Conrad Burns: “I am pleased to cosponsor with my good friend and colleague Senator Larry Craig and others, legislation to set fair…”

“I am pleased to cosponsor with my good friend and colleague Senator Larry Craig and others, legislation to set fair broadcasting user fees on Federal lands. As a former broadcaster and member of the Senate who takes a personal, active interest in national communications policy, I know first-hand how rural communities in Western States heavily rely upon local radio and television broadcasting service. Broadcasting service is not merely entertainment. More importantly and critically, its local news, weather, public service, farming and ranching news, high school sports events, and so forth--all provided free to the public and vital to a community's proper functioning. The best sites for broadcasting transmitters in Western States dominated by mountainous terrain are mountain tops which often are on Federal lands. Mountain transmission ensures that broadcast signals have clear reception. Broadcasters, in most cases, have no other choice but to build their towers on mountains in order to reach and serve their community of license. These mountains are owned primarily by the Federal Government and managed either by the U.S. Forest Service or the BLM. At the same time, these sites are good for little other than broadcast towers or sheep grazing. All sides recognize that increases in rental fees for these Federal sites are appropriate.”