Redstate

By Congressman Roy Blunt Posted in Congress — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of standing alongside a group of colleagues with whom I’ve worked plenty in the past, and for whom I have the deepest respect – not only because of their dedication to principle, but for their deep respect for diverse viewpoints and a full, robust debate.

And so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the issue bringing us together was the so-called Fairness Doctrine – a 1970s-era government mandate that achieved precisely the opposite effect of what its authors intended it to do. Instead of greater variety of opinion on the airwaves, we got less. Instead of more voices on the radio, we got fewer. And instead of richer, more genuine debate, we got a stale recitation of talking points – when, that is, stations could even afford to stay on the air long enough to deliver them.

Read on...

Under the dogged leadership of Congressman Mike Pence (an old radio hand and someone with whom readers of this blog should have some experience by now) Republicans in the House have fought back attempts to resurrect this anachronism of the Jimmy Carter-era. Keep in mind that back in June, more than 300 members of the House – and even more remarkable: 113 Democrats – supported a one-year ban on attempts to re-impose this rule on our nation’s broadcasters. But despite its overwhelming margin of passage, Democrats in both chambers have signaled their intention to gut the House-approved language from the final bill. Yes, they can do that. And yes, it’s maddening.

So although we were able to secure an initial vote to bury the Fairness Doctrine this summer (in truth, there wasn’t much the majority could do to prevent it), the majority leadership in the House has continued to deny our side the opportunity to vote on a similar, stand-alone moratorium on the House floor – despite Mike Pence’s efforts to put together a great bill, and gather overwhelming support for it.

And so today, I was happy to join Rep. Pence, Republican Leader John Boehner, Eric Cantor, our deputy Republican whip, Conference Chairman Adam Putnam, Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, and Greg Walden in signing onto a petition that, if passed, would bring the Broadcaster Freedom Act to the floor of the U.S. House. Now, if it ever found its way here, we all know what would happen: It’d sail through the chamber and arrive with serious momentum in the Senate. And that’s exactly why House Democrats refuse to let it see the light the day.

Of course, you don’t need to look too far into the future to understand their decision. True, it’s highly unlikely a Republican president would act in a unilateral way to re-impose the Fairness Doctrine on our national broadcast media. Thankfully, we have one of those in office right now. But what happens if a Democrat were to take over the Oval Office in 2009? Mike Pence’s Broadcaster Freedom Act would ensure that no future president could regulate the airwaves of our country without an explicit act of Congress. And if past votes on the subject are any indication, she would get no such permission.

The discharge petition being circulated around Capitol Hill this afternoon represents the first step in safeguarding our airwaves from a left-flank attack of Fairness Doctrinaires – ensuring that richness of debate and diversity of opinion remain the hallmarks of our system. Of course, it’d be a whole lot easier to pull off if the Democratic majority would lay to rest their misguided opposition to the bill – a bill, remember, that earned the support of 309 members of the House. But in weighing the will of the majority of the House against the will of the Democratic leadership, it appears the rest of us, 430-odd members of Congress, have come up a bit short.

But that’s where you can make a serious difference. I’m writing today to ask that you call your representative and ask him or her to sign onto the Pence Discharge Petition. And if he or she already has, make sure they know how important it is they get others to sign on as well. Thanks for the opportunity to post today.