[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 21417-21418]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             THE NATIONAL MINORITY MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 5, 2003

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be joined by my colleague, 
John Conyers, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, to 
introduce The National Minority Media Opportunities Act. And I want to 
thank Senator Kennedy for his leadership on this issue and for 
introducing the companion bill in the Senate.
  This bill would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 
to hold public hearings, with notice and opportunity to comment, before 
approving the transfer of a license for a station serving a minority-
language audience. It also requires the FCC to report to Congress on 
issues involving the concentration of ownership and control of 
minority-language broadcast media and the effects of excessive 
concentration on competition and diversity in these minority-language 
markets.
  The need for this bill has become crystal clear as Chairman Powell 
continues to try to ram through a huge Spanish-language media merger 
between Univision and HBC, with no opportunity for public input, with 
no public deliberation, and with no regard for the impact this mega-
merger will have on Hispanic consumers or the Spanish-language media 
market.
  The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the FCC's new Media 
Ownership rules, which Chairman Powell has espoused as providing more 
protection for minority consumers. So why is it that he is now ramming 
through a decision on the Univision/HBC merger under the old rules, 
with no public hearings, and without even a public vote? The only 
obvious explanation seems to lie in an analysis of political 
contributions filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). 
Otherwise, there is simply no reason to rush this controversial merger 
through without adequate public review and without a public vote by the 
FCC.
  The Congress has spoken on the Media Ownership rules, voting to 
repeal portions of the rule. And now the Congress has spoken on the 
process by which this ill-advised merger is being considered.
  Chairman Powell and the Republican Commissioners owe us some 
explanations. They

[[Page 21418]]

owe Congress an explanation of why they have disregarded our requests 
for openness and public accountability in their decision-making 
process. They owe the Hispanic community an explanation of why they 
insist on approving a mega-merger that could have serious consequences 
for the diversity of information they receive. And they owe the general 
public an explanation of why they have made the decisions they have 
made, without any opportunity for meaningful public input and without 
even a public vote on the issue.
  Chairman Powell, you owe it to the Hispanic community to protect our 
interests. If you're not going to do that, then--at the very least--you 
owe us an explanation of why you've deserted us.

                          ____________________