July 9, 1997


            Press Statement of Commissioner Susan Ness 
                             Regarding 
           Proposed Notice of Inquiry on Broadcast Liquor
                            Advertising 


Today, the votes of two Commissioners prevent this agency
from initiating an inquiry on broadcast liquor advertising. 
We have been asked to look into the matter by a dozen States,
a bipartisan group of 26 Members of Congress, scores of
public interest, parent, and community organizations, and
even the President of the United States.  I am willing to
respond positively to their requests.  

Adoption of the proposed Notice of Inquiry would have
commenced a process in which all interested parties could
have debated all of the relevant issues, openly and publicly. 
Instead, what should have been a robust debate has been
foreclosed, at least at this time and in this venue, before the
process of seeking public comments has even begun.  Neither
the First Amendment nor the Communications Act is well
served when debate is suppressed.

The proposed Notice of Inquiry is responsible, responsive,
and restrained.  It embodies no findings of fact, no tentative
conclusions, and no proposals for regulatory action.  A
variety of measures have been proposed by various
organizations, but the Notice wisely does not prejudge the
desirability of any of these proposals or the Commission's
legal authority to adopt them.  I cannot understand how
anyone could conclude -- with no public record and no
participation by interested parties -- that the Commission
cannot even conduct an inquiry without violating the
Communications Act or the Constitution.

Parents' organizations and others concerned with alcohol
abuse have come to us, not because they think we have
special expertise on the subject of alcohol abuse, but because
they recognize the power of television in everyday life and
they know that the FCC is tasked with assuring that
broadcasters serve the public interest, convenience, and
necessity.  To these people, the issue of broadcast liquor
advertising is unquestionably within the purview of the FCC.  
I agree.

It has been alleged that the proposed inquiry would
"duplicate" the work of the Federal Trade Commission.  Not
so.  While unconfirmed news reports indicate that the FTC
has confidential, company-specific investigations under way,
these proceedings do not provide an opportunity for
widespread public participation, do not create a public record,
and do not fully ventilate the panoply of relevant legal and
public policy issues.  No agency other than the FCC can
provide (or has been asked to provide) the kind of forum that
will permit a full discussion of these issues.


The controversy over liquor advertising on television will not
disappear.  The many, many voices calling for us to look into
the issues will not be silenced, and I do not doubt that citizens
will continue to look to the Commission to provide a forum in
which all parties will be permitted to present the facts and
arguments they believe to be relevant.  In my judgment, we
can and should provide that forum. 


                               - FCC -