We would not have sought additional comment on the question whether section 309(j)(2)(C) precludes us from using competitive bidding to award a broadcast license to a noncommercial educational broadcast or public broadcast station to operate on a commercial channel. We believe that Congress' mandate is clear: the Commission lacks authority to employ auctions to issue licenses to such stations, regardless of whether they operate on a reserved or on a commercial frequency. Since the statute is clear on its face, we are bound to give it effect. See Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842-43 (1984).

The express exemption to our competitive bidding authority in section 309(j)(2)(C) provides that such authority "shall not apply to licenses or construction permits issued by the Commission . . . for stations described in section 397(6) of this title." Section 397(6), in turn, defines the terms "noncommercial educational broadcast station" and "public broadcast station" as "a television or radio broadcast station which . . . under the rules and regulations of the Commission . . . is eligible to be licensed by the Commission as a noncommercial educational radio or television broadcast station and which is owned and operated by a public agency or nonprofit private foundation, corporation, or association" or "is owned and operated by a municipality and which transmits only noncommercial programs for education purposes."

Nothing in section 309(j)(2)(C) limits the inapplicability of our auction authority to licenses issued for noncommercial and public broadcast stations on reserved channels. The statute makes no distinction between licensees granted to section 397(6) stations to operate on reserved spectrum and licensees granted to such entities to operate on unreserved spectrum; the prohibition on the licensing of these stations pursuant to auctions is, in this regard, unqualified. The statute makes plain that the Commission simply has no competitive bidding authority when it comes to licenses issued for stations described in section 397(6).

Similarly, nothing in section 397(6) limits the definition of noncommercial educational and public broadcast stations to those operating on reserved channels. Rather, section 397(6) defines the stations exempt from auctions under section 309(j)(2)(C) in terms of the station's eligibility under Commission rules to be licensed as a noncommercial educational or public broadcast station. And Commission rules do not require broadcast stations to operate only on reserved bands in order to be eligible for status as a noncommercial educational or public broadcast station. See 47 C.F.R. § 73.503. To the contrary, our rules specifically address the situation in which noncommercial educational stations operate on unreserved channels. See 47 C.F.R. § 73.513.

Had Congress intended to limit the exemption for noncommercial educational and public broadcasters from competitive bidding to cases in which such broadcasters were applying for reserved frequencies, presumably Congress would have done so explicitly. Indeed, prior versions of both the House and Senate bills expressly provided for an auction exemption limited to "channels reserved for noncommercial use," but those limitations were eliminated prior to passage. See H.R. 2015, 105th Cong., 1st Sess., § 3301(a)(1); S. 947, 105th Cong., 1st Sess., § 3001(a)(1). Where Congress deletes limiting language from a bill prior to enactment, it may be presumed that the limitation was not intended. See Russello v. United States, 464 U.S. 16, 23-24 (1983). We would not read this limitation back into the statute.

We fully agree with the majority, however, that it is not clear how the exemption from our auction authority contained in section 309(j)(2)(C) should be implemented. The practical question of how to establish a process for awarding licenses to noncommercial educational and public broadcast stations without running afoul of section 309(j)(2)(C) is, admittedly, a difficult one. We also agree that there is a range of options for how the Commission could award broadcast licenses to stations described in section 397(6). But to the extent that the majority fails to exclude the possibility that noncommercial educational and public broadcast stations seeking commercial frequencies will be forced to obtain their licenses through auctions, we respectfully dissent.