Washington — U.S. Representative Barbara Cubin (R-WY) today voted to stop the Federal government from discriminating against religious content in non-commercial broadcasting. Rep. Cubin, a cosponsor of the measure, voted for, and the U.S. House passed, a bill to protect the rights and freedoms of expression of non-commercial broadcasters.
"The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was way out of line when it decided it would restrict religious broadcasting," said Cubin. "To say that religious broadcasting on television does not qualify as education is a slap in the face to the millions of Americans who view this valued content each and every day."
Bipartisan approval of the Noncommercial Broadcasting Freedom of Expression Act of 2000 (HR 4201) is in direct response to an issue that arose several months ago when the FCC approved a television license transfer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the transfer decisions, the FCC issued "guidance" for the religious broadcasters by instructing them for the first time that traditional religious programming could no longer be counted as educational.
The FCC's ruling meant that it doesn't object to educational or religious programming about the Dark Ages, the Reformation, and the religions of southeast Asia. However, a program would be deemed objectionable by the FCC if it were a round table discussion about the value of prayer in the family or a program that even mentions God's name.
"Outrage in Wyoming and the nation was so vocal that the FCC quickly reversed its original decision to censor religious expression. But that's not good enough," said Cubin. "By passing this legislation, Congress is making sure the FCC never again attempts to regulate religious speech."
H.R. 4201, which makes Congress' intent clear that the FCC cannot engage in regulating content of speech broadcast by noncommercial educational stations, was approved in a 264 to 159 vote.
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