House Might Vote to Block FCC
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 7/17/2001 6:05:00 AM
Two House lawmakers are trying to block legislation that would bar the Federal Communications Commission from relaxing media-ownership rules.
House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) and the panel's top Democrat, John Dingell of Michigan, said the effort against the FCC was 'unwise policy regardless of which side of the underlying issue you may be on.'
Tauzin and Dingell said Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) is considering adding the restriction to the FCC's budget, which is expected to come up for a vote in the House this week.
FCC chairman Michael Powell -- an opponent of keeping ownership rules if they are clearly outdated -- is expected to review numerous media rules, including bans on the common ownership of TV stations and cable systems and newspapers and broadcast properties in the same market.
The agency might also address the rule that caps TV-station owners at 35 percent of U.S. households.
Tauzin and Dingell said the 35 percent cap is being litigated. If the court overturns the cap and remands the case to the FCC, the Obey amendment could backfire because the FCC would be handcuffed to address the court's ruling.
'In the meantime, there would be no limit on the number of stations that a single company could own not because that is necessarily the right policy outcome, but because the expert agency would be blocked from doing its job,' Tauzin and Dingell said in a July 16 letter to all House colleagues.
In the letter, Tauzin and Dingell noted that they disagree on whether the FCC should relax certain rules. But they said they agree that Congress should not restrict the FCC's authority in this area in the manner proposed by Obey.
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