{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-to-rosenworcel-rushed-approval-of-soros-fund-management-audacy-deal-raises-questions", "Cotton to Rosenworcel: Rushed Approval of Soros Fund Management-Audacy Deal Raises Questions", "2024-10-10", "2024", "2024-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today wrote a letter to Federal Communications Commission\u2019s (FCC) Chairwomen Jessica Rosenworcel concerning the purchase of more than 200 radio stations by Soros Fund Management (SFM). The rushed approval of SFM\u2019s purchase of Audacy raises concerns about the FCC\u2019s process, its impartiality, and the risks to our national security.\n\nIn part, Senator Cotton wrote:\n\n\u201cThe FCC\u2019s approval process for large acquisitions of radio stations generally takes a year or more to complete and is subject to a national-security review if foreign-company ownership exceeds 25 percent. In this case, however, the FCC reportedly attempted to approve the SFM transaction with only 48 hours\u2019 notice. Reports also indicate that no other commissioners aside from you were invited to opine on the issue before staff handled it on the Commission\u2019s behalf. Moreover, SFM requested to bypass the traditional national-security review, despite raising $400 million for the purchase with foreign investments.\u201d\n\nFull text of the letter may be found here and below.\n\nOctober 10, 2024\n\nJessica Rosenworcel\n\nChairwoman\n\nFederal Communications Commission\n\n45 L Street NE\n\nWashington, DC 20554\n\nDear Chairwoman Rosenworcel,\n\nI write regarding the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s (FCC) decision to expedite Soros Fund Management\u2019s (SFM) purchase of more than two hundred radio stations just weeks before a critical presidential election.\n\nThe FCC\u2019s approval process for large acquisitions of radio stations generally takes a year or more to complete and is subject to a national-security review if foreign-company ownership exceeds 25 percent. In this case, however, the FCC reportedly attempted to approve the SFM transaction with only 48 hours\u2019 notice. Reports also indicate that no other commissioners aside from you were invited to opine on the issue before staff handled it on the Commission\u2019s behalf. Moreover, SFM requested to bypass the traditional national-security review, despite raising $400 million for the purchase with foreign investments.\n\nThis decision affects over 165 million monthly listeners on Audacy\u2014a network that includes conservative programming like Sean Hannity, Dana Loesch, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, and Erick Erickson. It would be naive to think the timing is coincidental, or that a Soros-funded network would impartially manage conservative talk shows in the weeks before the election. The FCC\u2019s rushed approval of SFM\u2019s purchase raises significant concerns about the FCC\u2019s process, its political impartiality, and the risks to our national security.\n\nI urge the FCC to use its traditional process outlined by Section 310 of the Communications Act. Accordingly, please respond to the below questions by ___\n\nUnder existing FCC rules, foreign-company ownership of U.S. radio stations should not exceed 25 percent. Did SFM request to bypass the national-security evaluation? If so, did you approve it?\n\nWhat other exceptions to the existing rule regarding foreign-ownership of U.S. radio stations have occurred during your tenure as Chairwoman?\n\nWho was invited to opine on SFM\u2019s purchase of Audacy?\n\nWhat efforts were made to undergo a legitimate public-interest analysis?\n\nSincerely,\n\nTom Cotton\n\nU.S. Senator\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-to-rosenworcel-rushed-approval-of-soros-fund-management-audacy-deal-raises-questions"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.124682068824768, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}