Legislative updates

In session
August 2004

Legislative briefs from USCCB
CRS urges immediate US action on Sudan crisis

Legislative briefs from the USCCB

Low Power FM Radio
The Senate Commerce Committee approved S. 2505 , the Low Power FM Radio Authorization Act on July 22, 2004. The legislation, sponsored by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), would remove restrictions enacted by Congress in 2000 that limit low power radio service to rural and small towns. In addition, the bill would require the FCC to retain its rules prohibiting low power radio stations from operating on a channel adjacent to a radio reading service for the blind. The bill now awaits consideration by the full Senate.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops strongly supports this legislation. Catholic programmers produce a variety of radio programs, including talk shows featuring religious issues and family matters, to local public affairs programs, sacred music concerts, and children’s programs. In addition, the USCCB and many local dioceses produce public service announcements (PSAs) on general spiritual themes. The USCCB and local dioceses are facing increasing difficulty in having this type of programming aired on commercial stations. With the expansion of low power radio, parishes, Catholic schools and other local Catholic entities can offer programming that reaches out to all groups within their communities. Low power radio would open up distribution outlets more inclined to broadcast such programming.

Capital Punishment – DNA Testing and Competent Counsel in Capital Cases
On 10/1/03, Senator Leahy and Congressman Sensenbrenner introduced the Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act ( S. 1700 /H.R. 3214 ). This package of criminal justice reforms aims at reducing the risk of innocent persons being executed by encouraging and enabling states to provide competent counsel to indigent defendants in capital cases, and ensuring that inmates who have been wrongfully convicted have access to evidence that could establish their innocence. On 10/8/03, the House Judiciary Committee approved H.R. 3214 on a 28-1 vote and on 11/5/03, the bill passed through the House chamber by a vote of 357-67.

On 7/22/04, the Senate Judiciary Committee began consideration of S.1700 by approving, without objection, a substitute amendment to replace the text of the Senate bill with that of its House counterpart. But after approving the amendment, the committee took no further action before the party conventions/August Congressional recess. It is unclear whether any further committee action will occur in this Congress.

Fiscal Year 2005 Foreign Operations Appropriations
On July 15, the House passed H.R. 4181 , the FY 2005 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. Awaiting consideration in the Senate, the bill’s provisions contain funding for some USCCB priorities, including: $2.2 billion to combat global HIV/AIDS (with $1.3 billion allocated to the global AIDS initiative and $885 million for the Child Health and Survival Fund); $1.25 billion for the Millennium Challenge Account; $105 million for international debt relief, including up to $75 million for a contribution to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Trust Fund, and at least $10 million for bilateral debt relief to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); $850 million to the International Development Association (IDA); $4.248 billion for development and humanitarian assistance, of which $1.65 billion is for child survival and health programs and another $1.429 billion is for longer-term development assistance; $321.4 million for international organizations and programs; $311 million for Sudan; $74.5 million to address the emergency humanitarian crisis in Haiti; $355.5 million for the International Disaster Assistance and Famine Assistance account; and $12 million for conflict resolution and reconciliation programs.

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