[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 100 (Thursday, July 27, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7905-S7906]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN (for himself and Mr. Kerrey):
  S. 2989. A bill to provide for the technical integrity of the FM 
radio band, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation.


                      low power radio act of 2000

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill with my 
friend and colleague Senator Kerrey to resolve the controversy that has 
erupted over the Federal Communications Commission's creation of a new, 
noncommercial low-power FM radio service.
  As you undoubtedly know, the FCC's low-power FM rules will allow the 
creation of thousands of new noncommercial FM radio stations with 
coverage of about a mile or so. Although these new stations will give 
churches and community groups new outlets for expression of their 
views, commercial FM broadcasters as well as National Public Radio 
oppose the new service. They argue that the FCC ignored studies showing 
that the new low-power stations would cause harmful interference to the 
reception of existing full-power FM stations.
  Mr. President, legislation before the House of Representatives would 
call a halt to the institution of low-power FM service by requiring 
further independent study of its potential for causing harmful 
interference to full-power stations, and Senator Gregg has introduced 
the same legislation in the Senate. While this would undoubtedly please 
existing FM radio broadcasters, it understandably angers the many 
parties who are anxious to apply for the new low-power licenses. Most 
importantly, it would delay the availability of whatever new 
programming these new low-power licensees might provide, even where the 
station would have caused no actual interference at all had it been 
allowed to operate.
  With all due respect to Senator Gregg and to the supporters of the 
House bill, Senator Kerrey and I think we can reach a fairer result, 
and the bill we are introducing, the Low Power Radio Act of 2000, is 
intended to do just that.
  Unlike Senator Gregg's bill, the Low Power Radio Act would allow the 
FCC to license low-power FM radio stations. The only low-power FM 
stations that would be affected would be those whose transmissions are 
actually causing harmful interference to a full-power radio station. 
The Commission would determine which stations are causing such 
interference and what the low-power station must do to alleviate it,

[[Page S7906]]

as the expert agency with the experience and engineering resources 
required to make such determinations.
  The Act gives full-power broadcasters the right to file a complaint 
with the Commission against any low-power FM licensee for causing 
harmful interference, and stipulates that the costs of the proceeding 
shall be borne by the losing party. Finally, to make sure that the FCC 
does not relegate the interests of full-power radio broadcasters to 
secondary importance in its eagerness to launch the new low-power FM 
service, the bill requires the FCC to complete all rulemakings 
necessary to implement full-power stations' transition to digital 
broadcasting no later than June 1, 2001.
  Mr. President, this legislation strikes a fair balance by allowing 
non-interfering low-power FM stations to operate without further delay, 
while affecting only those low-power stations that the FCC finds to be 
causing harmful interference in their actual, everyday operations. This 
is totally consistent with the fact that low-power FM is a secondary 
service which, by law, must cure any interference caused to any 
primary, full-power service. This legislation will provide an efficient 
and effective means to detect and resolve harmful interference. By 
providing a procedural remedy with costs assigned to the losing party, 
the bill will discourage the creation of low-power stations most likely 
to cause harmful interference even as it discourages full-power 
broadcasters from making unwarranted interference claims. And for these 
reasons it will provide a more definitive resolution of opposing 
interference claims than any number of further studies ever could.
  Mr. President, in the interests of would-be new broadcasters, 
existing broadcasters, but, most of all, the listening public, I urge 
the enactment of the Low Power Radio Act of 2000.
  Mr. KERREY. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce today the Low 
Power Radio Act of 2000 with Senator McCain. Low power FM radio is an 
effort to bring more diversity to the airwaves. Though radio airwaves 
belong to the public, only a handful of people currently control what 
we hear on-air. Low power FM will expand that number by thousands, 
giving a voice to local governments, community groups, churches, and 
schools.
  I understand that there is some concern that these new low-power 
signals will interfere with existing full-power stations. I believe 
these fears are greatly exaggerated. The Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC) has decades-long experience dealing with FM-spectrum 
issues, and they have conducted extensive testing to ensure that these 
new stations will not cause interference.
  Should interference occur, however, I believe that full-power 
stations must have a process for alleviating the problem. The Low Power 
Radio Act allows any broadcaster or listener to file a formal complaint 
with the FCC. If the FCC determines that a low-power station is causing 
harmful interference, the low power station will be removed from the 
airwaves while a technical remedy is found. To discourage frivolous 
complaints, however, the FCC is authorized to assess reimbursement of 
costs associated with the proceeding as well as punitive damages onto 
any full-power station who files a complaint without any purpose other 
than to impede a low-power radio transmission.
  This initiative has undergone a considerable period of testing and 
public comment. Delaying implementation will only result in more 
conflicting engineering studies without guaranteeing that interference 
will not occur. I believe that it is time to let low power FM go 
forward. The Low Power Radio Act gives the FCC the authority to resolve 
harmful interference complaints on a case-by-case, common sense basis. 
It is a compromise that can work to the benefit of existing 
broadcasters, potential low power licensees, and all radio listeners.
                                 ______