[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1400 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1400

To amend section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 with respect to 
   the purchase of broadcasting time by candidates for public office.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 18, 1993

Mr. Dingell (for himself and Mr. Markey) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 with respect to 
   the purchase of broadcasting time by candidates for public office.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Campaign Advertising Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) in the 30 days preceding a primary, and in the 45 days 
        preceding a general election, candidates for political office 
        need to be able to buy, at the lowest commercially available 
        rates, nonpreemptible advertising spots from broadcast stations 
        and cable television stations to ensure that their messages 
        reach the intended audience and that the voting public has an 
        opportunity to make informed decisions;
            (2) since the Communications Act of 1934 was amended in 
        1972 to guarantee the lowest unit charge for candidates during 
        these important preelection periods, the method by which 
        advertising spots are sold in the broadcast and cable 
        industries has changed significantly;
            (3) changes in the method for selling advertising spots 
        have made the interpretation and enforcement of the lowest unit 
        charge provision difficult and complex;
            (4) clarification and simplification of the provisions 
        relating to charges for campaign-related uses in the 
        Communications Act of 1934 are necessary to ensure compliance 
        with the original intent of the provision; and
            (5) in granting discounts and setting charges for 
        advertising time, broadcasters and cable operators shall treat 
        candidates for political office at least as well as the most 
        favored commercial advertisers.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.

    Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``forty-five'' and inserting 
                ``30'';
                    (B) by striking ``sixty'' and inserting ``45''; and
                    (C) by striking ``lowest unit charge of the station 
                for the same class and amount of time for the same 
                period'' and insert ``lowest charge of the station for 
                the same amount of time for the same period'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 
        (d) and (e), respectively;
            (3) by inserting immediately after subsection (b) the 
        following new subsection:
    ``(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a licensee shall not 
preempt the use, during any period specified in subsection (b)(1), of a 
broadcasting station by a legally qualified candidate for public office 
who has purchased and paid for such use pursuant to the provisions of 
subsection (b)(1).
    ``(2) If a program to be broadcast by a broadcasting station is 
preempted because of circumstances beyond the control of the 
broadcasting station, any candidate advertising spot scheduled to be 
broadcast during that program may also be preempted.''; and
            (4) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by paragraph (2) of 
        this section)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph 
                (1);
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (2) and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end thereof the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) a station's lowest charge for purposes of paragraph 
        (1)--
                    ``(A) with respect to a primary or primary runoff 
                election, is determined for the interval beginning 60 
                days before such election and ending on the date of 
                that election; and
                    ``(B) with respect to a general or special 
                election, is determined for the interval beginning 90 
                days before such election and ending on the date of 
                that election.''.

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