Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, it turns out that during the Christmas holiday season, when not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, the Federal Communications Commission violated America's freedom of religious expression.

You see, the FCC on December 29, last year, concluded that in order for noncommercial educational television stations to retain their licenses, stations must devote 50 percent of their programming hours to shows that are educational and cultural. However, the FCC decided that `statements of personally held religious views and beliefs' could not qualify as educational or cultural.

Thus, broadcasts of religious sermons, simply the sermon, and church services, according to the FCC, would have no educational or cultural significance and would not count towards the 50 percent obligation.

As a result, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the `Religious Broadcasting Freedom Act,' which reverses this decision.