Broadcast associations from every state, as well as the District of Columbia and the Commonweath of Puerto Rico, are urging Congress to pass the “PIRATE” Act ahead of the so-called “lame duck” session, beginning January 3, whereby the Republicans will control the Senate and the Democrats the House. The Act would see the potential penalty for unlicensed station operations go as high as $2 million per violation, with the FCC required to do a check on the top five radio markets — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas — twice a year.
The associations have written to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Here is the full text of the letter:
Dear Leaders McConnell and Schumer,
The undersigned broadcasters associations representing local, over-the-air broadcast stations in all 50 States, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico urge your swift consideration and passage of the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (PIRATE) Act (H.R. 5709). The bi-partisan PIRATE Act passed the House of Representatives unanimously and would provide the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with critical new enforcement measures to combat pirate radio operations.
For years unauthorized pirate radio stations have harmed communities across the country byinterfering with licensed stations’ abilities to serve their listeners, undermining the Emergency Alert System, interfering with airport communications and posing direct health and safety risks. The time has come to take significant steps to resolve this vexing problem.
The PIRATE Act gives the FCC additional tools to address the growing pirate radio problem. It provides the authority to levy increased fines up to $100,000 per violation and $2,000,000 intotal. Upon prior notice, it holds liable persons, including property owners, who “knowingly”facilitate illegal pirate operations. The PIRATE Act streamlines the enforcement process and requires the FCC to conduct pirate radio enforcement sweeps in cities with a concentration of pirate radio stations. Finally, the PIRATE Act would create a database of all licensed radio stations operating in the AM and FM bands as well as those entities that have been subject to enforcement actions for illegal operation.
We are reaching the point where illegal pirate stations undermine the legitimacy and purpose ofthe FCC’s licensing system to the detriment of listeners in communities across the country. ThePIRATE Act will help the FCC restore integrity to the system. For these reasons, local broadcasters across our great nation fully support the PIRATE Act and urge its swift passage without changes.
The Act has already cleared the House but hasn’t been introduced in the Senate, to date. If the legislation isn’t passed by January 3, it runs the risk of not becoming law.
