[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 329 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 329

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 4 (legislative day, January 5), 1993

Mr. Danforth (for himself, Mr. Hollings, and Mr. Inouye) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


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

    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 and Disclosure 
Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) in the thirty days preceding a primary, and in the 
        forty-five days preceding a general election, candidates for 
        political office need to be able to buy, at the lowest unit 
        charge, nonpreemptible advertising spots from broadcast 
        stations and community antenna television systems 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 community 
        antenna television 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 lowest unit 
        charge provision in the Communications Act of 1934 are 
        necessary to ensure compliance with the original intent of the 
        provision;
            (5) in granting discounts and setting charges for 
        advertising time, broadcasters and operators of community 
        antenna television systems shall treat candidates for political 
        office at least as well as the most favored commercial 
        advertisers; and
            (6) enhancing the disclosure requirements of the Federal 
        Election Campaign Act of 1971 will increase candidate 
        accountability to the electorate and enhance the ability of the 
        individual citizen to exercise informed judgment by more 
        effectively identifying the source of political advertising and 
        the credibility of each advocate.

SEC. 3. USE OF BROADCASTING STATIONS BY CANDIDATES FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.

    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 in 
                lieu thereof ``thirty'';
                    (B) by striking ``sixty'' and inserting in lieu 
                thereof ``forty-five''; and
                    (C) by striking ``class and'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 
        (d) and (e), respectively; and
            (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.''.

SEC. 4. POLITICAL ADVERTISING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Section 318(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
U.S.C. 441d(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3) and 
        inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
``except that in the case of any communication authorized by a 
candidate and made through a broadcasting station or a community 
antenna television system, such communication shall also meet the 
following requirements:
            ``(A) During the communication, the following shall be 
        stated aurally in the candidate's voice: `I, ____________, A 
        CANDIDATE FOR ____________, HAVE APPROVED OF THIS AD', with the 
        first blank space being filled with the candidate's name and 
        the second blank space being filled with the name of the office 
        sought by the candidate.
            ``(B) The statement required by subparagraph (A) shall be 
        spoken clearly without rushing, disguising, or deemphasizing 
        particular words.
            ``(C) In the case of a communication made through a 
        television broadcasting station or community antenna television 
        system, the background photography during the entire time the 
        statement required by subparagraph (A) is made shall consist of 
        an unobscured full face picture of the candidate, occupying no 
        less than 40 percent of the television safe screen area, 
        against a neutral background.''.
    (b) Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
U.S.C. 441d) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(c) As used in this section, the `community antenna television 
system' has the meaning given that term under section 315 of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315).''.

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