William Tauzin: “let me see if I can help set the record straight. Our bill does not give away spectrum to the broadcasters to do…”

“let me see if I can help set the record straight. Our bill does not give away spectrum to the broadcasters to do anything with other than to broadcast over the air in this transition from one technology to the other. And then it requires the return of the old technology spectrum to the people of the United States. Second, the bill provides that, if the broadcasters should use any of that spectrum for any purpose other than over-the-air broadcasting, they have to pay for it like everybody else. That is what the bill currently says. One final point: The issue of a broadcast spectrum is tied up with something called the public interest standard. It has to do with the trade we made a long time ago to licensed broadcasters who operate under a public interest standard, a relicensing by the FCC, and a review of that licensing over time. If my colleagues want to change that policy, and some do, they ought not make it in a budget meeting; they ought to make it in the committee of jurisdiction where we examine what happens on television and what broadcasters do with the license they get to operate in the public interest standard. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill and let us debate that issue in the committee of jurisdiction where it belongs.”