[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2215 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2215

    To clarify the treatment of nonprofit entities as noncommercial 
 educational or public broadcast stations under the Communications Act 
                                of 1934.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2000

Mr. Hutchinson introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To clarify the treatment of nonprofit entities as noncommercial 
 educational or public broadcast stations under the Communications Act 
                                of 1934.

    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 ``Noncommercial Broadcasting 
Eligibility Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Federal Communications Commission has attempted to 
        provide guidelines for educational religious programming for 
        noncommercial educational television stations.
            (2) Any action defining acceptable religious educational 
        speech violates the provisions of the first amendment to the 
        Constitution of the United States regarding freedom of speech, 
        free exercise of religion, and the establishment of religion.
            (3) Broadcasters should be free to engage in any type of 
        religious speech without fear of adverse governmental action.
            (4) The Federal Communications Commission should not engage 
        in the regulation of religious speech on noncommercial 
        educational television stations.
            (5) A nonprofit corporation should be eligible to operate a 
        noncommercial educational television or radio station if a 
        majority of the programming of the station is substantially 
        related to any tax exempt purpose under section 501(c)(3) of 
        the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF NONPROFIT ENTITIES AS 
              NONCOMMERCIAL EDUCATION OR PUBLIC BROADCAST STATIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Federal Communications Commission shall treat 
a nonprofit private foundation, corporation, or association as a 
noncommercial educational broadcast station or public broadcast station 
for purposes of section 397(6) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 397(6)) if the majority of the radio or television programming 
broadcast, or proposed to be broadcast, by such foundation, 
corporation, or association is substantially related to a tax-exempt 
purpose under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
    (b) Determination of Substantial Relation.--In determining under 
subsection (a) whether the radio or television programming broadcast, 
or proposed to be broadcast, by a foundation, corporation, or 
association is substantially related to a tax-exempt purpose of the 
foundation, corporation, or association, the Federal Communications 
Commission shall use the standards used for such determination by the 
Internal Revenue Service under subsections (a) and (c) of section 513 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
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