[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 14 (Thursday, February 1, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S684-S685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               AUCTIONING THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SPECTRUM

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I am informed that there is going to be, 
shortly, a unanimous-consent request to take up the telecommunications 
bill. I will not object to the unanimous-consent request, nor aspects 
of it.
  I would like to point out that there have been letters exchanged 
between the members of the Federal Communications Commission and 
Chairman Pressler, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation, and also between Republican Members of the other body 
as well as the majority whip, to Senator Dole, concerning the issue of 
spectrum auction, and a letter from Congressmen Bliley and Gingrich, 
Senator Pressler and Senator Lott, to the Honorable Reed Hundt, 
Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent these letters be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the letters were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                            Federal Communications Commission,

                                 Washington, DC, February 1, 1996.
     Hon. Larry Pressler,
     Chairman, Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, 
         U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Pressler: Thank you very much for your letter 
     this morning about the concerns expressed by Senate Majority 
     Leader Dole and others regarding the distribution of 
     additional spectrum to television broadcasters. We share the 
     determination of you, Senator Dole and others to protect 
     American taxpayers. As you know, under current law and 
     pursuant to the language of the Telecommunications Act of 
     1996 (should it become law), the Commission lacks authority 
     to auction, or charge broadcasters for the use of, the 
     spectrum that has been identified for the provision of these 
     broadcast services. In addition, given the many 
     administrative steps necessary to implement any assignment of 
     digital broadcast licenses, we would not be in a position to 
     issue those licenses any earlier than 1997.
       We recognize the serious policy questions involved, and 
     that you intend to hold hearings and enact legislation 
     dealing with this issue as part of an overhaul of policies 
     governing the electromagnetic spectrum. Any award of initial 
     licenses or construction permits for Advanced Television 
     Services will only be made in compliance with the express 
     intent of Congress and only pursuant to additional 
     legislation it may adopt resolving this issue.
           Very truly yours,
     Reed E. Hundt, Chairman,
     James H. Quello, Commissioner,
     Andrew C. Barrett, Commissioner,
     Susan Ness, Commissioner,
     Rachelle B. Chong, Commissioner.
                                                                    ____



                                Congress of the United States,

                                 Washington, DC, January 31, 1996.
     Hon. Robert J. Dole,
     Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Leader: We appreciate your leadership on 
     telecommunications reform. Clearly the next step in 
     bolstering America's edge as we enter the Information Age 
     will be to overhaul outdated policies governing the 
     electromagnetic spectrum or airwaves.
       We agree that you have raised legitimate concerns that must 
     be addressed, and we share your determination to protect 
     America's taxpayers. To this end we are committed to moving 
     comprehensive legislation this year and plan to be ready for 
     floor action this summer. As part of this reform, we believe 
     it is of the utmost importance to closely examine and 
     question the Federal Communications Commission's proposals to 
     give additional spectrum to television broadcasters. Until 
     action is completed on this legislation, we agree that the 
     FCC should not issue any initial licenses or construction 
     permits for Advance Television Services until Congress sets 
     policy in this area.
       The Commission is a creature of Congress and our committees 
     have oversight over its operations. In the attached letter, 
     we inform the Commission of our concerns and have requested 
     that the Commission take no further action until instructed 
     otherwise.
       We agree this issue should be subject to full, public 
     scrutiny, and we look forward to working with you to ensure 
     that America's taxpayers are fairly compensated for this 
     precious national resource.
           Sincerely,
     Tom Bliley,
     Larry Pressler,
     Newt Gingrich,
     Trent Lott.
                                                                    ____



                                Congress of the United States,

                                 Washington, DC, January 31, 1996.
     Hon. Reed E. Hundt,
     Chairman, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: As you are aware, Senate Majority Leader 
     Dole and others have raised legitimate concerns about giving 
     additional spectrum to television broadcasters. As you are 
     aware, these concerns raise serious policy questions which 
     include providing taxpayers fair compensation for the use of 
     a national resource to the policy implications of giving 
     preference to the broadcasters over all other potential 
     competitors.
       We share Senator Dole's determination to protect America's 
     taxpayers, and to satisfactorily resolve this issue. We wish 
     to inform the Commission that it is our intention to conduct 
     open hearings and move legislation to overhaul our nation's 
     policies governing the electromagnetic spectrum. We request 
     that the Commission not issue any initial licenses or 
     construction permits for Advance Television Services until 
     legislation is completed. Furthermore, your input would be 
     greatly appreciated as we work to solve this complicated 
     issue.
       We appreciate your cooperation in advance on this issue of 
     the utmost importance.
           Sincerely,
     Tom Bliley,
     Larry Pressler,
     Newt Gingrich,
     Trent Lott.
                                                                    ____

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, the interesting thing about this is we are 
about to see what should have been done, not done, and what may happen 
is a loss to the taxpayers of, conservatively, about $30 billion in 
spectrum that would be auctioned off.
  In the language of the bill that we will be considering, there is no 
authority for the Commission to auction or charge broadcasters for the 
use of the spectrum that has been identified for the provision of 
broadcast services.
  I want to repeat. In the present bill we are about to consider, there 
is no provision for spectrum auction. The fair and decent thing to do 
for the American taxpayer was to strip that language out of the bill, 
thereby leaving it neutral, and saying that this issue will be taken up 
and the issue of spectrum auction will be decided through hearings and 
freestanding legislation.
  I have been around here long enough to know what is going on here. 
What is going to probably happen is that we will not act on this issue 
this year; that sometime in 1997 the broadcasters will begin to sue for 
the provision of their spectrum, and in court will probably have 
standing because of this bill we are about to pass. I am not sure how 
any court could refuse when in the legislation it does not provide the 
Commission authority to auction off the spectrum.
  I want to tell you what should have been done here. What should have 
been done is the language stripped out of the bill that does not give 
them authority and does allow them to give spectrum to the 
broadcasters.
  About a month ago we had a vote around here on some spectrum that was 
about to be given away to a company. We had a vote here. It ended up, 
thanks to my colleague from Colorado and his cooperation and 
assistance, with a vote of 98 to 0 that mandated that this spectrum, 
which was about to be given away, be auctioned off. The estimates of 
the value of that spectrum at that time ranged between $150 to $170 
million. The auction took place a little over 2 weeks ago, and the 
spectrum was auctioned off for $682 million.
  Now, what we are about to do here is allow, over time, this spectrum 
to be given away to the broadcasters. I congratulate the broadcasters 
and their surrogates here in the Senate and the Congress. I 
congratulate them on prevailing. I congratulate them for their 
incredible influence that has prevented 

[[Page S685]]
us from mandating an auction of the spectrum which belongs to the 
taxpayers.
  The estimates are that this spectrum is worth somewhere around $30 
billion--``b,'' billion dollars. Now we are going to accept language 
which is exactly what the broadcasters wanted.

  In exchange for it, we get letters. We get letters which have no 
standing in law, which have no standing anywhere. I have grown a bit 
cynical in the years that I have spent here in Congress, not to 
recognize what is happening.
  I can only speak for people on this side of the aisle about our 
philosophy of the role of Government. When something is owned by the 
taxpayer and is of great value and we are facing debts of incredible 
proportions, $4, $5 trillion, annual deficits of $150 billion, and we 
have a way of taking that very valuable commodity that is owned by the 
taxpayers and auctioning it off, and now we are being prevented 
basically from doing so--despite the fig leaf of these letters--I think 
it is a very sad day. Because in this legislation the broadcasters are 
well represented. The taxpayers of America are not represented at all.
  So, as we adopt this legislation, and these letters, which I could 
describe in somewhat graphic terms but will not--they are entered into 
the Record--let us have no illusions about what is happening here. What 
is happening here is the odds are the taxpayers of America will never 
receive that $30 billion in return for the auctioning off of a 
commodity which they own.
  Mr. President, I had a lot of problems with the telecommunications 
bill, as is well known here. I proposed numerous amendments which were 
defeated. But all of them pale in comparison to what we are talking 
about here, especially since we already have proof, with a $682 million 
auction of a small amount of spectrum that took place a couple of weeks 
ago, of the value which we are not addressing in this legislation 
today.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. DOLE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I first want to thank the Senator from 
Arizona for his statement. I can assure him that if the FCC means what 
they say in the letter, ``only pursuant to additional legislation it 
may adopt resolving this issue''--I think both the Senator from Arizona 
and the Senator from Kansas are going to be around. And there will not 
be any legislation unless it resolves the issue fairly for the American 
taxpayer.
  I think this is very important. I know there are Members on each side 
of the aisle who are concerned about it. It is not a partisan issue. 
Here we are, trying to balance the budget, cutting welfare, cutting 
other programs, and about to give a big handout here to the rich, the 
powerful.
  We have not seen a single story on any of the networks about this 
issue. We see a lot of stories on the networks about some Member of 
Congress going somewhere on a ``junket,'' they always like to say on 
the networks. But I have not seen anybody, except for CNN, not a single 
story on what could be the biggest giveaway of the century--not one.
  I think we could have done better in the discussions, myself, 
yesterday.
  I talked to the Speaker, and the Speaker said, ``You got rolled.'' 
Everybody got rolled. But that is history. It will not happen again. I 
think this is a very important issue. You will not see it on 
television. You will not see it on the networks. You probably will not 
see it in any newspaper that owns television because this affects them. 
We should not raise things, in effect, for the rich and the powerful.
  So I appreciate the concerns expressed, and we will continue to 
pursue this matter.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, will the majority leader yield for a 
comment?
  Mr. DOLE. I am happy to yield.
  Mr. McCAIN. I want to thank the majority leader for his efforts on 
the spectrum auction. It would have sailed right through, because the 
fix was in. Had it not been for his efforts--I am sorry that he was out 
of town yesterday. I am sorry that we did not get, as the leader said, 
a better deal.
  The thing I worry about, of course, is that with the present language 
in the bill, which should have been stripped out, next year sometime 
someone will sue and go to court with the FCC and force the FCC to be 
in compliance with the law that we are about to pass today. That is 
what I worry about.
  But I do want to thank the majority leader sincerely for his efforts 
for bringing this issue to the attention at least to the print media. 
As the majority leader mentioned, we will not see this story on any 
television or hear it on any radio broadcast because it directly 
affects them.
  But I want to thank the majority leader for his efforts. I take in 
good faith his commitment for us to try to get it up. I just know that 
the forces that are represented--the special interests here in 
Washington--have won. I regret it because it is the American taxpayer 
who now may be losing $30 billion. If we had done the right thing and 
stripped that language out of the bill, there was no chance that 
anything else would have happened.
  I thank the majority leader for his efforts.

                          ____________________