One day after securing passage of the Free Flow of Information Act to protect the press corps, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) is turning his attention to political commentators. Later today Pence will attempt to force a floor vote on a measure that prevents the executive branch from instituting the Fairness Doctrine.
While there’s no threat of the Bush Administration’s bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, there’s little Congress could do to stop a future administration from putting it in place, according to Pence. Conservatives fear that if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, a change in commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission, coupled with an executive order, is all that it would take.
The return of the Fairness Doctrine would be dreadful for broadcasters, many of whom have conservative viewpoints, Pence told a group of conservative bloggers at the Heritage Foundation yesterday. He said many political commentators would quit rather than keep talking because of the paperwork and legal issues that are likely to result.
By using the legislative device known as a discharge petition, Pence and Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) are opting to pursue a similar strategy to the one used to bring the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform bill to the House floor in 2002. A discharge petition needs the support of 218 members. Pence already has the support of 200 Republicans and one Democrat (Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky), meaning that if he can get 17 other Democrats to support the discharge petition, he’ll be able to bring it up for a vote against the wishes of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pence, himself a former radio-show host, was confident yet realistic about his chances of finding the votes. “I don’t think freedom is a partisan issue in the House of Representatives,” he said. He noted that 113 Democrats voted for a similar measure this summer that prevented the FCC from restoring the Fairness Doctrine for one year. Making that ban permanent won’t be as easy. (Hat tip to Eric Pfeiffer of the Washington Times.)
UPDATE — 1:23 p.m.: Pence spoke about his plan this morning on the House floor.
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