[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 25, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H1150-H1154]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL BROADCASTERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Abraham). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 6, 2015, the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extends their remarks 
and include extraneous materials on the topic of today's Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from North Dakota?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate so much this opportunity that 
we have this evening to inform and to educate my colleagues in the 
House, fellow Members of Congress, and even the American people through 
C-SPAN, about the importance of local radio and television 
broadcasters. They are important not only to our country, but I want to 
talk about how important they are to our communities--the communities 
we live in, the communities they live in, the communities they work in.
  For decades, these broadcasters have been the first ones to respond 
to disasters and emergencies. They have saved numerous lives by their 
ability to be on the scene and to broadcast widely. They have helped 
communities pick up the pieces after a natural disaster or a manmade 
disaster. The broadcasters of our country, of our communities, have 
played a vital role in the quality of life in our communities.
  I have been blessed throughout my career not just in public service 
but in other positions to work with local broadcasters hosting 
telethons to help find cures for diseases like muscular dystrophy, 
cancer, and many other diseases that our communities have tackled 
together.
  Now, we need to remember that these radio and television stations are 
not monolithic corporations. They are owned and run and managed by our 
friends and neighbors, the people that we see every day.
  Today is a big day. It is an appropriate day to celebrate--not just 
inform and educate but celebrate--the role of America's broadcasters in 
our communities. Because today, hundreds of Members of Congress were 
able to meet with their local television and radio station 
personalities and managers and representatives. Today, nearly 600 
broadcasters came to Capitol Hill to tell their story of public service 
and to remind their Representatives of their role.
  You may not know that these broadcasters are required by statute to 
serve the public interest. When I hear about the stories they cover, 
when I see the types of stories they cover, the lives they have 
touched, the service that they are providing, I am heartened to know 
that we have a vibrant, thriving system of local broadcasting in this 
country.
  Unlike many other countries around the world, where national and 
regional news is what is available to their citizens, here in the 
United States, here in places like North Dakota and Texas and Arkansas 
and others, we have a system of local radio and TV stations so folks 
living in the same community are bound together by weather events, 
sporting events, news of the day, and human interest, all provided by 
an accurate local source.
  I know in North Dakota we have seen weather emergencies where 
information from our local broadcasters was all that was available for 
those suffering the impacts of a storm. Several years ago, I myself, 
with my family, in 1984, spent all night--this was before cell phones, 
I know--spent all night in a car in a blizzard that came upon North 
Dakota suddenly. We were just off the interstate. The only 
communication we had was through KFGO Radio, which won a Peabody that 
year for broadcasting to us and to several others that were stranded in 
that storm.
  So, today, we are going to hear a number of stories from Members of 
Congress across the country also touched by their local TV and radio 
stations. I thank them for sharing stories about their local stations. 
I will share some of mine as we go throughout this Special Order, but I 
want to call on somebody who knows a fair bit about broadcasting, the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Crawford).
  Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Cramer, I appreciate the opportunity. It is an 
honor to be able to stand up and advocate on behalf of our 
broadcasters, who are not only my constituents and your constituents, 
but my colleagues, because I am, as you mentioned, a former 
broadcaster, and I know firsthand the importance of broadcasting, as 
you indicated, to local and national communities.

[[Page H1151]]

  You talked about a weather occurrence. Last week, my district and 
most of Arkansas was blanketed with ice.

                              {time}  1715

  I can tell you with certainty that a good number of my constituents 
were tuned in to their local radio station, their local television 
station, to hear about school closures and to hear about road 
conditions and to hear about other community closures and shelters that 
might be available and any number of things that are necessary in times 
of weather that could put them in a position of distress, so it is 
very, very important.
  I have got some statistics here that really speak to the value 
proposition that they bring to our economy. In my district alone, there 
are 20 local television stations and 233 local radio stations in the 
State of Arkansas. That is statewide, not districtwide.
  These broadcasters contribute $9.83 billion to our State's GDP, and 
they have provided roughly 22,000 jobs in the State of Arkansas.
  Beyond Arkansas, in the entire country, local broadcasters account 
for 2.65 million jobs, and they provide--get this--$1.24 trillion to 
our GDP.
  As we talked about, they provide a variety of services to communities 
that they support. One of the things that I didn't mention, as a 
broadcaster, I was a farm broadcaster, so you can appreciate this, 
being from North Dakota.
  Most farmers rely on those market reports, weather reports, bug 
reports, disease reports, any number of things, information that is 
relevant to production agriculture that they rely on, so that was one 
of the things that helped launch my career. I was able to start a farm 
news network, operated it, started with four stations, and it is now up 
to 53 in a five-state area.
  All of that is very specific to the local community and what is grown 
and raised in those communities, and so farmers have come to rely on 
that, and I am sure it is the same in your home State of North Dakota.
  But I think the point that we are trying to make here is that every 
community is unique. Every community has their own needs, and no one 
knows those needs better than the broadcasters who serve those 
communities.
  I just want to say, as a Congress, I think it is our duty to support 
broadcasters who do so much for the region and their communities, and I 
appreciate you taking the time to make this hour happen.
  Mr. CRAMER. If the gentleman wouldn't mind, I would like to ask a 
question. I know we didn't rehearse this, but in this era of all kinds 
of new information technologies available and ways of getting 
information, streaming and cell phones and smartphones and the like, 
maybe you could just share a minute or two about why it is still 
important, what role the broadcaster, the free, over-the-air broadcast 
through the public spectrum, why that matters in this era of new IT.
  Mr. CRAWFORD. Well, you touched on it right there. It is free, over 
the air, they can access it. They don't have to have any special tool 
other than a radio.
  Everybody's got a radio in their car or in their tractor, in their 
truck, in the office, whatever; and when everything else fails, you 
can't get a cell signal, you can't get your Internet, whatever, the 
radio is reliable.
  From the farmers' perspectives, which obviously I have an interest 
in, they rely heavily on that, and there is an element of trust. Their 
local broadcaster is usually a trusted source of information, so that 
is why it is so important and why they rely so heavily on their local 
broadcaster, whether that be their 6 p.m. news.
  I have been a news anchor on our local television station, and folks 
do become accustomed to hearing from you, and they trust that.
  Here is the other thing that is interesting about broadcasters: they 
are integrating new media in conjunction with their broadcasting, so it 
sort of supplements what their core mission is, to provide that service 
to the community over the airwaves.
  The great thing about broadcasters is they are very innovative. They 
are not a static business model. They are developing new technology, 
they are integrating new technology, and it all works together, with 
the core mission being to serve their communities.
  You see fundraising efforts for the Make-A-Wish Foundation on the 
local radio station. That is important. Radio stations and television 
stations are innovative in community support activities.
  AMBER Alerts, not only are they broadcasting those AMBER Alerts, but 
they are using texts and social media to supplement that and really 
help enhance their broadcasting efforts, too.
  There is a lot of these things that you can't get along without, I 
think, without our public broadcasters, our local community 
broadcasters--television and radio--who operate on the airwaves.
  Mr. CRAMER. Great points. Thank you so much for participating.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe).
  Mr. POE of Texas. I thank the gentleman for having this Special 
Order.
  Mr. Speaker, let me bring an additional perspective to the importance 
of local broadcasters, TV, radio. I live down on the gulf coast. We 
call where I live in my district ``hurricane alley.''
  Just since I have been in Congress, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane 
Rita, Hurricane Humberto, Hurricane Ike, and Hurricane Gustav have all 
hit my congressional district. Now, some blame me. It is not my fault, 
but here they come, all of these hurricanes.
  We are down on the gulf coast, and as soon as the hurricanes come 
through, guess what, there goes the power--electricity. Besides all of 
the flooding, the damage, the wind, all of this happens when hurricane 
season comes upon us in the summer.
  The local folks, to get information, if they are still at home, they 
are watching local TV. Many are not because they have to leave because 
of rising water and wind damage.
  When Hurricane Ike came into Galveston, Texas, it went across the 
island, and then when the wind shifted, it came back across the island, 
but that saltwater went across and came back. Tremendous damage in 
Galveston, Texas.
  The only thing the people could listen to or find information, 
really, was their car radio as they are trying to leave the area. The 
radio stations and TV stations that are still on the air are very vital 
for public safety and information and about the weather. People listen 
to the local broadcasters about what is happening right there.
  When Hurricane Rita came into Houston in 2005, approximately 2.5 
million to 3 million people evacuated. Now, some say that this is the 
largest evacuation in American history. I don't know. That is a lot of 
people on the road, and they are all headed north to get away from the 
wind and the rain and the flooding that is taking place.
  What people were listening to in the car was local radio stations 
that were on the air broadcasting, not just the weather, but the 
traffic that was taking place. Eventually, the freeways, the 
interstates all allowed traffic to move on all lanes north.
  The way the folks found out about that was on the radio, the 
announcements being made by the Texas Department of Public Safety, 
Texas highway department, that the lanes had been shifted so that 
everybody could travel in all of the lanes that took place, so that 
information was so vital.

  It is not just important during hurricane season. As already stated 
by the gentleman from Arkansas, it is important during even normal 
weather, if we can call what is taking place here in Washington normal 
weather, but the snow and the ice. People want to listen to local radio 
to find out--and local television.
  Also, even go back to Katrina. We all remember Hurricane Katrina. 
Folks in Louisiana left Louisiana, and they came to Texas, and as they 
were getting to Texas, guess what, Hurricane Rita hit Texas.
  Houstonians, primarily, when those folks from Louisiana were coming 
our way, were told by local media on where they could go to take things 
for those neighbors from Louisiana, everything from food and blankets, 
and go volunteer to help out to find shelter for these individuals.
  Local radio, local television is broadcasting how that can be done, 
how that can be help to those individuals. That couldn't have been done 
if we didn't have our local broadcasters who know the area, know the 
people.

[[Page H1152]]

  We have AMBER Alerts. That is throughout the country. 206 Texas 
children that were abducted had been rescued because of the AMBER Alert 
system that was created in 1998 by the Dallas-Ft. Worth broadcasters.
  The other issue that I want to mention is our--well, there are two 
more, and they are just as important. Local radio and television has 
local political issues and debates on our community, from the local 
politicians, the local officeholders, and even others. That is all done 
locally by our broadcasters on television; it is done on radio all the 
time. There is political argument and debate by our local media.
  Something that is important to us--I don't know about the Dakotas, 
but it is important to us. We like football in Texas. We like high 
school football. Let's be a little specific. On Friday night, everybody 
is playing football at the high schools, at the stadiums.
  Our local broadcasters, yes, they are out there at the stadiums, and 
at 10 p.m. news, they have a little bit of news, and then they have a 
little bit of weather, and then they spend most of the rest of the news 
broadcasting tapes from the high school football games in the Houston 
area.
  They are very important, Mr. Speaker, to know exactly who won the 
game, who the visiting team was, high school football. We are not going 
to see that unless we have local broadcasting. Of course, high school 
football is on the radio as well. I do want to mention that important 
service that local broadcasters give us.
  We have a lot of great broadcasters in the Houston area, both on 
radio and on television. I would like to mention some of them. Channel 
13 has Dave Ward. I think he has been on television, nightly news--I 
don't know, I would hate to say 30 years, but maybe it has been that 
long or more--along with Gina Gaston.
  On channel 26, we have got Jose Grinan; channel 2, Bill Balleza and 
Dominique Sachse; then channel 11, Greg Hurst and Lisa Hernandez.
  Years ago, there was this local television celebrity that worked for 
channel 13. He turned out to be a celebrity named Marvin Zindler. He is 
an icon in the Houston area.
  He is a local broadcaster, and he spent time going around in the 
Houston restaurants examining restaurants and, as he said, looking for 
slime in the ice machine. He did a nightly broadcast on restaurants 
that just weren't up to the health standards of the city of Houston.
  Other investigative reporters are doing something very similar on the 
local basis as well, but it is all local. It is the local broadcasters 
that are doing it.
  I commend the gentleman, Mr. Cramer. I am sorry I talked so long. The 
local folks, we certainly couldn't exist without them. Radio, 
television, we appreciate what they do, not just for football, but for 
the other things as well.
  Mr. CRAMER. I thank the gentleman from Texas, and I especially thank 
him for raising the football illustration, just because it is an 
opportunity--while he wondered if it was important in North Dakota, 
North Dakotans have become very accustomed to coming to Texas for 
football games because, for the last 4 years, the North Dakota State 
University football team has won the national FCS championship game in 
Frisco, Texas.
  Thank you for reminding us of that, and we look forward to a trip 
next year, perhaps.
  That said, I appreciate what you raised about how many broadcast 
stations really--they are tools of the First Amendment, and they are 
also, obviously, an important part of the First Amendment because that 
is where they derive their rights to express and to broadcast.
  Where would politicians be without broadcasting debates? So I 
appreciate that as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. 
Cicilline), just to let everybody know this is obviously a very 
important bipartisan Special Order because it a very important 
bipartisan issue.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman for the time and for organizing 
this Special Order.
  To be sure that folks do not think that local broadcasters are only 
important in the Midwest, I am here representing New England. We have 
many, many examples where our local broadcasters have really made a 
difference in Rhode Island.

                              {time}  1730

  I think sometimes the best way to illustrate that is to give real 
examples of where that happened.
  So, for example, there was a documentary made about a homeless man 
finding help at Crossroads, which is the largest homeless services 
organization in the State of Rhode Island. WPRI-TV, a local broadcaster 
in the city of Providence, secured the rights to this documentary and 
took the opportunity to create a telethon around its airing. Viewers 
were asked to open their hearts and their pocketbooks and pledge by 
phone or online, and that effort raised $85,000 for the shelter, 
providing greatly needed funding as the housing crisis and economy 
created an ever-growing demand for the shelter services. So that is one 
example.
  Another example is, while residents of our capital city, the city of 
Providence, waited for their electricity to be restored in their homes 
after Hurricane Irene cut off power to many in our State, WJAR-TV 
Providence simulcast the audio portion of its newscast on Clear 
Channel's WHJJ-AM Providence. This arrangement allowed locals to 
receive the TV station's around-the-clock coverage on battery-operated 
radios, which was obviously a very important service.
  In our State, we have a wonderful facility, a school called Meeting 
Street, which is an organization that provides individual learning 
programs for thousands of children with developmental disabilities. And 
Meeting Street is really allowed to tell the story of its wonderful 
school to the community each year during its annual telethon on WPRI-
TV. This 4-hour, commercial-free telethon preempts prime-time 
programming, and all production for the event is done in-house by the 
station. Last year, the telethon generated $500,000 from phone 
donations and long-term corporate commitments tied to the event, and it 
has raised billions of dollars over the years.
  The local newspaper and WNRI-AM in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, carry on 
the Milk Fund, which is a local tradition that started in 1936 as a way 
to help struggling families. Each year through the month of December, 
multiple fundraising efforts in Woonsocket raise money toward the 
purchase of milk vouchers.
  Another example: this past fall, listeners tuned in to WKKB-FM in 
Providence for its 2-day Promesa y Esperanza--Promise and Hope--
Radiothon, which raises funds for St. Jude Children's Hospital. The 
broadcast is carried out in partnership with 15 sister stations 
throughout the country to raise awareness of childhood cancer within 
the Hispanic community and to help St. Jude continue to offer treatment 
to all children, regardless of their family's ability to pay. This 
year's effort raised more than $100,000 in WKKB's listening area alone, 
and more than $630,000 between the 16 stations combined.
  And just one final example: LIN Media, which owns WPRI-TV in East 
Providence, established the Minority Scholarship and Training Program. 
Each recipient will receive a 2-year scholarship for up to $10,000 per 
year, which can be used for school expenses. In addition, LIN Media 
will provide each student with hands-on training through a paid 
internship program at one of its television stations around the 
country. Minority Scholarship recipients are assigned full-time 
positions at LIN Media upon graduation and successful completion of the 
training program.
  So these are just some examples, and I know there are examples like 
this all across the country where local broadcasters are really making 
a difference, not only helping raise needed resources for nonprofit 
organizations, getting information to listeners and viewers during 
emergencies, but really helping to strengthen our communities. And I, 
for one, want to acknowledge the local broadcasters and to say thank 
you. I hope these examples help illustrate the value of our local 
broadcasters.
  I really thank the gentleman for organizing this Special Order hour 
and for yielding.
  Mr. CRAMER. I appreciate the gentleman's recognition of that and the 
very thorough list of examples of the incredible public service that 
our

[[Page H1153]]

broadcasters do in the Northeast. Thank you very much for that.
  It occurs to me, Mr. Speaker, as I listen to my colleagues talk about 
the importance of local broadcasters that they really have multiple 
public service roles.
  Certainly it is a public service to be able to give the news, to 
deliver the sporting games, to deliver the weather, to deliver 
emergency information for public safety, to let people know what is 
going on in the community. That is an important service. But the 
gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline) brings up, of course, many 
other charitable things.
  I have participated in many charitable events that were good, that 
raised decent money for important causes. But when a broadcaster gets 
involved, it adds value; it raises awareness; it sometimes brings 
celebrity to it. And you can see a charity lifted up by virtue of the 
fact that a local TV station or a local radio station or, in some 
cases, multiple stations took on the cause--not because there is 
anything in it for the broadcast station, not because there is anything 
in it for the managers. Sure, sometimes there are programs that have a 
sales component to it that you can go out and sell, but by and large, 
these are pure acts of public service, pure acts of charity that with 
just a little bit of airtime, just a little bit of local personality 
that is attached to a cause can validate the cause, elevate the cause, 
bring awareness to the cause, and create momentum for a cause that 
generates all kinds of other private sector involvement, whether it is 
volunteers or money--in most cases, both. We can solve a lot of 
problems when we get a broadcaster involved.
  I have had the opportunity to be part of a very special program that 
I know a lot of my colleagues have been a part of, whether out here or 
back at home, and that is Honor Flights. It was a local broadcaster in 
Fargo, North Dakota, that saw a national story about the Honor Flight 
program that flies World War II veterans to see the memorial built in 
their honor.
  So WDAY radio and television took it on in Fargo and created the Red 
River Valley Honor Flight and flew four flights of veterans. During 
that time, they broadcast leading up to it to bring awareness so that 
the veterans, themselves, could sign up. Then they broadcast the trips 
themselves to bring awareness and to honor these men and women, these 
heroes of the Greatest Generation and then, of course, brought the 
celebration home in a way that you couldn't do without that 
involvement.
  That resulted in another Honor Flight chapter being raised up in 
Bismarck, where I live, and I became the chairman of the Roughrider 
Honor Flight. We had five flights out of Bismarck.
  The KX television network in North Dakota became our broadcast 
partner. Not only did they help by raising awareness, which helped me 
raise money, which helped us get more veterans signing up, but it got 
the whole community involved. At the end of it all, they provided a 
video documentary of the experience so that every veteran and their 
families who participated had that wonderful memory in a DVD that they 
could watch for the rest of their lives.
  Just this last weekend, I was on a radio show in Fargo called 
``Heroes of the Heartland.'' It is on for an hour every Saturday, where 
a local veteran hosts the show, and it is all about veterans. I hope 
the show wins an award for what it does for veterans.

  While I was on the show answering questions about legislation dealing 
with veterans' issues, people would call in and say: Did you know that 
the VA in Fargo is holding a public information meeting in a 
neighboring city on Saturday at whatever time, where veterans can come 
and air their grievances or give their appreciation or learn about the 
VA? And I thought: Wow, how cool is this, that because somebody knew of 
something, not only was the radio station there able to spread the 
information, but the listener became the newsmaker. They became the 
broadcaster.
  That is the other neat thing about local radio, especially: it 
provides an opportunity where everybody is a broadcaster. If you see an 
accident or you find bad weather or you see something happen that you 
want to alert the public about, you have that opportunity now with new 
media, meaning broadcast media. So it was an honor to be on ``Heroes of 
the Heartland.''
  I have the great privilege of representing the entire State of North 
Dakota. That is a big congressional district. Now, it is not as big as 
Montana or Wyoming or Alaska, but it is pretty big. I try to have a lot 
of town halls, like many of us do. We have a lot of town halls. But I 
have the opportunity, working with broadcast partners now, where every 
week I have a 1-hour talk radio town hall on multiple stations. KFYR-AM 
550 in Bismarck was sort of the flagship station. KPLC out in Dickinson 
carries it. AM 1100 The Flag is really where it was birthed, in Fargo. 
KTGO up in the Bakken, the heart of the Bakken, in Tioga, carries the 
talk radio town hall.
  People have the opportunity to either call me live on the air and ask 
a question or call on an 800 number and leave a message for me if they 
can't call during the show itself. It is broadcast statewide, and then 
it is broadcast again in the evening on delay. It provides a great 
opportunity for me to be in touch with my constituents and for them to 
talk to me and for me to be able to talk to them.
  As you can tell, Mr. Speaker, I am a big advocate for free over-the-
air broadcast media, whether it is radio or television--or certainly 
both. And I think that even in the new media era, and I appreciated the 
gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Crawford's thoughts on this, that we have 
this opportunity still, but that there is still an important role for 
free broadcast radio and television, that even with all the new media, 
that it only, in fact, enhances the importance of free over-the-air 
broadcasts.
  With that, I yield to another Member from Texas.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Thank you very much. It is an honor and a privilege 
to be here to speak about the value our local broadcasters bring to our 
communities.
  I am a long-time radio guy. At 15 years old, I started hanging around 
the radio station and ended up getting a job there through high school 
and college and have worked on and off in radio ever since.
  I can tell you, our local broadcasters are such a value to our 
community. We have got a market now with all sorts of new technology 
for people to get music and entertainment--there is satellite radio; 
there is the Internet; there is Pandora--but nothing compares to what 
the local broadcasters can bring. Actually, all this competition, I 
think, is bringing a resurgence to local broadcasters. You are going 
away from lots of syndicated programs to more locally created programs 
that are more in tune to the needs of the community than something 
coming out from a central location piped over a satellite.
  You have got great opportunities. Local businesses now have more 
opportunities to advertise, targeting local audiences. You have got 
news departments that are beginning a resurgence in local radio and 
television stations as people realize they need local news in addition 
to the national news. And in times of an emergency, nobody comes to the 
aid of a community like the broadcast facilities. Typically, they will 
suspend programming in the event of a hurricane or some other disaster. 
It is your first source for information, where you can go to get fresh 
water, other disaster and emergency aid. It really brings out the best.
  Local broadcasters are committed to their community. Much like people 
who run for elected office, in order to get people to know you, to like 
you, to listen to you, and to watch you on a TV station, they have got 
to be out in the community, too. They have got to be at the local 
events, the chamber of commerce events. They have got to sponsor the 
charitable events. Broadcasters I know spend and donate millions of 
dollars in airtime just to support local charities and community 
activities. It is the backbone of America.
  We have got to be careful up here in Washington. We have got lots of 
stuff on our agenda here that could potentially adversely affect 
broadcasters. We have got to strike the right balance.
  We have got copyright reform on the agenda. We have got to find the 
right balance, where content creators are

[[Page H1154]]

properly compensated for their creative works but broadcasters aren't 
penalized such that they have got to shut down news departments or lay 
off employees in order to meet those demands. We have got to make sure 
that we have got licensing and the Communications Act reformed.
  Our Communications Act is very old. We have got to take a look at it 
and bring it into the 21st century. But we have got to be careful that 
we don't cripple our local broadcasters, many of whom live in the 
communities and are valuable parts of the community and are basically, 
in some cases, the heartbeat of the community.
  I do want to reiterate that I think we are at a time where we really 
can see a resurgence in local broadcasting, local content, the return 
of more full service. It is not just wall-to-wall hits on the radio 
now.
  In order to garner a market competing with XM, our local folks have 
to be out in the community. They have to be out with live remotes. They 
have got to be at community events. They have got to be bringing local 
news and local content and stuff that is relevant to people's lives. 
They have done it for decades, and it is really great to see that 
resurgence and to be a part of it. It is a great time for broadcasters 
in America right now.
  Mr. CRAMER. If the gentleman from Texas would yield, you raised an 
important point that I hadn't thought about that is sort of natural and 
obvious, and that is, if you are going to be a good local broadcaster, 
obviously you have to be a good local citizen.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Absolutely. You have got to be out at the events. You 
have got to say ``yes'' to the folks that come in and say: Could you 
give us a public service announcement for our cancer walk? Could you 
give us a public service announcement for our whatever event?
  The community bulletin boards that you used to hear on the radio all 
the time are coming back, and that is something XM or satellite 
providers just can't do.

                              {time}  1745

  Sure, they are getting the technology to localize some of the ads by 
downloading them into your devices. But it is not like the local 
broadcaster who is a part of the community.
  Mr. CRAMER. You raise very important points.
  Again, I appreciate the reminder that, while we are, today, 
educating, informing, and celebrating local broadcasting, it is at 
risk; that we can take our eye off the ball, that we can assume or 
presume some things and wake up one day and find out that when that 
accident happens on the railroad tracks or the storm is coming that 
suddenly there is nobody there to tell us about it.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. You need somebody that has a local news presence. You 
don't need somebody that has to bring a satellite truck in from a few 
hundred miles away and can't get there immediately. Sure, The Weather 
Channel will send Jim Cantore down. I think they want to kill him 
because they send him to all the dangerous locations. But he doesn't 
know the community like the local weathercaster.
  We have got Dale Nelson in Corpus Christi. He has been doing the 
weather on our NBC affiliate. We jokingly call him ``Dead Wrong Dale.'' 
What other profession can you be in besides being a TV meteorologist 
and get it wrong half the time and still keep a job? But Dale knows the 
community, and he gets it right a whole lot more than he gets it wrong. 
We just like to rib him. But he knows the places that are going to 
flood. He knows the areas in the neighborhoods that are most 
susceptible to damage. Those out-of-town reporters don't.
  The members of the media in local broadcasting are citizens of the 
community, and what they do improves the lives of everybody in the 
community. They know the people. They shop at the grocery store with 
the folks. Their children are in school in the community. They know 
what is going on, and they can reflect what is going on and can react 
to what is going on in the community and really be a valuable asset for 
good.
  Mr. CRAMER. Well, you are a very articulate spokesman and advocate on 
behalf of local broadcasting, and I appreciate your taking the time and 
your expertise. By the way, you did pose it in the form of a question. 
I suppose some people can look at Congress and say: There is a group 
that can be wrong more than half the time and keep their jobs too. But 
at any rate, I have noticed that if you stay in good contact through 
your broadcast community with your constituents that helps as well.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. I appreciate your yielding the time and organizing 
this wonderful Special Order.
  Mr. CRAMER. Well, it is very important because as I said, Mr. 
Speaker, at the beginning, over 600 broadcasters are in town today 
calling on the Members of Congress, calling on us, reminding us of the 
important role that they play in public safety, in public information, 
in public service, in many ways, in many ways, not just in delivering 
the news, weather, and sports and being active in our communities and 
elevating those important causes that make for a quality community, 
contributing their talent, contributing their, of course, their 
broadcast spectrum, which is really the people's. I think that is 
really an important point that we sometimes forget--that there is a 
reason that broadcasters have this legal obligation to public service 
because the people own the airwaves, and we rent them, if you will.
  It is important that broadcasters and Congress stay in close touch 
because, as the gentleman from Texas pointed out, this is a fragile 
relationship, and we can sometimes take them for granted while 
presuming that there will always be other ways to communicate when we 
know, in fact, that when the lights go out, when the electricity goes 
off, when a storm hits, whatever the case may be, as long as you have a 
car radio and a good battery, or you have a battery-operated radio and 
the broadcasters are on the air, you can always get that information 
from your local, reliable, familiar, friendly broadcasters.
  So with that, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time and I appreciate my 
colleagues from both sides of the aisle from across our country who 
have taken the time today to help inform, educate, and celebrate the 
American broadcaster.

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