U.S. Senate Officially Disapproves
Multiple Station Ownership FCC Rules
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) has joined a bipartisan group of his Senate colleagues in approving a resolution overturning the new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules on broadcast media ownership. Feingold was an original cosponsor  of the disapproval resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) with Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Trent Lott (R-MS). The Senate action took place September 16, 2003.
"I am happy that the Senate has voted to overturn the rules that the FCC put in place in June," Feingold said. "I hope that the FCC will now understand how serious we are in Congress about this issue. They didn't just make an honest mistake. They didn't just misinterpret a complicated or ambiguous statute. They headed off in entirely the wrong direction. They ignored the will of the American people."
In June, the FCC adopted new media ownership rules that will allow media conglomerates to own a newspaper and multiple television stations, radio stations, and other broadcast sources all in one market. Hundreds of thousands of Americans opposed the changes and 150 members of Congress urged the FCC to delay its action.
"Already struggling to compete with better-funded national outlets and national programming, local media in this country need our help, not the frontal assault on independent media that the new FCC rules represent," Feingold said. "The American people, and only the American people, own the airwaves. I hope the FCC gets the message."
The resolution now heads to the House of Representatives. It must pass the House and be signed by the President to take effect. Other legislative efforts to reverse or limit the FCC rules are also underway.
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