William Helms: “Now, all of us--and I think it is fair to include Mr. Kennard--want to rectify an awkward and unjustifiable situation…”

“Now, all of us--and I think it is fair to include Mr. Kennard--want to rectify an awkward and unjustifiable situation that has developed in the Federal Communications Commission process of awarding broadcast licenses. Specifically, in this case, a well-known and highly respected and popular broadcasting executive in Asheville, NC, was curiously disqualified in his application for an FM frequency in the Asheville area. There was a lot of resentment in the public about that. What happened, Mr. President, was that this gentleman, Zeb Lee, of Asheville, and 12 other groups, had applied for the FM frequency when it became available in 1987. The Commission's comparative hearing process, in effect at that time, was used to determine which group would be the most qualified for the frequency. Zeb Lee had run station WSKY-AM in Asheville for 46 years, during which time he did the play-by-play for about 4,000 high school football games, and by sponsoring such public interest things as an Elvis Presley concert in 1955, which I would not have listened to, but most people did want to hear it.”