rulemaking for 
that purpose. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 1, 2005
Mr. PICKERING (for himself and Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To preserve local radio broadcast emergency and other serv-
ices and to require the Federal Communications Commis-
sion to conduct a rulemaking for that purpose.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Local Emergency 
Radio Service Preservation Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds and declares the following: 
(1) A primary objective and benefit of the Na-
tion’s regulation of radio broadcasting is the local
origination of programming. There is a substantial 
governmental interest in ensuring its continuation. 
(2) Local broadcast radio stations are an im-
portant source of local news and weather program-
ming and other local broadcast services critical to 
the public. 
(3) Local radio broadcasting is particularly im-
portant in times of emergencies or disasters when 
other means of communications may not be avail-
able. 
(4) Radio is the most ubiquitous of all mass 
media, with receivers located in almost every home 
and automobile in the country. 
(5) Because radio receivers are universally 
available and frequently battery-powered or located 
in automobiles, the Federal Communications Com-
mission’s Media Security and Reliability Council 
concluded that ‘‘radio broadcasters are likely to be 
the last line of defense for communicating with the 
public under extremely adverse conditions that could 
result in the event of a local disaster’’. There is a 
substantial governmental interest in ensuring the 
continuation of this capability. 
(6) Broadcast radio programming is supported 
by revenues generated from advertising broadcast
over stations. Such programming is free to listeners. 
There is a substantial governmental interest in pro-
moting the continued availability of free radio pro-
gramming. 
(7) Because radio programming is supported by 
advertising, the ability of local stations to continue 
to provide local news and other services and to en-
sure communications during emergencies could be 
jeopardized by a diversion of the listening audience 
away from local radio programming. 
(8) When the Federal Communications Com-
mission authorized the digital audio radio satellite 
service, it stated that it remained ‘‘committed to 
supporting a vibrant and vital terrestrial radio serv-
ice for the public’’. 
(9) When the Federal Communications Com-
mission authorized the digital audio radio satellite 
service, it understood that digital audio radio sat-
ellite service licensees would provide only national 
programming and accepted the contentions of the 
proponents of digital audio radio satellite service 
that the new service would not affect local broad-
casting because ‘‘the ability to offer local content 
will give terrestrial broadcasters a competitive ad-
vantage’’.
(10) Digital audio radio satellite service licens-
ees have announced plans to offer local traffic and 
weather channels through the use of their satellites. 
(11) Developments in receiver technology will 
enable digital audio radio satellite service licensees 
to offer new services in the future, including local-
ized content that may be intermixed with other na-
tional content or that would be selected based on the 
listener’s location. 
SEC. 3. LIMITS ON LOCALIZED DIGITAL AUDIO RADIO SAT-
ELLITE SERVICE PROGRAMMING. 
The Federal Communications Commission shall re-
vise section 25.144 of its regulations (47 CFR 25.144) 
to provide that—
(1) digital audio radio satellite service licensees 
shall not, using any capability either on a satellite 
or in a radio receiver, provide services that are lo-
cally differentiated or that result in programming 
being delivered to consumers in one geographic mar-
ket that is different from the programming that is 
delivered to consumers in any other geographic mar-
ket; and 
(2) digital audio radio satellite service repeaters 
shall be restricted to simultaneously retransmitting 
the programming transmitted by satellite directly to
digital audio radio satellite service subscribers’ re-
ceivers, and may not be used to distribute any infor-
mation not also transmitted to all subscribers’ re-
ceivers. 
SEC. 4. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RULE-
MAKING ON LOCAL SERVICES BY SATELLITE 
PROVIDERS. 
Within 270 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall com-
plete a rulemaking proceeding to determine whether dig-
ital audio radio satellite service licensees should be per-
mitted to provide locally oriented services on nationally 
distributed channels, taking into account—
(1) the impact of locally oriented satellite radio 
services on the viability of local radio broadcast sta-
tions and their ability to provide news and other 
services to the public; 
(2) the ability of digital audio radio satellite 
service licensees to afford listeners the same emer-
gency and other information as is afforded listeners 
of local broadcast radio stations; 
(3) whether digital audio radio satellite service 
licensees committed to providing only national serv-
ices in order to obtain authorization for their service; 
and
(4) whether the same level and quality of emer-
gency communications services could be provided to 
consumers by digital audio radio satellite service li-
censees as by local broadcast radio stations.
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