McCain: Appropriations Action ‘Usurps’ His Committee

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., doesn’t think too much of what his colleagues in Senate Appropriations did regarding the TV audience cap. He’s “dismayed” the committee “chose to usurp the jurisdiction” of his committee. McCain characterized the Appropriations Committee action as a “misuse of the appropriations process” and that his committee already sent a bill to the floor addressing the issue.
Splitting off the TV audience cap issue from the rest of the media ownership rules is seen by some as the only viable way to get the rules change passed by Congress. McCain said it is “inconsistent” to split the issues, an action “that only seems to serve the members of the National Association of Broadcasters.”