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WASHINGTON — Affronted Senate Democrats are trying to undo
the deal struck between the GOP leadership and the White House
that attempts to set the television audience-reach ceiling at
39%.
The deal negotiated on Monday between the Bush Administration
and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, chairman of the Appropriations
Committee, drew angry rebukes by Democratic lawmakers on
Tuesday.
Sen. Fritz Hollings accused the GOP of reneging on an earlier
agreement among the House and Senate negotiators that set the
cap at 35%. Hollings is the senior Democrat on the panel's
subcommittee that doles out funds to the FCC along with the
Justice, Commerce and State Departments.
"The Republicans' decision to make the broadcast ownership cap
39% was no 'compromise' at all. It was a total violation of
the conference agreement. Both houses included the exact same
wording," the South Carolina legislator said on Tuesday. "The
Republicans went into a closet, met with themselves, and
announced a 'compromise.'"
The deal was also assailed by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., one
of the lawmakers leading the push to retain the media
ownership limits that the FCC eased on 3-2 party-line vote on
June 2. In a letter to the Republican and Democratic leaders
of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, Dorgan
threatened to hold up passage of the massive $390 billion
spending bill that is being pushed through to fund most
government departments for the next year. The media ownership
language is contained in that "omnibus" spending bill.
"I, and others who have fought so hard to overturn these
rules, will not sit quietly by while the White House insists
on provisions that are counter to the public's interest," he
wrote. "If the identical provisions which were approved by the
House and Senate, and by the Conference Committee, are
altered, it will provoke a major battle, at least here in the
United States Senate."
But Stevens said the deal on the ownership cap was done
because it was the best deal he could cut. He said the
language also included a provision that would require the FCC
to review the broadcast ownership rules every four years
instead of every two.
"They all see the veto as a club, not a way to maintain the
balance of power," he said.
A White House official said the Bush Administration supports
Stevens.
"The 39% would be considered a very reasonable compromise that
still meets the president's principle," the official said. "It
would not have been possible without the good work of Senator
Stevens."
The fate of the entire bill was unclear, however. The Senate
was set to adjourn on Tuesday without approving the bill. The
House adjourned last week for the Thanksgiving recess.
But the move to drive the cap to 39% received a boost from the
National Association of Broadcasters. While the networks want
the cap eliminated, the NAB and other smaller broadcasters
have argued that it needs to stay as a check against the
networks' power. On Tuesday, NAB president and CEO Edward O.
Fritts said the organization supported the Stevens language.
"NAB supports the compromise 39% national television ownership
cap that would be written into statute under this agreement,"
he said in a statement. "While a 35% cap would have been
preferable, we recognize the political realities surrounding
this issue."
The failure of Congress to fulfill its constitutional duty by
approving all 13 spending bills will not shut down the
government, which can operate under stopgap funding authority
until Jan. 31. But it is a setback for Republicans, who had
vowed to get the budget process back on track this year after
winning control of the Senate as well as the House of
Representatives.
Congress is supposed to pass the 13 spending measures needed
to fund federal agencies by the start of each new fiscal year
on Oct. 1, but only six of the bills have been sent to
President Bush to be signed into law.
The remaining seven bills were rolled into the catch-all
package. If that is not approved until January, the
departments the bills finance will have to operate at current,
generally lower, funding levels for a third of the 2004 fiscal
year.
(from Hollywood)
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