[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           GOP'S CONTRACT ON AMERICA'S MINORITY ENTREPRENEURS

  (Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, believe it or not my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle see no need for continuing 
the vital efforts we in this body have made over the last two decades 
to diversify the ownership ranks in America's broadcast and cable 
industries.
  Last week the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee indicated 
its plans to do away with the Federal Communications Commission's [FCC] 
minority tax certificate program that has been instrumental in 
expanding the number of minority-owned and operated television, radio, 
and cable stations across our country and bringing more citizens into 
the great public policy debates of our time.
  Despite the fact that diversity in the broadcast and cable industries 
has been constitutionally upheld as a vital goal of U.S. 
telecommunications policy, despite the fact that today only 2.9 percent 
of such firms are minority controlled, despite the fact that 
undercapitalization continues to be a major impediment to minority 
representation in these fields, the GOP sees the FCC's minority tax 
certificate program as a needless initiative.
  Mr. Speaker, the information age is upon us but unfortunately those 
individuals and communities that are presently underserved and could 
potentially benefit most from advances in technology and access to the 
airwaves are still standing on the shoulder of the superhighway in the 
dust being kicked up by the megacorporations tooling down the road past 
them. Apparently, this suits the new majority party just fine. It sure 
is a new era in Washington.


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