[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S81]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         PREVENTING ILLEGAL RADIO ABUSE THROUGH ENFORCEMENT ACT

  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 374, S. 1228.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1228) to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to 
     provide for enhanced penalties for pirate radio, and for 
     other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mrs. FISCHER. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered 
read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered 
made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 1228) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed as follows:

                                S. 1228

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Illegal Radio 
     Abuse Through Enforcement Act'' or the ``PIRATE Act''.

     SEC. 2. PIRATE RADIO ENFORCEMENT ENHANCEMENTS.

       Title V of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 501 et 
     seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     section:

     ``SEC. 511. ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR PIRATE RADIO BROADCASTING; 
                   ENFORCEMENT SWEEPS; REPORTING.

       ``(a) Increased General Penalty.--Any person who willfully 
     and knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any pirate 
     radio broadcasting shall be subject to a fine of not more 
     than $2,000,000.
       ``(b) Violation of This Act, Rules, or Regulations.--Any 
     person who willfully and knowingly violates this Act or any 
     rule, regulation, restriction, or condition made or imposed 
     by the Commission under authority of this Act, or any rule, 
     regulation, restriction, or condition made or imposed by any 
     international radio or wire communications treaty or 
     convention, or regulations annexed thereto, to which the 
     United States is party, relating to pirate radio broadcasting 
     shall, in addition to any other penalties provided by law, be 
     subject to a fine of not more than $100,000 for each day 
     during which such offense occurs, in accordance with the 
     limit described in subsection (a).
       ``(c) Annual Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
     of enactment of the PIRATE Act, and annually thereafter, the 
     Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 
     Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
     Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 
     summarizing the implementation of this section and associated 
     enforcement activities for the previous fiscal year, which 
     may include the efforts by the Commission to enlist the 
     cooperation of Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
     personnel (including United States attorneys and the United 
     States Marshals Service) for service of process, collection 
     of fines or forfeitures, seizures of equipment, and 
     enforcement of orders.
       ``(d) Enforcement Sweeps.--
       ``(1) Annual sweeps.--Not less than once each year, the 
     Commission shall assign appropriate enforcement personnel to 
     focus specific and sustained attention on the elimination of 
     pirate radio broadcasting within the top 5 radio markets 
     identified as prevalent for such broadcasts. Such effort 
     shall include identifying, locating, and taking enforcement 
     actions designed to terminate such operations.
       ``(2) Additional monitoring.--Within 6 months after 
     conducting the enforcement sweeps required by paragraph (1), 
     the Commission shall conduct monitoring sweeps to ascertain 
     whether the pirate radio broadcasting identified by 
     enforcement sweeps is continuing to broadcast and whether 
     additional pirate radio broadcasting is occurring.
       ``(3) No effect on remaining enforcement.--Notwithstanding 
     paragraph (1), the Commission shall not decrease or diminish 
     the regular enforcement efforts targeted to pirate radio 
     broadcast stations for other times of the year.
       ``(e) State and Local Government Authority.--The Commission 
     may not preempt any State or local law prohibiting pirate 
     radio broadcasting.
       ``(f) Revision of Commission Rules Required.--The 
     Commission shall revise its rules to require that, absent 
     good cause, in any case alleging a violation of subsection 
     (a) or (b), the Commission shall proceed directly to issue a 
     notice of apparent liability without first issuing a notice 
     of unlicensed operation.
       ``(g) Pirate Radio Broadcasting Database.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this section, and semi-annually thereafter, 
     the Commission shall publish a database in a clear and 
     legible format of all licensed radio stations operating in 
     the AM and FM bands. The database shall be easily accessible 
     from the Commission home page through a direct link. The 
     database shall include the following information:
       ``(A) Each licensed station, listed by the assigned 
     frequency, channel number, or Commission call letters.
       ``(B) All entities that have received a notice of 
     unlicensed operation, notice of apparent liability, or 
     forfeiture order issued by the Commission.
       ``(2) Clear identification.--The Commission shall clearly 
     identify in the database--
       ``(A) each licensed station as a station licensed by the 
     Commission; and
       ``(B) each entity described in paragraph (1)(B) as 
     operating without a Commission license or authorization.
       ``(h) Definition of Pirate Radio Broadcasting.--In this 
     section, the term `pirate radio broadcasting' means the 
     transmission of communications on spectrum frequencies 
     between 535 and 1705 kilohertz, inclusive, or 87.7 and 108 
     megahertz, inclusive, without a license issued by the 
     Commission, but does not include unlicensed operations in 
     compliance with part 15 of title 47, Code of Federal 
     Regulations.''.

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