    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [February 5, 1998]
    [Page 182]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Letter to the Chairman and Members of the Federal Communications
    Commission on Free and Discounted Airtime for Campaign Advertising
    February 5, 1998

    Dear __________:
        In my State of the Union Address I called upon the Federal
    Communications Commission (FCC) to act to require media outlets to
    provide candidates with free and discounted airtime for campaign
    advertising. Free and discounted time will reduce the need for more
    campaign money, and will allow candidates to spend less time fundraising
    and more time addressing the concerns of our country.
        Spending on congressional campaigns has risen six-fold in the last
    two decades, more than three times the rate of inflation, and spending
    on television is the primary reason. In 1970 expenditures on television
    advertising in congressional campaigns totaled $50 million. In 1996 that
    number had risen to $400 million. The evidence at the beginning of this
    election year is that the cost of media spending by candidates for
    public office will continue to spiral upward. We must address the reason
    for the explosion in campaign costs.
        The dawning of the digital age of broadcasting makes it imperative
    that we update broadcasters' public interest obligation. Broadcasters
    have been loaned an additional channel worth billions of dollars for
    free. The FCC must ensure that broadcasters, given the opportunity to
    benefit from their use of a valuable public resource, use this public
    resource to strengthen our democracy.
        Free and discounted television time can make our most powerfully
    effective medium a powerful force for expanding democracy in the
    information age. I call upon the Commission to develop policies, as soon
    as possible, which ensure that broadcasters provide free and discounted
    airtime for candidates to educate voters.
            Sincerely,

                                                          William J. Clinton

    Note: Letters were sent to Chairman William E. Kennard and the other
    members of the Commission. An original was not available for
    verification of the content of this letter.