[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13475-13476]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            ACTION BY FCC ENDANGERS AMERICA'S BASIC FREEDOMS

  (Mr. SCOTT of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to state how 
disappointed and, quite frankly, disturbed I am with the actions of the 
FCC on yesterday. That was a very dangerous vote to the future of this 
country. This country was founded on many, many freedoms, but none more 
basic than the

[[Page 13476]]

freedom of the press, freedom of information, and the diversity of that 
information.
  That action on yesterday by the FCC certainly puts us at a very clear 
and present danger of losing that freedom of the press in many 
respects. It will certainly short-circuit small business people, 
entrepreneurs, and others from having an opportunity to own media. It 
will certainly lessen the diversity of thought, shaping the opinions, 
and will certainly almost completely devastate community values and 
community controls.
  I daresay that certainly what is happening on the national stage and 
international stage is important, but is it not important knowing what 
happened to a parent's Little League son and how he performed, or what 
is happening in the board of education?
  I urge Members to join with me in sponsoring a bill that will 
overturn this FCC ruling, the Byrd-Dingell bill.

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