Enhancing Broadcaster DIVERSITY Data Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5564 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for certain require- ments with respect to ownership and diversity reporting for television broadcast stations and cable operators, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2020 Ms. CLARKE of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for certain requirements with respect to ownership and diver- sity reporting for television broadcast stations and cable operators, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhancing Broad- 4 caster Diversity and Inclusion by Verifying and Ensuring 5 the Reporting required by Statute Is Transpiring and 6 Yielding Data Act’’ or the ‘‘Enhancing Broadcaster DI- 7 VERSITY Data Act’’. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5564.IH H5564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5564 IH SEC. 2. OWNERSHIP AND DIVERSITY REPORTING. 1 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—Recognizing the long his- 2 tory of exclusion of women and people of color from media 3 resources in the United States, and the responsibility of 4 broadcasters to be responsive to the needs and interests 5 of their communities of license, it is the sense of Congress 6 that the Commission should carry out policies promoting 7 diversity, localism, and inclusion in the broadcast and 8 cable industries. As such, Congress directs the Commis- 9 sion to take the actions described in subsection (b) and 10 the amendments made by such subsection. 11 (b) MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND DIVERSITY.— 12 (1) EMPLOYMENT DATA.—Not later than 18 13 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 14 in accordance with sections 334(a) and 634(d)(3)(A) 15 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 16 334(a); 554(d)(3)(A)), the Commission, after notice 17 and comment, shall complete the proceeding initiated 18 in the Third Report and Order and Fourth Notice 19 of Proposed Rulemaking in the ongoing Review of 20 the Commission’s Broadcast and Cable Equal Em- 21 ployment Opportunity Rules and Policies, MM Dock- 22 et No. 98–204. 23 (2) OWNERSHIP DATA.—Part I of title III of 24 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et 25 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5564.IH H5564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5564 IH ‘‘SEC. 344. OWNERSHIP DATA. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as specifically provided 2 in subsection (b), the Commission may not revise— 3 ‘‘(1) section 73.3615 of title 47, Code of Fed- 4 eral Regulations (relating to ownership reports), as 5 in effect on the date of the enactment of this sec- 6 tion, as such section 73.3615 applies to television 7 broadcast station licensees and permittees; or 8 ‘‘(2) the forms used by the licensees and per- 9 mittees described in paragraph (1) to report perti- 10 nent ownership data to the Commission. 11 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL REVISIONS OR IMPROVEMENTS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 13 the Commission may revise the regulations described 14 in subsection (a) to augment the quality and suffi- 15 ciency of the reports required under such regula- 16 tions, to make nonsubstantive technical or clerical 17 revisions in such regulations as necessary to reflect 18 changes in technology, terminology, or Commission 19 organization, or to ensure the anonymity of station- 20 specific ownership data unnecessary to the analysis 21 of aggregated industry ownership trends. 22 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Commission may not 23 diminish or otherwise reduce the frequency or qual- 24 ity of the reports required under the regulations de- 25 scribed in subsection (a).’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5564.IH H5564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5564 IH (3) OWNERSHIP AND DIVERSITY REPORT.— 1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 13(d)(3) of the 2 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 3 163(d)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘in accord- 4 ance with the national policy under section 5 257(b)’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘and in- 6 clude in the report required by subsection (a) 7 the most recent data collected under the regula- 8 tions described in sections 334(a), 344(a), and 9 634(d)(3)(A), and analysis of such data, as 10 such barriers and such data relate to the na- 11 tional policy under section 257(b)’’. 12 (B) OWNERSHIP DATABASE.—Not later 13 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 14 this Act, the Commission shall create a public, 15 searchable database of the data collected under 16 the regulations described in section 344(a) of 17 the Communications Act of 1934, as added by 18 paragraph (2), that members of the public may 19 use to search for and produce reports identi- 20 fying— 21 (i) ownership data with respect to any 22 particular station; 23 (ii) ownership interests of any person 24 who holds a license; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5564.IH H5564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5564 IH (iii) industry-wide statistics; 1 (iv) statistics for particular geo- 2 graphic regions; or 3 (v) statistics for particular licensee 4 classifications. 5 (c) COMMISSION DEFINED.—In this section, the term 6 ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal Communications Com- 7 mission. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5564.IH H5564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS