[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13709]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        BROADCASTER FREEDOM ACT

  (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PENCE. One year ago, over 300 Democrats and Republicans stood 
together to oppose efforts to restore the so-called Fairness Doctrine 
to the airwaves of this country for a single year. It was an 
encouraging vote. But, following that vote, I introduced the 
Broadcaster Freedom Act, which would permanently ban the Fairness 
Doctrine from ever coming back, and so far, not one single House 
Democrat has signed our position for an up-or-down vote on broadcast 
freedom. Now we know why.
  Asked yesterday if she supported reviving the Fairness Doctrine, 
Speaker  Nancy Pelosi replied, ``Yes.'' At a meeting at the Christian 
Science Monitor, she said that the Broadcaster Freedom Act would not 
receive a vote because ``the interest of my caucus is the reverse.''
  I say to Speaker Pelosi, with respect, defending freedom is the 
paramount interest of every Member of the American Congress.
  I urge my Democrat colleagues to take a stand for freedom. Oppose the 
Democrat leadership's plan to censure the airwaves of American talk 
radio and American Christian radio. Sign the discharge petition for 
broadcast freedom, and help us send the Fairness Doctrine to the ash 
heap of broadcast history where it belongs.

                          ____________________