[Imc] [Fwd: LPFM Bill in Congress]

[Mike Lehman]

Looks like bad news for LPFM. While I've seen no independent
confirmation of this report, I believe it to be accurate. The fight is
not over, but it will be uphill all the way at this point. I can't say
that I agree with the charecterization of Clinton and Gore as being
strong supporters of LPFM. I'll forward more news as I receive it. The
applications from the different local organizations are still in play,
but it will be a while until we can be sure what the exact status of
them is. Unfortunately, we can't afford the high-powered lawyers that
AOL and Time Warner have, let alone National Public Radio and the NAB,
so justice is reduced, once again in our nation, to being a matter of
how much you can afford, instead of how much you deserve.
Mike Lehman

Dale Wertz wrote:
> 
>         As public policy approves the AOL and Time Warner merger, it seems
> that LPFM will be crippled at birth.  dw
> 
> +++++++++++++++
> Forwarded message:
> =======
> 
> Subj:   low power radio
> Date:   12/15/00 6:14:32 PM Eastern Standard Time
> From:    mbracy at bracywilliams.com (Michael Bracy)
> Reply-to:    mbracy at bracywilliams.com
> 
> Friends-
> 
> As of right now (5:30 pm on Friday 12/15) there is every
> indication that the Congress will pass, and the President
> will sign, an Omnibus Budget Act that will include an
> anti-lpfm rider in the form of the bill passed by the House
> (the Oxleye bill as amended by Wilson and Dinged; considered
> in the Senate as the Grams bill).
> 
> This legislation essentially guts the FCC's LPFM plan by
> limiting licenses to stations broadcasting with existing
> third adjacent channels protections in place.  The
> Commission will set up a pilot study of the impact of
> placing LPFM stations on third adjacent channels, then
> Congress will have to pass authorizing legislation to allow
> the FCC to place LPFM stations on these third adjacent
> channels.  Basically, if you are a rural part of the
> country, you are ok; if you are in a city or suburb you are
> out of luck.
> 
> This rider is tucked into a massive spending bill that funds
> the basic operations of the government.  While every effort
> was made to remove this rider, House and Senate leaders
> would not budge.  I am confident that the Clifton
> Administration and our supporters in Congress did everything
> they could to stop this rider.
> 
> While I am crushed by this setback, I express my gratitude
> to the hundreds of people and organizations across the
> country who have worked with us to fight for LPFM over the
> past two years.  Because of the incredible grassroots effort
> you have helped mount, we came incredibly close to winning
> this issue outright this year, but more importantly, we have
> built a solid base that makes our eventual victory
> inevitable.  It took backdoor, dead of night political
> dealing to deliver this setback, and we have no intention of
> letting this result stand.
> 
> I especially want to thank leaders in Washington like
> Senators John moccasin, Bob Cherry, Richard Durban, Paul
> Well stone and Congressmen David Bonier, Rose dealer, David
> Obey, Thomas Barrette and many more who stood up to one of
> the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington, the
> National Association of Broadcasters.  I want to thank FCC
> Chairman Knead, Commissioner Tristani and all the FCC staff
> who have worked with enormous energy to move this proceeding
> ahead.  I want to thank the Clifton Administration, who
> fought for LPFM throughout the budget negotiation process
> but simply did not have the votes to succeed.  I want to
> thank Al Gore, who bravely spoke strongly and specifically
> against the rider in the final weeks of the presidential
> campaign.  And I want to thank Bill Bradley and Ralph Nader,
> who were early and consistent advocates for LPFM.
> 
> The only way not to leave out LPFM supporters who should be
> singled out for their efforts is to not even try to list
> them all...so I'm not going to list any of them.  But
> building and working with this Coalition has been a
> wonderful, inspiring endeavor, and I only hope that this
> setback will only make us more committed to finishing the
> job in 2001.
> 
> On behalf of the Low Power Radio Coalition, we're going to
> go away for the weekend, lick our wounds,  think through our
> next steps, and be back soon with our 2001 action plan.
> This isn't over - not by a long shot.
> 
> Best wishes and happy holidays,
> Michael Bracy
> Low Power Radio Coalition
> 
> ++++++++++
> END forwarded message
> ==================