PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.By Senator McCain from Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation filed written report. Report No. 108-426.
Congressional Research Service
Version 01 · Reported to Senate with amendment(s) · Nov 19, 2004
Repeals provisions in the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, that required the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) modify rules authorizing the operation of low-power FM radio stations to prescribe minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels; (2) prohibit applicants who have engaged in the unlicensed operation of any station from obtaining a low-power FM license; and (3) conduct a program to test whether low-power FM radio stations will result in harmful interference to existing FM radio stations if minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels are not required.
Requires the FCC to modify its rules to eliminate third-adjacent minimum distance separation requirements between specified stations.
Requires the FCC to retain rules that provide third-adjacent channel protection for full-power noncommercial FM stations that broadcast radio reading services via a subcarrier frequency from potential low-power FM station interference.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Requires the FCC to retain its rules that provide third-adjacent channel protection for full-power FM stations that are licensed in significantly populated States with more than 3 million housing units and a population density greater than 1,000 people per square mile.
Requires the FCC to: (1) evaluate the impact of translator licensing on low and full power radio stations; and (2) implement policies that promote opportunities for locally based low power radio stations while protecting full power stations from harmful interference from translator networks.
People & committees
Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ] · R–AZ
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
By Senator McCain from Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation filed written report. Report No. 108-426.
By Senator McCain from Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation filed written report. Report No. 108-426.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 813.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator McCain with an amendment. Without written report.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator McCain with an amendment. Without written report.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S6482)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6481-6482)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.2505 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.2505 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.2505 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.2505 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.