FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 
WASHINGTON 
OFF I CE OF 
THE CHAIRMAN 
The Honorable Jackie Walorski 
U.S. House of Representatives 
419 Cannon House Office Building 
Washington, D.C. 20515 
Dear Congresswoman Walorski: 
March 19,2014 
Thank you for your letter regarding LeSEA Broadcasting's questions seeking clarification 
on the Commission' s rules and policies governing "enhanced underwriting" announcements by 
noncommercial educational (NCE) broadcast stations. 
As you note in your letter, staff ofthe Commission's Media Bureau has met with LeSEA 
representatives, and the staff remains available to discuss any remaining issues that LeSEA may 
have. However, as Commission staff explained to LeSEA, we do not preview or provide 
advance approval of specific underwriting acknowledgments that a station intends to use. Doing 
so would raise serious First Amendment issues and also would place burdensome demands on 
limited staff resources . 
The Commission's rules and policies governing "enhanced underwriting" are applied 
uniformly to all NCE broadcasters, and licensees are expected to exercise good faith judgment 
when determining whether a particular acknowledgement complies with the Commission's rules . 
To assist NCE broadcasters with this assessment, the Commission has issued a number of policy 
statements that offer guidance concerning permissible underwriting announcements. 
Additionally, the Enforcement Bureau evaluates "enhanced underwriting" complaints on a case­
by-case basis. If the Bureau finds a violation has occurred after investigation of a complaint, it 
will take appropriate action. Prior decisions related to the "enhanced underwriting" rules can 
provide additional guidance to NCE licensees. All prior decisions are available to the public on 
the Enforcement Bureau's website (http ://www.fcc.gov/enforcement-bureau). 
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further 
assistance. 
Sincerely, 
~--#(/ 
Tom Wheeler