[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 117 (Wednesday, September 27, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H8275-H8277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




AUTHORIZING ENFORCEMENT OF REGULATIONS ON CITIZENS BAND RADIO EQUIPMENT

  Mr. BURR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 2346) to authorize the enforcement by State and 
local governments of certain Federal Communications Commission 
regulations regarding use of citizens band radio equipment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2346

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. ENFORCEMENT OF REGULATIONS REGARDING CITIZENS BAND 
                   RADIO EQUIPMENT.

       Section 302 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
     302a) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(f)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a State or 
     local government may enact a statute or ordinance that 
     prohibits a violation of the following regulations of the 
     Commission under this section:
       ``(A) A regulation that prohibits a use of citizens band 
     radio equipment not authorized by the Commission.
       ``(B) A regulation that prohibits the unauthorized 
     operation of citizens band radio equipment on a frequency 
     between 24 MHz and 35 MHz.
       ``(2) A station that is licensed by the Commission pursuant 
     to section 301 in any radio service for the operation at 
     issue shall not be subject to action by a State or local 
     government under this subsection. A State or local government 
     statute or ordinance enacted for purposes of this subsection 
     shall identify the exemption available under this paragraph.
       ``(3) The Commission shall provide technical guidance to 
     State and local governments regarding the detection and 
     determination of violations of the regulations specified in 
     paragraph (1).
       ``(4)(A) In addition to any other remedy authorized by law, 
     a person affected by the decision of a State or local 
     government enforcing a statute or ordinance under paragraph 
     (1) may submit to the Commission an appeal of the decision on 
     the grounds that the State or local government, as the case 
     may be, enacted a statute or ordinance outside the authority 
     provided in this subsection.
       ``(B) A person shall submit an appeal on a decision of a 
     State or local government to the Commission under this 
     paragraph, if at all, not later than 30 days after the date 
     on which the decision by the State or local government 
     becomes final, but prior to seeking judicial review of such 
     decision.
       ``(C) The Commission shall make a determination on an 
     appeal submitted under subparagraph (B) not later than 180 
     days after its submittal.
       ``(D) If the Commission determines under subparagraph (C) 
     that a State or local government has acted outside its 
     authority in enforcing a statute or ordinance, the Commission 
     shall preempt the decision enforcing the statute or 
     ordinance.
       ``(5) The enforcement of statute or ordinance that 
     prohibits a violation of a regulation by a State or local 
     government under paragraph (1) in a particular case shall not 
     preclude the Commission from enforcing the regulation in that 
     case concurrently.
       ``(6) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 
     diminish or otherwise affect the jurisdiction of the 
     Commission under this section over devices capable of 
     interfering with radio communications.
       ``(7) The enforcement of a statute or ordinance by a State 
     or local government under paragraph (1) with regard to 
     citizens band radio equipment on board a `commercial motor 
     vehicle', as defined in section 31101 of title 49, United 
     States Code, shall require probable cause to find that the 
     commercial motor vehicle or the individual operating the 
     vehicle is in violation of the regulations described in 
     paragraph (1). Probable cause shall be defined in accordance 
     with the technical guidance provided by the Commission under 
     paragraph (3).''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Burr) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Markey) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr).


                             General Leave

  Mr. BURR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and 
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2346.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BURR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 2346. It is an important initiative to 
improve compliance with FCC rules governing citizens band radio 
service.
  Citizens band radio service can serve some very important functions. 
For instance, many people use CB radios in order to communicate in 
times of emergency. America's trucking community uses CB radios to 
report accidents and traffic problems on our Nation's highways and 
roadways. Many other people use CBs for simply short-distance 
communications, and others use it as a source of entertainment.
  These constructive uses, however, are being overshadowed by the 
practice of a few bad actors. A number of individuals have taken 
advantage of the unlicensed nature of CB radio to operate outside the 
boundaries of FCC rules. In particular, a recurrent problem is CB users 
boosting their signal strength with power amplifiers. Further, some CB 
users operate outside the permit frequencies allocated for CB radio 
service.
  When these violations occur, unexpected and potentially harmful 
interference can result for others who use the service. Traditionally, 
Congress has looked to the FCC to enforce its rules. In fact, current 
communications statutes give the FCC great authority to enforce its 
rules and take remedial action when the rules are not followed.
  Unfortunately, the FCC has made clear that reported violations 
regarding CB radios will be investigated only as time, manpower and 
priorities permit. The FCC has also indicated that it will only 
investigate CB violations where there is convincing evidence that 
results from a violation of the rules has occurred, and then only on a 
low-priority basis.
  H.R. 2346 is an effort to provide a back-up enforcement mechanism. 
Under H.R. 2346, a State or local government is given authority to 
enact a statute or ordinance requiring operators of CB radio service 
within their jurisdiction to obey FCC rules. Violators would be subject 
to enforcement by State or local government.
  The bill is carefully drafted so as not to interfere with the FCC's 
enforcement authority and provides suspected offenders with an appeals 
process.
  This noncontroversial bill was reported from the Committee on 
Commerce by voice vote and enjoys bipartisan support.
  I commend the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) for his work on

[[Page H8276]]

this bill, and ask all Members to support its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) and the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) from Michigan have spent a 
considerable amount of time dealing with an issue which I think should 
be of great concern to everyone because of the increase in its 
occurrence as a phenomenon.
  We have millions of CB operators across the country. They have a lot 
of fun with it, and they do not really cause anybody any problems at 
all. They are kind of like the original Internet, in a lot of ways. 
They are out there with their own separate sets of networks on which 
they are able to communicate, and it is really a great thing for our 
country.

                              {time}  1315

  But there has been a rising incidence of individuals using CB 
frequencies abusively. They actually build towers in their 
neighborhoods, and they start broadcasting over the CB frequency.
  It has several severe adverse consequences for all of the rest of the 
people who live in the neighborhood. It has the effect of interfering 
with television broadcast reception. It has the impact of interfering 
with telephone reception. It has the impact of interfering with every 
electronic piece of equipment in the home.
  Moreover, it has even more consequences. That is, the content of many 
of these CB frequency broadcasters is profane, and it interferes with 
the ability of families to be able to live in peace and quiet without 
having someone in the neighborhood broadcasting in a way that actually 
goes into the homes of others who live in that community.
  The Federal Communications Commission does not have the resources to 
be able to deal with this essentially local phenomenon, this set of 
brush fires that are cropping up increasingly across the country in 
community after community.
  What this legislation does is to give to the States the ability to 
move in and to enforce the laws which ensure that these neighborhood 
nightmares, these nuisances are shut down, and that those individuals 
use the CB frequency in the same way that the millions of others in 
America who use the CB frequency use it, that is, for their own 
enjoyment and not in a way which creates a nuisance for everyone else 
in their community.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) and the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), in my opinion, have done an 
excellent job on this legislation. I thank the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Burr) for bringing it out to the floor at this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BURR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), the bill's author.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Burr) for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation that is before us 
which will combat unlawful use of citizen band radios. First of all, I 
want to thank the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Bliley), the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Dingell), and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.  Markey) for their 
assistance in bringing this legislation to the floor. I also thank the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr) for his active efforts here.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time that they all have taken to 
address this problem and pass it through the Committee on Commerce.
  This legislation is not only important to my district, but to many 
other cities that are dealing with the same problems that this bill 
addresses. For several years, many of my constituents have been 
fighting a losing battle against illegal CB radio operators. Most CB 
radio operators use their equipment within the low-power levels 
prescribed by the FCC rules and regulations and do not cause any 
problems. However, some users illegally boost the range of their home-
based CB equipment by using high-powered external linear amplifiers. 
Also, occasionally, they modify the frequencies illegally.
  When the CB level is amplified above legal levels, or the frequency 
is changed, it causes interference with television, radio and phone 
signals and damages other electronic equipment in the surrounding 
houses. The interference can be so bad that surrounding residents hear 
CB conversations over their televisions, radios, and phones. This can 
be extremely frustrating as telephone conversations can be cut off, 
television signals can be distorted, and other electronic equipment can 
suffer interference.
  Sometimes it is so bad that neighbors have to suffer through profane 
and abusive language that is being picked up by their own television 
sets, radios, or telephones.
  This is not an isolated problem. Most of the cosponsors of this 
legislation have exactly the same problems in their districts, and that 
is true of many other areas of the country as well.
  The Federal Communications Commission (the FCC), knows about the 
problem and has outlawed the sale and the use of these amplifiers. 
However, they are still on sale for other purposes and can be easily 
modified for use with CB radios. Even worse, the FCC does not have the 
personnel to enforce the law. Localities are powerless to help, because 
the FCC has a total preemption over enforcing regulations regarding CB 
radio use.
  The legislation before us will allow State and local authorities to 
enforce the FCC regulations regarding CB equipment and frequencies. 
This would be a narrow exemption from the total Federal preemption of 
CB radio regulation enforcement and would give residents recourse 
against an unlawful CB operator by capitalizing on the enforcement 
capabilities of local government and on the FCC's years of experience 
in setting rules governing CB use. In other words, the best of both 
worlds.
  The intent of this provision is to allow State and local governments 
to pass ordinances that will mimic Federal law and allow for its 
enforcement.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation, let me emphasize, does not change what 
equipment is and is not legal. People who are operating CB equipment in 
accordance with the FCC rules will not be affected at all by this 
legislation. I have also worked with the ham radio operators (amateur 
radio operators) on this provision to ensure that their concerns about 
this legislation were addressed. Frankly, the ham radio operators in my 
district are very pleased with the bill. They were the ones who 
initiated it by asking me to address this particular problem, because 
it affected them as well.
  The bill also contains a provision that exempts anyone who possesses 
a ham radio license from this legislation.
  Lastly, the legislation contains a provision that specifically 
restates that local law enforcement officials must have just cause to 
investigate whether or not someone is operating an illegal amplifier 
before they take action against someone.
  Just to summarize in a nutshell, we have a real Catch-22 at the 
moment. The Federal Government has the power to enforce these laws. Not 
only that, we preempt the law from other communities so that they 
cannot enforce them. And yet the Federal Government, through the FCC, 
does not enforce them. So we tell people we will enforce it, but we 
cannot enforce it. This bill resolves that problem by allowing those on 
the scene, the local law enforcement agencies, to deal with the problem 
that the Federal Government has preempted but does not enforce. I 
believe that this will be beneficial to everyone.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I urge the House to approve this 
legislation. It is supported by the Committee on Commerce, the FCC, and 
local law enforcement officials. Again, I thank the leaders of the 
Committee on Commerce for bringing this bill to the floor.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I do not have any other requests to speak at 
this time; and with the request to all Members to support this good 
piece of legislation, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BURR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Markey). Again, I

[[Page H8277]]

 thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) and the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), the authors of this bill. I have no additional 
speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Walden of Oregon). The question is on 
the motion offered by the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr) that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2346.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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