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ask.heather@mail.house.gov

In Washington DC
442 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, DC
20515
202-225-6316 Phone
202-225-4975 Fax
In Albuquerque
20 First Plaza NW
Suite 603
Albuquerque, NM
87102
505-346-6781 Phone
505-346-6723 Fax

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Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico


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Some Good Work ... March 19, 2004
 
Dear Friends,

The debate on the House floor on the Broadcast Indecency Enforcement Act last week was something of an anti-climax. That`s not unusual in the House.

In the Senate, any Senator can offer an amendment on any bill and any group of 40 Senators can filibuster -- or threaten to do so -- and stop a bill. Senators can (and often do) talk as much as the want on the floor of the Senate. (In the House, it only seems like we talk forever.)

So the Senate floor can be the scene of more unexpected drama than the House.

The real work in the House -- the negotiation and amending, the debates and angling -- is done in the committees.

In the Energy and Commerce Committee, we did some good work to strengthen enforcement of the laws on TV indecency.

We increased to maximum penalties from a "cost of doing business" $27,500 to a maximum of $500,000 per violation.

We added a station`s record of indecency violations as a factor when they apply for a renewed license.

We made it possible to fine the networks and even individual personalities rather than just the local station.

We put a "shot clock" on the Federal Communications Commission of 270 days so that complaints don`t languish for years.

And we got the attention of some senior executives who better understand that their free over-the-air licenses come with some conditions that they need to abide by.

We didn`t change the definition of indecency and the law banning it on over the air radio and TV -- a standard that has passed constitutional muster many times.

But the law was not being enforced and, when enforced, the penalties were largely symbolic.

The bill passed the House by a vote of 391-22.

I expect the Senate will pass a comparable bill soon -- after they talk a little more about it -- and I hope these new rules will help to curb some of the more outrageous stuff on radio and TV.

Wish you were here,

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