Our Democracy, Our Airwaves Act of 2003

Summary

Our Democracy, Our Airwaves Act of 2003 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the lowest unit charge for radio or television broadcast time to a national committee of a political party acting on behalf of a candidate for public office. Prohibits a licensee of a broadcasting station, except under circumstances beyond its control, from preempting the use of such station by an eligible candidate or political committee who has paid for such use. Requires audits of stations to ensure the provision of broadcasting advertising time for political candidates. Provides minimum time requirements for candidate- or issue-centered broadcasts by stations. Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish and administer a voucher program for the purchase of airtime for political advertisements on radio and television broadcast stations by eligible candidates and political party committees as certified by the FCC. Provides maximum voucher amounts for both candidates and political committees. Allows such vouchers to be used exclusively for the purchase of airtime; but allows the transfer of vouchers between a political party and a candidate and vice versa. Requires the FCC to redeem all vouchers accepted by such stations. Provides for voucher expiration. Directs the FCC to establish the Political Advertising Voucher Account and to collect and deposit into it an annual spectrum use fee based on a percentage of a station's gross revenues. Directs the FCC to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to establish a standardized form for use by broadcasting stations to record and report the purchase of advertising time by or on behalf of a candidate for nomination for election, or for election, to Federal elective office.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 30 July 2003

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 30 July 2003

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 30 July 2003

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.