WASHINGTON (CNN) - Several Senate Commerce Committee members Wednesday blasted the Federal Communications Commission's decision to ease limits on the ownership of media outlets, with one senator accusing the agency's chairman of "spin and fraud."
Sen. Ernest Hollings, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said FCC Chairman Michael Powell's argument that Monday's decision was needed to salvage any ownership rules was "absolutely, absolutely false," and he mocked Powell's argument that the decision would help television broadcasters survive against increased competition from cable television and the Internet.
"The commission, with this order, has turned the people's public interest commission into an instrument of corporate greed," said Hollings, D-S.C.
Critics say the new rules will result in fewer companies controlling more of what Americans see and hear.
But Powell told the committee that the new rules "strike a careful balance," allowing transactions that would be in the public interest while leaving in place rules to prevent a monopoly.
"I believe we did our job, and I believe we did it well," said Powell, a former communications industry lawyer and the son of Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Sen. John McCain, the Commerce Committee's chairman, said the panel will take up a bill sponsored by Hollings and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, that would restore the previous rules. McCain, R-Ariz., said he does not support the proposal, but said he believes some limits on media ownership must be retained.
The new ownership rules allow a single company to own enough television stations to reach as much as 45 percent of the U.S. television market, up from the current ceiling of 35 percent. Critics say that because of rules governing UHF stations, the figure is closer to 90 percent.
Companies would be allowed to own both broadcast stations and newspapers in all but the smallest markets, while in large markets, individual companies could own several radio and television stations as well as a newspaper and a cable outlet.
That bothered senators on both sides of the aisle, with several Republicans joining Democrats in expressing concern about the FCC decision. Stevens said the limits the FCC replaced Monday should have been written into law in the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
"The difficulty here is, we didn't put 35 percent in the act," he said. "We should have put it there, and we wouldn't have this problem today."
The FCC's GOP majority adopted the new rules on a 3-2 vote, over sharp objections from the commission's two Democrats and what they called overwhelming public opposition.
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"I've rarely seen an issue in which such strong opinion that is so one-sided," Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said.
Powell and fellow Republican commissioners Kevin Martin and Kathleen Abernathy argued that the expansion of cable television and the Internet means more sources of news and information are available than ever.
But some senators said the issue isn't how many channels are available but who controls them.
"More mouthpieces doesn't guarantee diversity and localism and competition," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. "Diversity of ownership does."
A few senators spoke in favor of the move. Sen. John Breaux, D-La., backed Powell's argument that the commission had to act because of court decisions in favor of deregulation.
And Sen. George Allen, R-Va., said, "Consumers have more access to information than at any time in our history."
But Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said cities like Dallas and Atlanta, where the local newspaper is also allowed to own leading television and radio stations under regulatory waivers, have an "alarming amount of concentration."
"I don't want to see other cities get into that kind of concentration, and you have allowed that with your decision," said Hutchison, R-Texas.
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