Thanks to your help, the on-air advocacy spots that ran in July sent a powerful message to Congress during a pivotal moment for the broadcast industry. Because of your commitment to running the spots, harmful spectrum language was not ultimately included in debt ceiling legislation.

Despite this accomplishment, the spectrum fight is not over yet. Once Congress is back in session, there will be several opportunities for spectrum legislation to move forward, and we must ensure that any legislation includes the viewer protections that broadcasters seek.

In particular, the debt ceiling bill that passed earlier this month established a bipartisan congressional committee tasked with recommending spending cuts to achieve additional deficit reduction. The special committee must report its recommendations by late November, upon which Congress must vote by December 23. We expect that voluntary incentive auctions will be a part of these negotiations.

To help ensure that spectrum incentive auctions are voluntary and legislation includes viewer protections, it is imperative that your members of Congress fully understand this issue.

NAB encourages broadcasters to reach out to members of Congress during the final days of congressional recess, which ends September 6. Consider inviting your member of Congress to your station or plan a visit to their district office. To help your member of Congress understand the spectrum issue, NAB has provided a grassroots action kit. You can also refer to our spectrum website, www.TheFutureofTV.org for more information.