CONGRESSMAN RONNIE SHOWS BACKS RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING FREEDOM ACT

(WASHINGTON) In the House of Representatives today, U.S. Rep. Ronnie Shows joined 50 members in introducing the Religious Broadcasting Freedom Act. The bill would reverse an action taken by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in December that limits religious speech in broadcasting.

"The FCC seems to want less religion on television and more of what it considers to be educational," Shows said. "I don't think Americans want the FCC deciding what's good for them. It's not their job."

The legislation would nullify the "guidance" on this issue contained in FCC Order #99-393, made public December 29, 1999. Additionally, it would require the FCC to use its normal rulemaking procedures, which include taking public comment, if it chooses to regulate this area in the future.

The issue arose when the FCC approved a television license swap in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 15 and made its order public on December 29, 1999. In the order, the FCC instructed for the first time that traditional religious programming could no longer be counted as educational.

Non-commercial television licenses are intended to serve the educational and cultural needs of smaller audiences and under-represented populations. General education programming had previously been defined as having its primary purpose be to meet "educational, instructional or cultural needs of the community."

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