[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 160 (Monday, October 22, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H11830-H11837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, my greetings to my colleagues,
especially my friend from Ohio and her remarks. I look forward tonight
to talking about another civil right, and that is freedom of
expression, guaranteeing that we have the ability to have freedom of
expression of even controversial political and religious topics on
America's airwaves. That's right, to make sure when issues are debated
on talk radio or talk TV, that somehow there aren't government censors
down the street at the FCC trying to silence those who are having these
discussions about today's most vibrant issues.
It really goes to the heart of our democracy, I believe, to have an
informed democracy which comes about because we have a vigorous
discussion, intellectual discussion, a vibrant discussion about the
issues of our day. Certainly, whether you are a conservative Member of
the House or a liberal Member of the House or somewhere in between, we
all debate these issues here; and some of what we say here actually
ends up on the airwaves of our broadcast radio and television stations.
That is a healthy thing for our country, for our democracy and for an
informed electorate.
In 1949, the Federal Communications Commission promulgated a
regulation that said every time you have a discussion about a
controversial issue, you have to have an opposite viewpoint presented
on the public airwaves. On its face, that certainly sounds fair, and
that is why they called it the fairness doctrine and the whole premise
was in 1949 that there weren't many radio stations. I think there were
2,800, and this was all designed to try and spur communication, to spur
this debate on the airwaves, to have opposing viewpoints come forward.
This was the government's viewpoint. This is what the Federal
Government said this is how we will get this discussion going on the
public airwaves. There aren't too many radio stations and very few
television stations, no Internet, no iPods. That was it.
{time} 2045
So they said, well, pass this regulation that will cause all this
great discussion to occur. Well, guess what? That was 1949. Talk radio
really didn't come about until about 1988 when, after a series of court
decisions found that the so-called fairness doctrine really wasn't fair
at all but, moreover, didn't spur the kind of debate on the public
airwaves, and in fact, the courts have held, and I'll get into this in
detail in a few minutes, but this Federal regulation actually had a
very chilling effect on free speech, very chilling effect, actually
discouraged discussion of public policy issues on the airwaves. That's
right, discouraged discussion of public policy on the airwaves, had a
chilling effect, chilling effect on free speech in America. And as a
result, the Federal Communications Commission in 1987, I believe it
was, decided to repeal the so-called fairness doctrine.
What happened after that? Well, what happened after that was all of
the sudden talk radio came to life in America. Now you may like certain
hosts and you may despise certain hosts. You may be a conservative
Member of this House and think everything Rush Limbaugh says is gospel
and the same thing with Sean Hannity. You may be a liberal Member of
this House and like the words of Al Franken or Alan Colmes or someone.
None of those hosts would be at the level they are today if the
fairness doctrine were still in place. So why am I down here talking
about the fairness doctrine, a regulation that was repealed in 1987, 20
years ago? What's the issue?
Well, the issue is this, that there are Members of this body and the
one across the Capitol, there are the powerful elite in this city who
don't like what happens on talk radio, makes their lives uncomfortable,
gives them great discomfort. The most recent example of which was when
the Senate was debating the immigration legislation and moving quite
rapidly forward on that flawed legislation, and talk radio got a hold
of it on the conservative side or on the liberal side and began to go
into it in detail with the audiences they reached, the millions and
millions of average Americans out there who are listening to talk
radio. The more they educated the public, the more they debated and
engaged their audiences in this debate, the more pressure got turned up
on this issue.
It's just one example. You know, the issue ended up being defeated in
the Senate, and some of them who are on the other side said talk radio
is to blame and we need to do something about talk radio, that's not
fair, we need to bring back the fairness doctrine. That's why I'm here
tonight and why the Republican leadership has asked me to speak on this
issue, because there is a very real threat at very high levels in the
government, the Congress, that is, to bring back the fairness doctrine,
which would be one of the worst things I think could happen.
Now, why did they ask me? Well, I serve on the Energy and Commerce
Committee and the Telecommunications Subcommittee, but that's not why.
They asked me because I grew up in a radio family. My father started in
radio in the 1930s in rural Oregon, helped put stations on the air. He
was an engineer and an announcer and a sportscaster and eventually, in
1967, was able to scrape together with a partner enough money to buy
his first radio station and added another one he put on the air in
1978. And in 1986, my wife and I bought them from my parents and added
three more. So I've been a small market broadcaster for 21\1/2\ years,
and so I've seen this evolution of pre-fairness doctrine, post-fairness
doctrine.
Indeed, one of our radio stations carries Rush Limbaugh and Sean
Hannity and Michael Reagan and others on the conservative side, and
there's great audience response. There are other radio stations,
Portland and around, that have great audience response from Air America
and the liberal viewpoints, and that's fine. That's what America's
about is this debate of free speech.
I think that even liberals and conservatives should be able to agree
that
[[Page H11831]]
having somebody down at the Federal Communications put in regulation
the so-called chilling fairness doctrine would be the worst thing that
could happen to a debate about public policy in America, the worst
thing.
So recently, knowing that this was gurgling up in our Nation's
capital, I wrote to the chairman of the Federal Communications
Commission, and I'll put this letter in the official Congressional
Record, but let me read you some excerpts, because I asked the thoughts
of the chairman, Kevin Martin, about the appropriateness of the
fairness doctrine, and he writes back:
``As you are undoubtedly aware, the fairness doctrine obliged
broadcasters to provide an opportunity for the presentation of
contrasting viewpoints on those controversial issues of public
importance that they covered,'' and he goes on to cite some court
cases.
``In 1987, based on its 1985 Report on the fairness doctrine . . .
and an extensive subsequent administrative record, the Commission
concluded that enforcement of the fairness doctrine was not in the
public interest and thus decided to abandon it.
``Among other things, the Commission found that the doctrine `chilled
speech' by `providing broadcasters with a powerful incentive not to air
controversial programming above a minimal amount' in order to avoid
burdensome litigation over whether it had complied with its obligation
to provide contrasting viewpoints . . . Based on its examination of the
record, the Commission concluded the fairness doctrine had created `a
climate of timidity and fear, which deterred the coverage of
controversial issue programming.' . . . Indeed, the record'' compiled
``by the Commission at the time included over 60 reported instances in
which the fairness doctrine had inhibited broadcasters' coverage of
controversial issues.''
Sixty instances where the fairness doctrine had inhibited the
coverage of controversial issues.
Now, you say why would that be? All they've got to get is somebody
with an opposing viewpoint to come on. Well, what happens is if you air
a controversial issue, which opposing viewpoint do you have to give
access to the airwaves to? And there are a multiplicity of groups out
there who demand that access, and if they didn't get it, they would
threaten the very license of the broadcast station. They'd threaten
them at the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission.
If you go back, there are examples in the 1960s of the Nixon White
House and the Kennedy White House using the fairness doctrine to try to
intimidate and silence their critics. Nixon, Kennedy, misusing the
fairness doctrine. It's wrong. It's chilling. It was intimidating.
These are the words of the current chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission. I will put his letter back to me in the
Record.
So, if the current chairman and the makeup of this commission doesn't
believe in the fairness doctrine, why are we worried? Because the next
administration will appoint new commissioners to the Federal
Communications Commission, and that next administration could appoint
commissioners who could write a rule to restore this government
censorship into their rules.
Now you say, but you've said, Congressman Walden, that this is
chilling and the courts have said this chills free speech. Yes, but
they've never overturned it, and if it were put in rule, it would have
a gagging effect on talk radio and talk television, including religious
broadcasters by the way, immediately, I believe.
And so while it might take years to work its way through the court
system, it was chilling effect on free speech in America, a guarantee
of the first amendment of our Constitution. That effect would be
immediate and devastating.
And so here on my left, well, here's Rush Limbaugh and Al Franken,
Hannity and Colmes, duct tape over their mouth. That was a nice little
Photoshop thing we did, but the point is clear. Restoration of this
government regulation would silence them, but it's more than just them.
It's here starting on the far right over here. Lars Larson from KXL
in Portland, has a national talk show as well. Garth and Rosemary
Harrington out of KCMX in Medford, Oregon, or Bill Myers out of KMED,
local in my district talk show hosts, in my State and national talk
show hosts. People that we listen to, don't always agree with. You can
always turn the dial and find a different topic on a different station.
People we listen to. The threat's real.
So what are we doing about this threat? Well, Congressman Mike Pence,
my colleague and former TV journalist from Indiana, and I have
cosponsored H.R. 2905. That's the Broadcaster Freedom Act, and the
Broadcaster Freedom Act, we tried to get hearings on, and the new
majority doesn't want to give us a hearing on the bill. At least they
haven't. It just says it takes an act of Congress, FCC, to restore the
fairness doctrine. You can't just go do it on your own. You can't be
five commissioners down the street who want to put the fairness
doctrine back in rule and silence talk radio. No, you can't do it that
way. In fact, we're not going to let you. Let's have the people's
elected representatives be the ones to make that decision.
It doesn't sound so bad. It's a rule that's repealed today, not on
the books. This commission says they have no interest in putting it in,
or opponents of this effort even say, well, what are you worried about?
My question is, if there's nothing to worry about, what are you worried
about bringing this up for a vote? We ought to do it. Can't do it.
So the only alternative left to my colleague Mike Pence and I, both
Republicans, but this doesn't have to be a partisan issue at all
because I think all of us in this Chamber are for free speech and
public debate, our only alternative left is something arcane known as a
discharge petition. You all know that.
My colleagues know what a discharge petition is, but for those who
may be new here and don't know, it's simply a petition you sign right
over here at the front desk. And if a majority of the House, 218
Members, sign that petition, we'll get an open rule on the floor. We'll
debate this issue in full and open and public display of our colleagues
and citizens of this great country about freedom of speech.
And I predict we'd pass H.R. 2905 in a landslide, because the last
time we voted on this issue was to deny funding to the Commission to
reinstitute the fairness regulation and the censorship regulation, and
more than 300 of the 435 Members of this great House voted with us, my
colleague Mike Pence and with me, to prevent any funding being spent by
the FCC.
So we know from that vote there are more than 300 of you here in the
House who would support what we believe in, that you, too, support free
speech over America's airwaves, that you support it.
So, it's simple. We just need 218 of 435 to sign the discharge
petition. Just sign the petition. If you're for free speech over the
public's airwaves, sign the petition. If you're for gagging people on
the left, the right, the middle, religious broadcasters, then don't
sign the petition. If you're for free speech, you sign the petition.
Now, I want to share with you some correspondence I've gotten back
since we've started down this path and, the station vice president/
general manager of the CBS affiliate in Portland, Oregon, KINK and
KLTH, wrote back to me, said:
``Greetings from Portland!
``Thank you for your efforts in opposing the re-introduction of the
fairness doctrine. I appreciate getting copied on your inquiry to the
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin regarding his views on the subject.
``The fairness doctrine is a classic example of an initiative that
yields the opposite effect to its intended objective. A less-regulated
forum for thoughts and ideas remains the best guardian for the well-
being of our democracy.
``With warm regards,
``Stan Mak,''
``VP/GM, KINK & KLTH.''
A less-regulated forum for thoughts and ideas remains the best
guardian for the well-being of our democracy.
Some other e-mails that we've gotten: Thank you for fighting to rid
the U.S.A. of the fairness doctrine, which to me is nothing less than
an attack on our freedom of speech. This insidious attack must be
stopped. Please keep fighting, and don't let up until it's forever
gone. Thank you. Mr. Graham Salisbury of Portland, Oregon.
[[Page H11832]]
Dear Congressman Walden, I was heartened to learn of your effort to
force a vote on the BFA, possibly spurred by the current Limbaugh
smear, because I find the fairness doctrine to be truly frightening.
Mr. Dylan Greenhoe of Portland.
Mr. Robert Barrie of Grants Pass, Oregon, writes: I have just
received your e-mail newsletter and I would like to tell you that you
have my full backing on H.R. 2905. I must share your frustration that
certain Members of Congress could be blatantly blind to the fact that
the grassroot American public was able to see through the faulty
Senate-proposed immigration bill, primarily due to the freedom of talk
radio. If it had not been for American talk radio, most of us would not
have had the slightest idea what was really in this legislation.
We must do everything in our power to see that the fairness doctrine
is never brought back to American radio airwaves. Please keep me posted
on this very important bill.
Mr. Robert Barrie, Grants Pass, Oregon.
Sign the petition. Sign the petition. Bring H.R. 2905 to the floor
and keep America's airwaves open to debate on the right, the left, the
religious center.
{time} 2100
Can you imagine if you are a religious broadcaster and the regulators
down the street put this gag back in place, and you are preaching a
Christian message, let's say, do you have to bring on an atheist then
to preach the opposite? Is that the kind of fairness some regulator
here in Washington might demand in order for your station to get
relicensed? I don't know. Clearly, though, in this day and this
litigious society that we are living in, there are plenty of organized
and certainly well-funded organizations out there who would love to
silence their critics on either side.
This isn't about whether you are a Republican or a Democrat. This
isn't about whether you are liberal in your viewpoints or conservative
in your viewpoints. This cuts to the very foundation of free speech,
which, obviously, underlies our entire country and our foundation for
democracy. Without free speech, you do not have an informed democracy.
Without that, you know, we don't have much of anything; we don't have
much of anything.
So when you look at these issues, according to the FCC itself, the
coverage of this old fairness doctrine was you had to have these issues
covered, controversial issues covered to be fair. According to the FCC
itself, this meant that each time a broadcaster presented an arguably
controversial issue of public importance, they ran the risk of a
complaint being filed, potentially resulting in litigation and
penalties.
I want you, my colleagues, to tell me in today's environment how you
would define arguably controversial issues of public importance. Is
there anything that we debate here somebody might not say is arguably
controversial?
The penalties that could emanate if this were put back in place
included government sanction, administrative and legal expenses, or
even revocation of broadcast licenses, clearly underscoring the need to
pass H.R. 2905, the Broadcaster Freedom Act. There is one bill number
or one term you need to leave here tonight remembering, it's pass H.R.
2905, the Broadcaster Freedom Act, unless you are for gagging those
talk show hosts, like Bill Myers, who has spoken up aggressively about
protecting American sovereignty, getting control of our borders, making
sure that our taxpayer dollars are spent helping Americans, and those
who are here legally, not the other way around, Garth and Rosemary
Harrington, who are always talking about freedom in America and
supporting our troops and standing up for our natural resource-based
economy. Of course, Lars Larson who has been out there as well on all
of these issues.
There are those in this Congress, and in this city, who seeks to put
duct tape over their mouths, as we have done photographically here for
display purposes only. That is what they want to do. They want to gag
them. They want to shut them down because they don't like what they are
saying, because they say things that aren't on the script.
Now I know, I don't always agree with all these folks. I mean, who
does? Sometimes they engage in a little over-the-top discussion. I
think, frankly, they are trying to get people to think. They are trying
to jab them a little bit, get them outside of the box and look at
issues differently.
If people didn't like what they heard, these people would be off the
air because, especially in commercial broadcasting, it is all about
ratings. Ratings are all about who is listening. Nobody is listening,
nobody is buying advertising. They are packing up their microphones and
their headphones, and they are headed out the back door. No, see,
people are listening. They like to be challenged. You may not listen
all the time, every day, every show. You may disagree, as I do, from
time to time, with all these folks. But we should never disagree on the
fact that we are better served with free speech in America.
You know, Congressman Pence and I last week, along with Congressman
Boucher and a whole host of folks, Congressman Boucher and Congressman
Pence really led the effort, passed legislation overwhelmingly in this
House to protect journalists from government intervention and trying to
figure out who their sources are.
Government always wants to kind of get in there and shut down people
they don't want to hear from. They want to hide things sometimes when
there are mistakes made. Nobody wants to be embarrassed; but without an
active and vibrant press, and I was trained as a journalist at the
University of Oregon, did a little bit of reporting in my background,
without that, without sources that you can protect, we would not have
the balance that we need in an informed democracy.
Let me talk a little bit about the Supreme Court cases related to the
fairness doctrine. Again, remember, sign the petition, help us bring
H.R. 2905 to the floor and prevent these things from happening.
But in 1969, we saw the first Supreme Court test of the fairness
doctrine in Red Lion Broadcasting v. The FCC. Although the court ruled
then, remember, this was 1969, that the fairness doctrine didn't
violate a broadcaster's first amendment rights, it did caution that if
the doctrine ever began to restrain speech, then the constitutionality
of the regulation should be reconsidered.
In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the fairness doctrine
inescapably dampens the vigor and limits the variety of public debate.
That was in the Miami Herald Publishing Company v. Torino lawsuit.
Twenty-three years ago, 1984, the year Ronald Reagan was reelected, in
FCC v. League of Women Voters, the Court went further and concluded
that the fairness doctrine was limiting the breadth of debate. This
ruling set the stage then in 1999 for the Federal Communications
Commission to repeal the fairness doctrine.
So the Supreme Court of the United States, over many, many years,
almost 15 years, the Supreme Court provided all of us in the Congress
good enough reason in underpinnings to get rid of the fairness doctrine
to make sure it never comes back. The commission got the message, 1987,
said, we are going to repeal it.
But, you know, our memories sometimes in this body are a little
short, and some people get a little tired of what they hear and the
criticism they take, and, believe me, we all get it, but silencing our
critics is fundamentally, and I will be careful how I use this word,
but silencing our critics is un-American. Free speech is American. This
is un-American to say we are going to gag people because we don't like
what they say.
I don't think any of us here stand for that. I really don't. I
honestly believe we want vigorous, open debate of issues, and we are
better off for it. How many times do the Members of both sides of the
aisle complain when legislation is rushed to the floor without a
hearing, without the benefit of Members who bring various expertise,
have them weigh in with amendments? We are seeing this rash,
unprecedented rash of closed rules, no amendments, no hearings on major
legislation because some powerful folks say we just want to get this
done. We know what's right. We don't need your help. We don't want to
listen to your critics; we don't want to listen to your complaints. We
are just going to do it, and get over it.
[[Page H11833]]
Well, some of those same people may be the ones who say we don't like
this talk radio thing; we don't like the fact they are bringing up
different view points; we don't like the fact that Rush Limbaugh or
Sean Hannity or Alan Colmes, Garth and Rosemary, Bill Myers or Lars
Larson are talking about issues that, gosh, if people only knew the
details of it would make our jobs uncomfortable. Well, tough, this is a
democracy, and the voters decide whether they like what we do or not.
But if they are not informed, how do they know what we do here? How
do they know? How do they know that we couldn't get a hearing on H.R.
2905? How do they know?
Well, I will tell you how they know, and how they know, how Americans
know that this is an issue is because of talk radio, because we have
told them. Some of us said, help us protect free speech on America's
airwaves. Here we are today talking about a regulation overturned 20
years ago, one that we don't ever want to come back, one that the Bush
administration doesn't want to come back, one that the FCC says we have
no interest in bringing back. But we know there are those with a change
of control, the administration, in just, you know, a couple of months,
might put in place people who want to bring it back.
I am here tonight to say to my colleagues, and I know Dr. Burgess,
who is going to speak after me, I believe, has already signed the
discharge petition, as have nearly 140 of my colleagues, or perhaps
more by the end of tonight, we just need 218, 218 people to sign the
petition to prevent talk radio and talk TV and religious broadcasters
from being gagged in what they do. We just need 218.
I am joined by my friend and colleague from Dallas, Texas, the
Honorable Pete Sessions, who has signed the petition so that we can
bring H.R. 2905 to the floor.
I know Congressman Sessions, who serves on the Rules Committee, has
been very frustrated with the lack of free speech coming to this floor
through legislation, because he is up there trying to fight for the
rights of the minority to be able to have their views heard in this
House and to be able to have their amendments debated in this House. I
know he doesn't support silencing talk radio and talk TV as restoration
of the fairness doctrine would do, but rather thinks like I do that we
ought to pass H.R. 2905 and protect the first amendment rights of those
on the public's airwaves.
Perhaps my colleague from Texas would like to make a comment.
Mr. SESSIONS. I thank you for not only taking time, the gentleman
from Oregon (Mr. Walden) for taking time to lead in this Congress the
debate and the discussion on not only the fairness doctrine, which we
oppose in this United States House of Representatives, perhaps, more
importantly, a vision about what we are trying to have in this country,
for not only free speech, but also the ability to speak fairly and
freely about the things which we hold dear, not only in our hearts and
in our minds, but also in this country and in America.
The gentleman from Oregon has already outlined previously that what
happened is that prior to about 1987 we did have something that was
called the fairness doctrine. The fairness doctrine essentially says
this, that if you are on talk radio in this country that you would have
to give the same time, the fair time, equal time to an opponent,
someone who had an opinion different than your own.
As a result of the fairness doctrine, which I believe and others
believe, and perhaps the Supreme Court believes, would be illegal, what
has happened is that talk radio and the ability for the American people
to speak freely, openly, without fear that what they are saying would
be, they would be taken to task for. What has happened is that talk
radio has flourished all around the country. Talk radio has flourished
not only about thoughts and ideas, but about the greatness of this
country.
I do believe that what the gentleman is talking about is the right
thing to do. That is why I signed on as a cosponsor of H.R. 2905.
The gentleman from Oregon also talked rather freely and openly about
my service and the service of three of my other colleagues who are
Republicans on the Rules Committee. The Rules Committee is that body
that is interested in making sure that the debate that comes to the
floor of the House of Representatives has a chance, first of all, to be
heard and all thoughts and ideas are debated.
We have rather openly, and the gentleman from Oregon knows this,
whoever is in the majority, whoever is in the majority has a very
difficult time as a result of the rules of the House with germaneness
of amendments and the things which we do of trying to have a balance
about hearing good thoughts and ideas, making in order amendments,
without killing the general intent of what legislation is for. I think
that that is part of what this fairness doctrine might be about from
their perspective and where we disagree with the fairness doctrine, but
being able to openly talk about things.
The fact of the matter is that the Rules Committee yesterday, or
today, heard a discussion, and I think it was last week that the
Democratic Party has a new record of closed rules, today a new record
on closed rules to where they don't want any debate.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. I think there may be some newer Members here
who don't understand the significance of what a closed rule means. What
that means is no Member of the House has an opportunity to have an
amendment heard on that issue, right?
Mr. SESSIONS. I thank the gentleman, my friend from Oregon, the
distinguished gentleman from Oregon for trying to get more information
out of it. That's right, a closed rule says that the committee, the
Rules Committee, would make a determination about what would be made,
what we call in order, which means what would be debatable and anything
outside of that order, even if you had a good idea sitting on the floor
of the House of Representatives, you could not engage in the debate.
You could not put an amendment forward.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. I am a little troubled by that because I
thought that the Speaker of the House, when she took over, announced
that the House would be run differently and that there wouldn't be
closed rules.
{time} 2115
Mr. SESSIONS. In fact, reclaiming my time, the gentleman would be
correct. Mrs. Pelosi has stated, it is on her Web site tonight, has
been, that this new Democrat majority would be the most open, honest
majority in the history of Congress, and yet, they lead already a new
record in terms of closed rules
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Which means shutting down debate, shutting down
amendments, limiting all of us.
Mr. SESSIONS. Shutting down debate and amendments and making those in
order. And so it's interesting that what has tried to be done here,
with the fairness doctrine is actually, in this Member's opinion, a
silencing. The fairness doctrine would silence talk radio, would put
those that might be like Sean Hannity or might be like Rush Limbaugh or
back home in Dallas, Texas, Mark Davis of a local radio station that we
have in Dallas, it would mean that they would be required, if they're
going to talk about a subject, that they would be required to have an
opposing side to come and speak about that also. And I think that puts
a chilling effect not only on free speech, one which I think is
unconstitutional, but perhaps, more importantly, it is an intrusion
upon the free thought processes of America and Americans.
And so tonight, what the gentleman is doing is correctly saying that
we, in this body, the House of Representatives, believe that signing on
to H.R. 2905 says that we're not going to go and step backwards in this
country. We want free speech to continue and to flourish, and for talk
radio and thought processes to be alive and well.
Now, I know, and I assume the gentleman from Oregon knows this too,
that what's happened, what would happen as a result of this, or what is
happening as a result of this is that Mrs. Pelosi and others recognize
that talk radio talks about the Democratic agenda, the Democratic
Party's agenda, raising taxes, more rules and regulations, more rules
and regulations to where, on a regular basis, I feel compelled to tell
the truth about the Rules Committee, that the Rules Committee seems to
be a wholly owned subsidiary
[[Page H11834]]
of the AFL-CIO, that it appears as though the Rules Committee receives
their instructions directly from union central, John Sweeney, telling
them exactly which bills will be made in order. We've had so many bills
which are under the construct of trying to say it's about worker safety
or it's about making things fairness in the workplace, but in fact it
is about further unionizing and empowering unions in this country
against consumers and against the working people of this country with
powerful unions.
And lastly, that the Republican Party will speak very openly about
how dangerous we believe single-payer system to health care would be to
this country. And so, there are, the Democratic Party in this country
does not want those debates to take place. They want us to, talk radio
and Republicans, if we're going to be heard, to allow the other side to
have a chance to dispute everything we say. And I would say let the
Democratic Party have their talk shows and let them speak freely about
raising taxes, more rules and regulations, and empowering the unions in
this country to become, once again, more powerful, and to talk about
how the free enterprise system is something that they don't support,
that they believe that raising taxes is the right thing to do. Let them
have their own talk radio show. But I would say, equally, that they
need to make sure that they are not intruding on the Constitution and
people in this country who choose to stand up and speak about the
things which we believe are important.
I thank the gentleman for allowing me time.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. I appreciate the gentleman coming, speaking
this evening on the floor of the House. The gentleman from Texas has
done fine work in the Rules Committee and stood up in a valiant fight.
But you're outnumbered there two to one by the Democrats, correct?
Mr. SESSIONS. Actually a little bit more than two to one. It's 9 to
4, so it is a bit more.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. It's pretty hard to get bipartisanship there if
it's always a 9-4 vote, isn't it?
Mr. SESSIONS. And I thank the gentleman for asking about that. What's
interesting is that in the Rules Committee, January, February and
March, we heard our new colleagues, who are brand new freshman on the
Rules Committee, in lockstep with Speaker Pelosi and lockstep with the
chairman of the Rules Committee, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms.
Slaughter). And they attempted to justify everything they did by saying
when we really get outside of our six for '06, which was their
political agenda, you're going to start seeing lots of open rules. You
will see lots of debate.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. And has the gentleman seen lots of open rules
on major policy issues?
Mr. SESSIONS. You know, we have not. And I thank the gentleman for
asking that question. Have we seen this change from January, February,
March, April or May? And the answer is no, we have not.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Does the gentleman believe that that brings
disrespect on this House for----
Mr. SESSIONS. I think that the question that you raise is, do I
believe that someone who said that they were going to not do that, that
they sold to this House and their membership that that was the wrong
way to run the railroad and that they would think of better ways, yes,
I think that they did say that. And I think it's interesting, as the
gentleman may remember, just 2 weeks ago, we had a bill that came from
the Financial Services Committee, one in which the gentleman from
Massachusetts, the gentleman, Mr. Frank, as the chairman, had worked
very closely with his members about talking about what they would make
in order, and then working, can I say that word ``bipartisanship'' down
here? They worked in a bipartisan fashion in the committee, only to
come to the Rules Committee and the chairman of the committee to ask
and to say, it's okay. We've worked these through. As a matter of fact,
the gentleman from Massachusetts said, I feel comfortable enough as
chairman of the committee that you could make, Rules Committee Chairman
Slaughter, you could make any amendment that you choose to in order,
and I believe I have the ability and our committee has the ability to
work forth to where we could prevail on any issue. Whereupon we found
out no, that's not the way it's going to be.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. So even the chairman of the committee said
bring forth whatever amendments to the floor you want on the bill I
have, and his chairman of the Rules Committee makes the decision what
amendments come forward said uh-uh.
Mr. SESSIONS. I'm not doing that.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. And that's one of the those closed rules.
Mr. SESSIONS. Yeah, it was another closed rule. And I think the
gentleman makes a point. So I think the people on the committee have
now figured out time after time after time after time when they're
voting for a record number of closed rules that, in fact, I wonder what
it was they meant when they said we were going to do that? I think
they're questioning what was the intent they said one thing but they're
doing something else.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. And you said that's still up on the Speaker's
Web site?
Mr. SESSIONS. Still up on the Speaker's Web site. And once again, new
record. I think we'll have a new record virtually every time another
rule comes out, a new record in this House that I think we have said
openly, and the gentleman from Oregon is aware of this, that the
Republican party has said we do recognize that there are times that you
need to have closed rules. We support that. But if you're going to sell
that you're about openness, then at least live up to what you say.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Do what you said.
Mr. SESSIONS. At least live up to what you said. And it's our job to
try and point those factors out. I would also say that there's been a
lot of frustration because what's happened is, in this process,
Republicans, and I believe the number is 17, perhaps 18 now, motions to
recommit that we have been accused of coming down and sabotaging their
political agenda.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. But wait. Haven't those passed in a big
bipartisan majority? So when one of these ideas comes to the floor,
what you're saying is, the Republicans and Democrats actually do what
Americans elected us to do, which was come together on issues, right?
Mr. SESSIONS. In fact, the gentleman is correct. While there may not
be any procedure with an open rule, there generally have been, and it's
what Republicans always allowed, a motion to recommit. And that means
that we were able to, or whoever's in the minority is able to say I'm
going to take a, just a piece part of this bill and try and include our
ideas to better the bill.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Try and make it better, right?
Mr. SESSIONS. An example of one of these might be, let's just think
back to a bill that might be about homeland security. And in homeland
security, we know that there was a fight that took place that said, and
the Democratic Party was very open about it, that they did not want to
have Amtrak passengers to have to go through what is called Customs and
Border Protection Database that looked at what would be like the TSA no
fly list; in other words, someone that might be considered a terrorist
or have terrorist ties, they would not allow any matching of a database
against potential terrorists for anybody that used Amtrak. And so we
said we believe that what should happen is that every single person,
we're not talking about going in New York City, riding the subway.
We're talking about Amtrak, that Amtrak would be allowed to have that
database.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. To look for terrorists on a terrorist watch
list.
Mr. SESSIONS. We were accused of sabotaging the privacy of millions
of Americans, accused of sabotaging their political agenda.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Sounds to me like we were most interested in
trying to protect the security of Amtrak passengers.
Mr. SESSIONS. Well, the gentleman is correct. In fact, it is the
Republican Party position, and continues today with FISA, that we're
trying to gain as much information as we can to avoid a next attack,
not just be attacked and then figure it out.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. And do the blaming.
[[Page H11835]]
Mr. SESSIONS. It appears to me as though that is really the Democrat
Party's position. The Democratic Party leadership in this House is
trying on take away the ability that people have to be able to know to
thwart an attack. Now, that's off the subject that we are trying to get
into tonight, but it's germane in that these are the things that we're
trying to do to have with motions to recommit better ideas.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Well, it really isn't off the subject because
what we're talking about is freedom to speak. We're talking about free
expression. We're talking about a fundamental right under the
Constitution of the ability of Americans to have their elected
officials debate issues as we're doing tonight, or to have those in the
fourth estate, the press, be able to inform the electorate, inform
Americans about the issues of the day and debate them vigorously. This
is about a fundamental right in America, about free speech.
Now, I want to share with you, because some people may be saying,
well, where is this coming from, this fairness doctrine thing? Who's
saying you're going to put that up? Well, a candidate for President,
Democrat side, Representative Kucinich, Ohio, in January, according to
a publication, said that he announced that he was going to pursue the
fairness doctrine through his Government Reform Subcommittee. That
announcement was greeted with silence, but now Speaker Pelosi has moved
things to the front burner.
Now let me get to a quote here in the American Spectator, a newspaper
I guess, May 14. According to two members of the House Democrat Caucus,
Reps Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer have informed them they will
``aggressively pursue reinstatement of the so-called fairness doctrine
over the next six months.'' That was back in May. And then there's a
quote in something called the Liberty Papers, May 15, ``First,
Democrats failed on the radio airwaves with America. No one wanted to
listen,'' says the senior advisor to Pelosi. ``Conservative radio is a
huge threat and political advantage for Republicans, and we have to
find a way to limit it.'' This is an advisor quoted in Liberty Papers
about that.
Our colleague from New York, Maurice Hinchey, NPR National Public
Radio, June 22, Representative Maurice Hinchey tells the Washington
Times that the Democrat is planning to reintroduce a bill that calls
for a return to the doctrine saying the American people should have a
wide array of news sources available to them. Well, this isn't about
news sources. This is about political and free speech on the airwaves.
Senator Feinstein, California, says she's looking at reviving the
fairness doctrine. That was in June in The Hill. Senator Durbin says
it's time to reinstitute the fairness doctrine. He's the majority whip
in the U.S. Senate. I have this old-fashioned attitude when Americans
hear both sides of the story they're in a better position to make a
decision. Well, yeah, that's true. But we're in a lot better position
when you don't have government bureaucrats deciding whether or not
you've aired all the positions.
{time} 2130
And as you said, it's one thing to say you and I may disagree; so you
get to come on and I come on. But what about our colleague from Texas,
Dr. Burgess? He may have a little different opinion from yours and he
still may disagree with me and there may be three or four other
Members. As the broadcaster, you have got 30 minutes or an hour on your
show. How many opposing viewpoints do you have to have on in order to
satisfy the government regulators that you've the right opposing
viewpoint? We don't need government nannies, hall monitors trying to
figure out if we are having debate and discussion on the airwaves.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. I would be happy to yield.
Mr. BURGESS. I have certainly enjoyed listening to the discussion
tonight. And I just wanted to be sure I had my facts straight in
regards to the discharge petition. You have how many signatures on the
discharge petition now?
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. The last time I checked, we were at about 140.
We only need 218. It has only been out there for a few days.
Mr. BURGESS. And if the gentleman would further yield, as I recall,
when we voted on an amendment not too long ago on one of the
appropriations bills, essentially this concept passed overwhelmingly by
the House of Representatives; is that not correct?
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Reclaiming my time, more than 300 of our
colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, said no to the funding of the
reinstitution of the fairness doctrine.
Mr. BURGESS. If the gentleman will further yield, is there anything
that has happened between the passage of that amendment and the
initiation of the discharge petition that would cause people to change
their minds? If it was worthwhile to vote for the amendment a few weeks
ago, wouldn't it be similarly worthwhile to go ahead and sign that
discharge petition so we can get on with working on this very important
legislation?
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. The only thing that has happened in between is
nothing has happened in between, including that provision is stuck in
an appropriations bill that has never gone to the President. So there
is no protection today; but in terms of the issue itself, nothing has
changed. That's why we should bring this to an up-or-down vote on the
floor. That is all we are asking is Members of the Congress of the
House just sign the discharge petition. Just go right over there
tomorrow and sign the discharge petition. That's all it is. If you get
218 of 435 on this bill, under an open rule, by the way, it will come
to the House floor and we will have a full and vigorous debate.
Mr. BURGESS. If the gentleman will further yield, I, for the life of
me, cannot understand why someone who would have voted in favor of the
amendment would not follow through now and sign the discharge petition.
Mr. Speaker, I will just have to admit I am baffled that my
colleagues who have showed such resolution on this just a few weeks now
be peeled off for whatever reason and not have this solid bipartisan
legislation brought to the House floor.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for weighing
in because it's part of why I am down here tonight to talk about the
importance of this because, again, I think underlying everything we do
in the country is our ability to have free speech.
This isn't Russia. This isn't China. This isn't name your country
with leaders that crack down when they don't like what somebody says
out there. Look at the oppression of the free press and debate in some
of those countries. The silencing of government critics, the fairness
doctrine is just an inch toward that. You just keep moving toward that,
and you get the government deciding whether you get to keep your
broadcast license or not. I mean, this stuff is real. Leaders, frankly,
those in the majority now on the Democrat side have said we think we
ought to put this back in place. The majority whip of the Senate said
that. The staff to the Speaker indicated that. A Presidential candidate
on the Democrat side has indicated that this needs to be done. And I
just think you don't go down that path.
Now, this, again, is not a conservative or liberal fight. Free speech
should never be a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. Protecting free
speech should never be a Republican or Democrat issue. That's why
signing the petition to bring this protection to the floor should not
be a Republican or Democrat issue. We should be doing this in a
bipartisan way, and 300 Members of this House voted for it already in
effect. So I don't know what the hang-up would be. Perhaps they are not
aware the petition is available. Perhaps if Members don't happen to be
down here tonight and there is not a full House tonight but they may be
watching, maybe others are, we can encourage them to sign the petition
tomorrow.
I want to tell you too in this context that it is liberal viewpoints
and conservative that believe that we should pass H.R. 2905 and are
opposed to the fairness doctrine. In a 2003 interview on Public
Broadcasting's ``NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,'' well-known liberal talk
show host Alan Colmes said: ``Modern-day talk radio would not thrive if
there
[[Page H11836]]
were a fairness doctrine and the bureaucratic nightmare that's involved
in the kind of paperwork you need to do that. The free market should be
the arbiter of what flies on talk radio . . . that's where I want to
make it, and not because I have government help to do so.'' Alan
Colmes, not necessarily a conservative on talk radio and TV. A liberal,
and that's fine.
In 2007, on his own program, ``Hannity and Colmes,'' Mr. Colmes
wholeheartedly agreed with a guest's comment that radio hosts simply
chose not to talk about controversial issues on the air when the
fairness doctrine was in place.
As managing editor and anchor of CBS News, a man well known across
America, Dan Rather, said: ``I can recall newsroom conversations about
what the FCC implications of broadcasting a particular report would be.
Once a newsperson has to stop and consider what a government agency
will think of something he or she wants to put on the air, an
invaluable element of freedom has been lost.'' Dan Rather.
Former FCC Chairman Dennis Patrick, who served on the commission
between 1987 and 1989, his remarks on the fairness doctrine appeared in
the Wall Street Journal's opinion page this summer, and he said:
``Reimposing `fairness regulation' would be a colossal mistake. The
world without the fairness doctrine features exponentially more
discussion of public issues from contrasting perspectives. The robust
diversity of the blogosphere and the ideological rivalry among
competing cable news channels all speak to the advantage of permitting
the marketplace of ideas to make its own editorials FCC-free.''
These are reasons, colleagues, that you should go over here tomorrow
morning when the House reconvenes and sign the discharge petition. It's
a real simple thing to do. You sign twice. You initial once, sign once.
When 218 Members sign that under an open rule, we will bring to the
House floor for an up-or-down vote this bill, H.R. 2905, which would
prevent the government regulators on their own, without an act of
Congress, from reinstituting censorship of the public's airwaves. This
bill will stop that. And my friend Congressman Mike Pence from Indiana,
and I both, who have spent time in the broadcast industry, encourage
you to do this.
Again, more than 300 Members of the U.S. House voted to prohibit the
FCC from using funds to reinstate the fairness doctrine; and 113 of the
309 that stood up for freedom during a vote on the Pence amendment were
Democrats. So we know that there are 113 Members on this side of the
aisle who have already voted against reinstituting the fairness
doctrine, in fact, voted to make sure no money was spent by the agency
to reinstitute the fairness doctrine. So just one of you, 2, 3, 4, 5,
20, we will take 20 Members, sign it, and this will come to the floor.
Only one Democrat has cosponsored this bill. Every single Republican
is a cosponsor of this legislation. One Democrat has, and we appreciate
that and we welcome more Members from the Democrat side, the party that
often speaks on this floor about protecting civil rights and speech.
Help us protect free speech over the public's airwaves by both
cosponsoring H.R. 2905 and by signing the discharge petition. A
petition, that's all it is, just the petition to bring it to the floor.
Even if you don't happen to support the bill, H.R. 2905, the
Broadcaster Freedom Act, sign the discharge petition. We are bringing
this issue up under an open rule. You can offer up an alternative. You
can offer up several alternatives. That's what America should be about
is the ability to offer up alternatives on this floor among Members of
Congress who are elected by the people to get the people's work done.
Not to take away their rights, not to take away their free speech
rights, not to be the nanny that tunes their radio for them, but rather
to protect these fundamental constitutional rights that men and women
who have worn our Nation's uniform have shed blood and died to protect
and preserve so that we, this generation, would have the ability to
continue to debate issues. And as annoying as that can be to some,
depending upon your viewpoint on the issue, it should never be annoying
that we protect this right. This is a fundamental right of America and
Americans to be able to debate, discuss, without government
interference, the political issues of the day.
And by their nature, if they are interesting, they are probably
controversial. And if they are controversial, they probably do need to
be debated, and out of that debate we will have a better outcome. We
will all learn from listening to the opposing viewpoints. But we won't
hear any of it if the fairness doctrine is back in place because we saw
what happened between 1949 and 1987. There was no talk radio to speak
of, certainly not vigorous talk radio.
And I am not saying you have to agree with Alan Colmes. I'm not
saying you have to agree with Lars Larson or Rush Limbaugh or Sean
Hannity. In fact, you can pick what you want. But do you really want to
leave in place the opportunity for Federal regulators, without a vote
of this Chamber, to put back in place a flawed regulation that we know
chills free speech, that reduces speech on political issues at all? Do
you want to leave that opening there for the next administration to
have three commissioners of the five make that decision for you, three
unelected commissioners? And I respect them all, believe me, but that
is not how government should work on an issue as critical as free
speech and protecting free speech rights.
So I encourage you tonight to think about it. Think about it. Think
about those who have come before us, about those who have worn
America's uniform to protect our free speech rights, and ask yourself
how hard is it to walk right over here and sign the petition to allow
an up-or-down vote on protecting free speech rights on America's radio
and television broadcast stations?
With that, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to address
our colleagues in the United States House of Representatives. I
encourage them once again to sign the petition, bring H.R. 2905 to the
floor, the Broadcaster Freedom Act. Protect the free speech rights of
even those talk show hosts you vehemently disagree with because
silencing those hosts is the worst thing the government could do.
The material I previously referred to follows:
Federal Communications Commission, Office of the
Chairman,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Greg Walden,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congressman Walden: Thank you for your letter asking
for my thoughts on the present-day appropriateness of the
Fairness Doctrine. As you are undoubtedly aware, the Fairness
Doctrine obliged broadcasters to provide an opportunity for
the presentation of contrasting viewpoints on those
controversial issues of public importance that they covered.
See In re Complaint of Syracuse Peace Council, 2 FCC Rcd 5043
(1987).
In 1987, based on its 1985 Report on the Fairness Doctrine,
Inquiry into Section 73.1910 of the Commission's Rules and
Regulations Concerning Alternatives to the General Fairness
Doctrine Obligations of Broadcast Licensees, 102 FCC 2d 145
(1985), and an extensive subsequent administrative record,
the Commission concluded that enforcement of the Fairness
Doctrine was not in the public interest and thus decided to
abandon it.
Among other things, the Commission found that the doctrine
```chill[ed]' speech'' by ``provid[ing] broadcasters with a
powerful incentive not to air controversial programming above
[a] minimal amount'' in order to avoid burdensome litigation
over whether it had complied with its obligation to provide
contrasting viewpoints. 2 FCC Rcd at 5049 para.para. 42, 43.
Based on its examination of the record, the Commission
concluded that the Fairness Doctrine had created ``a climate
of timidity and fear, which deter[red] the coverage of
controversial issue programming.'' Id. at para. 47. Indeed,
the record compiled by the Commission at the time included
over 60 reported instances in which the Fairness Doctrine had
inhibited broadcasters' coverage of controversial issues. Id.
at para. 43.
Furthermore, the Commission determined that the doctrine
``inherently provide[d] incentives that are more favorable to
the expression of orthodox and well-established opinion with
respect to controversial issues than to less established
viewpoints.'' Id. at para. 45. Because broadcasters espousing
provocative opinions were more likely to be subject to a
Fairness Doctrine challenge, the Commission concluded that
the doctrine, in operation, inhibited the goal of ensuring
that the public had access to innovative and less popular
viewpoints. Indeed, the Commission expressed concern that the
doctrine ``provide[d] a dangerous vehicle--which has been
exercised in the past--for the intimidation of broadcasters
who criticize government policy.'' Id. at para. 54. Finally,
the Commission concluded that government regulation was not
necessary to ensure that the public had access to a wide
range of opinion
[[Page H11837]]
on controversial issues of the day in light of the
multiplicity of information sources available to the
public, such as television stations, radio stations, daily
newspapers, and cable television services. See id. at
para.para. 55-56.
In reviewing the Commission's decision to abandon the
Fairness Doctrine, the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit determined that the Commission's
findings were supported by the record, and upheld the
Commission's determination that the fairness doctrine no
longer served the public interest. See Syracuse Peace Council
v. FCC, 867 F.2d 654 (D.C. Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S.
1019 (1990).
In my judgment, the events of the last two decades have
confirmed the wisdom of the Commission's decision to abolish
the Fairness Doctrine. Discussion of controversial issues
over the airwaves has flourished absent regulatory
constraints, and the public now enjoys access to an ever-
expanding range of views and opinions. Indeed, with the
continued proliferation of additional sources of information
and programming, including satellite broadcasting and the
Internet, the need for the Fairness Doctrine has lessened
ever further since 1987. In short, I see no compelling reason
to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in today's broadcast
environment, and believe that such a step would inhibit the
robust discussion of issues of public concern over the
nation's airwaves.
I appreciate your interest in this important matter. Please
do not hesitate to contact me if I can provide further
information.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Martin,
Chairman.
____________________