Bush’s 3 Nominees for FCC Approved by Senate Committee

The Senate Commerce Committee today approved President Bush’s three nominees for the Federal Communications Commission and sent the appointments to the floor for expected speedy confirmation.

Committee Chairman Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) said he expects the full Senate to vote on the nominations of Alfred C. Sikes, Sherrie P. Marshall and Andrew C. Barrett before the scheduled beginning of the congressional recess Friday.

The vote came one day after a hearing that was dominated by the issues of sex and violence on the airwaves.

The only opposition to the nominations has been from anti-indecency groups who think that the FCC hasn’t been tough enough on broadcast smut and that President Bush didn’t seek out nominees who were more likely to take a hard line against indecency.

‘Garbage Is Garbage’

Hollings, Sen. Albert Gore (D-Tenn.) and others hit hard on TV indecency, noting that until Congress stepped in to ban all indecent TV programs in 1988, the FCC had established a “safe harbor” for such shows from midnight to 6 a.m. when children were presumed not to be watching.

“Garbage is garbage regardless of the time of day,” Hollings said.

Barrett sparked a confrontation with Gore when he said that he abhorred indecent programming but that the FCC must recognize “there is a market for indecency” and that the agency’s role is to decide “what the law will allow us to tolerate.”

Americans, Gore responded, are “sick and tired of what’s going on.”

Sikes said that he would vigorously attack obscene material on the airwaves but that the Supreme Court has proscribed much of Congress’ power in the area of free speech and indecency.

Imposition Stayed by Court

The FCC last year tried to implement the 24-hour ban on indecent programming, but broadcasters and civil rights groups challenged it on constitutional grounds. A federal appeals court in January stayed imposition of the law.

Hollings and other committee members expressed hope that relations between the FCC and Congress will improve after eight years of battles with a commission headed by outgoing Chairman Dennis R. Patrick and his predecessor, Mark S. Fowler.

Because of his displeasure with Patrick’s policies, Hollings had refused for more than a year to hold hearings on other nominees to fill two vacancies on the five-member FCC. Patrick will step down when Sikes is confirmed.

The nominees face a host of important issues, such as the government role in fostering international competitiveness in areas such as high-definition television; further deregulation of the telephone industry; re-regulating cable television, and assignment of airwaves to competing businesses such as cellular telephones and direct broadcast satellites.