H.R. 1880

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1880 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1880

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that the Federal 
Communications Commission may not take action against a broadcast 
licensee or any other person on the basis of viewpoint, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 5, 2025

Ms. Matsui (for herself, Ms. Barragan, and Ms. McClellan) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that the Federal 
Communications Commission may not take action against a broadcast 
licensee or any other person on the basis of viewpoint, and for other 
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Broadcast Freedom and Independence 
Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) The Federal Communications Commission (in this section 
referred to as the ``FCC'') was established as an independent 
agency by the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et 
seq.) for the purpose of ``regulating interstate and foreign 
commerce in communication by wire and radio so as to make 
available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United 
States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, 
religion, national origin, or sex, a rapid, efficient, Nation-
wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with 
adequate facilities at reasonable charges. . .''.
(2) Commissioners at the FCC, an independent agency, are 
confirmed by Congress for specified terms and the President 
does not have the power to remove them at will.
(3) The independence of the FCC is paramount to the FCC 
carrying out its mission without political pressure or 
intimidation.
(4) The FCC's priorities and agenda must be set by the FCC 
without undue influence from the President or any advisors to 
the President who do not work for the FCC.
(5) As established in section 326 of the Communications Act 
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 326), nothing in the FCC's authority ``shall 
be understood or construed to give the Commission the power of 
censorship over the radio communications or signals transmitted 
by any radio station, and no regulation or condition shall be 
promulgated or fixed by the Commission which shall interfere 
with the right of free speech by means of radio 
communication''.
(6) Investigations and threats of Commission action or 
inaction must not be used to suppress certain viewpoints or 
intimidate broadcast licensees into aligning with any political 
agenda.

SEC. 3. VIEWPOINT PROTECTION.

Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 14. VIEWPOINT PROTECTION.

``(a) Prohibition Against Retaliation on Basis of Viewpoint.--The 
Commission may not revoke any license or other authorization of, or 
otherwise take action against, any person on the basis, in whole or in 
part, of viewpoints broadcast or otherwise disseminated by that person 
or any person affiliated with that person.
``(b) Prohibition Against Conditions on Viewpoint in Transaction 
Review.--The Commission may not place on any approval under subsections 
(a), (b), and (c) of section 214 or section 310(d) any condition with 
respect to viewpoints broadcast or otherwise disseminated by the person 
seeking that approval, any successor of that person, or any person 
affiliated with that person or successor.
``(c) No Effect on Certain Other Authority of Commission.--Nothing 
in this section shall be construed to affect the authority of the 
Commission to take action on the basis of, or to place a condition on 
an approval described in subsection (b) with respect to--
``(1) a violation of--
``(A) section 1304 of title 18, United States Code, 
or conduct that would constitute a violation of that 
section if content disseminated by means other than 
radio or television broadcast were disseminated by 
means of radio or television broadcast;
``(B) section 1343 of title 18, United States Code; 
or
``(C) section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, 
or conduct that would constitute a violation of that 
section if content disseminated by means other than 
radio communication were disseminated by means of radio 
communication; or
``(2) the broadcast or other dissemination of content that 
constitutes incitement under the First Amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States.''.
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