Dusty Johnson: “I commend Senator Gramm, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and his staff, Senator Thomas, Senator Grams, Senator…”

“I commend Senator Gramm, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and his staff, Senator Thomas, Senator Grams, Senator Burns, Senator Sarbanes and his staff, and others who have worked diligently on this. We have spent a lot of time on it. I believe we are almost at the moment where we can offer a compromise amendment and resolve this once and for all. We just received a copy of the amendment. There are one or two points that are being checked with counsel. Within literally minutes, we should be able to confirm the language is exactly what we think it is. I am appreciative of the bipartisan effort that went into making this legislation a reality. The legislation last fall was a good bill. It permitted the broadcast of local signals to local areas, but we did need the guarantee loan provisions to get into the smaller television markets. It has just been confirmed to me the language is as we thought. Again, I applaud Senator Gramm and others for their work in that regard.”