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Norton Says FCC Ban on the On-Air Use of Washington Football Team Name is Necessary

October 1, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to use its authority to ban the use of the Washington pro football team name on broadcast TV and radio stations following Tuesday's announcement that the FCC is considering banning the on-air use of the team name by broadcasters. Norton said she applauds George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf III for filing a petition with the FCC to prevent the renewal of a federal broadcast license to a local radio station that continues to use the team name, which was referenced in Tuesday's announcement by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Banzhaf's petition calls the team name a racial slur and offensive to Native Americans, which he says violates the FCC regulations against hate speech and indecency. Just weeks ago, Wheeler said that he would not use the team name because it was derogatory, making him the second member of the commission to speak out about the team name. If the FCC deems the team name to be indecent, all on-air broadcasters could be fined for the use of the name.

"Prohibiting the use of the team name on TV and radio would help significantly to prevent the widespread use of a term that has been adjudicated and found to be a racial slur that offends Native Americans and many others of all backgrounds," Norton said. "The FCC petition is a potent tool to add to the others stimulated by Native people."

Norton, a congressional leader in the effort to compel a name change, recently announced that she will introduce the House companion bill to Senator Cantwell's bill that would strip the National Football League (NFL) of its tax exempt status as long as it continues to promote the current name of its Washington football team. In June, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled the Washington football team's trademark registration. Last year, Norton was one of the nine original cosponsors of H.R. 1278, the Non-Disparagement of Native American Persons or Peoples in Trademark Registration Act, which calls for the cancelation of existing trademark registrations containing the Washington football team name. Norton also joined several of her colleagues in sending a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Washington football team sponsor FedEx, Washington team owner Dan Snyder, and the 31 other NFL franchises, urging them to support a change to the Washington football team name.