[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1634-1635]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             INTRODUCTION OF GIVE-FANS-A-CHANCE LEGISLATION

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, one of the tenets of a livable 
community is control over one's own destiny. Unfortunately, sports 
franchises have held communities hostage, pitting one city against 
another as they have left fans in Brooklyn, Hartford, Baltimore, 
Houston and Cleveland for greener pastures. It does not have to be that 
way.
  Madam Speaker, that is why I am introducing Give-Fans-a-Chance 
legislation which guarantees due process for

[[Page 1635]]

relocation and makes it at least possible for any city to do what 
little Green Bay, Wisconsin, has done: basically own their own team. 
But the NFL will not let that happen any more.
  Any league which does not abide by these rules does not deserve the 
Federal antitrust broadcast exemption worth billions of dollars.
  Madam Speaker, I strongly urge giving fans a chance and making their 
communities a little more livable by providing them with the 
opportunity to control their own destiny not subject to the whim of 
some absentee billionaire.

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