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 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  K.  POWELL 
 Re:  Clear  Channel  Broadcasting  Licenses,  Inc.,  Licensee  of  Station  WPLA(  FM),  Callahan,  Florida;  WCKT(  FM),  Port  Charlotte,  Florida  (Formerly  Station  WRLR(  FM));  Citicasters 
 Licenses,  L.  P.,  Licensee  of  Station  WXTB(  FM),  Clearwater,  Florida;  Capstar  TX  Limited  Partnership,  Licensee  of  Station  WRLX(  FM),  West  Palm  Beach,  Florida. 


 Seven  broadcasts,  twenty-  six  indecency  violations,  four  public  file  violations  and  fines  equaling  $755,  000.  By  today’s  action,  we  provide  yet  another  example  of  this  Commission’s 
 commitment  to  enforce  its  rules  and  regulations—  especially  as  it  relates  to  indecent  programming  engulfing  our  broadcast  airwaves. 


 As  the  Commission  with  the  strongest  enforcement  record  in  decades,  it  should  come  as  little  surprise  that  this  Commission’s  indecency  enforcement  has  dwarfed  its  predecessors.  I  am 
 proud  of  the  fact  that  over  the  past  three  years,  we  have  proposed  nearly  twice  the  dollar  amount  of  indecency  fines  than  the  previous  two  Commissions  combined  (over  seven  years)  and  ten  times 
 the  amount  of  fines  proposed  by  the  last  Commission. 
 Now  is  not,  however,  a  time  to  rest  on  our  laurels  and  no  broadcaster  should  believe  that  we  will.  Indeed,  due  to  the  leadership  on  this  issue  from  Commissioner  Martin,  the  Commission 
 will  soon  begin  considering  fines  for  each  separate  utterance  found  indecent  in  a  broadcast.  In  addition,  we  will  continue  to  look  to  Congress  to  dramatically  increase  the  enforcement  penalties 
 available  to  us  to  prosecute  clear  indecency  violations.  I  applaud  Chairman  Upton,  Chairman  Tauzin,  Congressmen  Dingell  and  Markey,  Chairman  McCain,  Senator  Hollings  and  the  many 
 others  on  both  sides  of  the  aisle  in  Congress  for  providing  vital  leadership  on  this  issue. 
 As  the  Commission  continues  the  challenging  task  of  balancing  the  protections  of  the  First  Amendment  with  the  need  to  protect  our  young,  these  increased  enforcement  actions  will  allow  the 
 Commission  to  turn  what  is  now  a  “cost  of  doing  business”  into  a  significant  “cost  for  doing  indecent  business.” 
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