Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet

Markup of H.R. 1147, The Local Community Radio Act of 2009; H.R. 1084, The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act; H.R. 1258, The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009; And H.R. 3633, A Bill To Allow the Funding for the Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program to Remain Available through 2012

October 8, 2009

Today the Subcommittee convenes to in general markup session to consider four items of legislation: H.R. 1147, the Local Community Radio Act of 2009; H.R. 1084, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act; H.R. 1258, the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009; and H.R. 3633, a bill to allow funding for the interoperable emergency communications grant program to remain available through FY 2012.

H.R. 1147, the Local Community Radio Act, introduced by Representatives Doyle and Terry, would provide for additional low-power FM (LPFM) radio stations by allowing their operation on third adjacent channels to full-power radio stations. LPFM stations are community-based nonprofits that operate at 100 watts or less and have a broadcast reach of only a few miles. They play a unique role in our media. They are far more likely than their full-power counterparts to be owned by women or minorities, and they are an important forum for local clergy, educational institutions, and civil rights and community leaders to weigh in on local issues. I appreciate the constructive work undertaken by LPFM supporters and public radio stations on the measure we will consider today. Mr. Doyle will offer a manager's amendment which among other things resovles the concerns public radio stations had concerning the effort of more low-power stations on the reception of the main transmitter signal by translator stations.

H.R. 1084, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, was introduced by our colleague Ms. Eshoo to address a leading consumer complaint-the volume of advertisements on television. All of us have had the experience of enjoying a favorite program only to find ourselves scrambling to locate the remote control when at the commercial break the volume of the television seemingly doubles.

As I said at our legislative hearing on this measure in June, this measure, when enacted, will become as popular as the legislation that created the do-not-call list. I look forward to seeing this measure become law. Ms. Eschoo's manager's amendment directs the FCC to adopt the recommended practice on commercial loudness assembled by the Advanced TV Systems Committee and creates a waiver process for severe financial hardship.

H.R. 1258, the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, introduced by Mr. Engel and Mr. Barton, would direct the Federal Communications Commission to prohibit caller ID "spoofing," where a caller falsifies the original caller ID information during the transmission of a phone call. This measure has passed the House on suspension in the last two Congresses but was not acted on by the Senate. I look forward to advancing it today and to working with our Senate colleagues to see it enacted into law. I want to thank Mr. Engel, a member of our full Committee, for his commitment to this matter and for his constructive work. I will offer a manager's amendment that harmonizes this measure with a separate Judiciary Committee bill and creates an exception for authorized law enforcement activities.

The final measure on today's agenda is H.R. 3663 introduced by our colleague Ms. Harman and by our colleague Mr. Cao.

It extends for two years the Public Safety Interoperable Communications grant program administered by NTIA and the Department of Homeland Security. These grants are funded with auction proceeds from the FCC's 700 MHz auction and are based on a recommendation from the 9/11 Commission concerning the shortcomings of interoperable communications among first responders.

As required by law, the Department of Commerce's Office of the Inspector General conducted an annual assessment of the NTIA's management of the program. It found that NTIA met the statutory deadlines and requirements for making awards and for reviewing and approving grantees' communications plans." However, it also found that the original program deadline had not allowed States sufficient time to take full advantage of the program funds.

This measure would extend the grant program for two additional years to ensure that States have sufficient time to expend grant awards. I would note that our Louisiana colleague Mr. Cao introduced a separate measure to extend the grant program and is now a cosponsor of H.R. 3633. I commend both Ms. Harmon and Mr. Cao for taking this initiative.

I want to thank Mr. Stearns and all Subcommittee members for the cooperative manner in which we have moved to a markup of these measures. I particularly want to thank our professional staff for both the majority and minority for their effective work since our legislative hearing to resolve a range of concerns expressed at the hearing.

Those resolutions are reflected in the amendments we will consider this morning.

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