ON MARCH 19, 1979–25 years ago today–an energetic congressman from Tennessee delivered the first televised speech on the House floor. That congressman was Al Gore, and this is what he said in the one minute allotted to him by then-House speaker Tip O’Neill:
And with that, the Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network, or C-SPAN, was born. A little over seven years later, on June 2, 1986, Gore’s hope became a reality, and C-SPAN 2 was launched. Gore, a senator by that time, delivered one of the first speeches aired on the new sister program that would televise Senate proceedings.
In preparation for this article, I headed over to the C-SPAN office to watch the first two hours of House action ever televised by the network. I pop the first tape in, listen closely to Gore’s opening speech, and watch various representatives take to the floor to introduce their respective bills. Rep. Earl Hutto (D-Fla.) introduces a bill to amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977, and Rep. Bob Carr (D-Mich.) lobbies for a bill to place a limit on outside incomes earned by members of both houses of Congress. Representative C.W. Bill Young, a particularly passionate Republican from Florida, spends his minute criticizing international organizations like the World Bank, or what he calls “super-sovereign group[s] of high-living, international moneychangers accountable to no one but themselves.”
Later, there is a rather heated debate over House Resolution 1301, a bill that would amend Title 18 of the U.S. Code and allow for the overseas mailing of lottery equipment , tickets, etc. to foreign countries where playing the lottery is already legal. Enter Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Calif.), who argues that “gambling” legislation is unwise, unimportant, and unnecessary: “These are times of serious problems, both domestic and international. Inflation, the Middle East, the energy crisis all deserve the creative, working attention of this House. HR 1301 deserves neither our attention nor our support.” Representative Harold S. Sawyer (R-Mich.) disagrees; and so does Rep. George E. Danielson (D-Calif.), who rattles off the benefits, such as U.S. job creation, that would result from passing the bill.
And just when I think the whole discussion is getting a bit monotone, I notice Rep. Sawyer’s bright plaid pants. This blinding ’70s fashion statement awakens my senses, and so I watch the second hour, which includes a debate on the importance of technology, specifically the need to develop and improve the House’s computer system.
Brian Lamb, the network’s founder, told Broadcasting magazine in 1980 that part of C-SPAN’s mission “is to show that [politics] isn’t always exciting.” Exciting or not, C-SPAN has become a cable TV institution that has, quite literally, shaped the way constituents view their representatives, even those that former representative B.F. Sisk (D-Calif.) once called the “nappers and nosepickers,” according to a 1979 article by the Los Angeles Times. Viewers could see their representatives in law-making action minus the commentary and analysis of reporters. Since day one, the network has broadcast over 24,346 hours of House floor proceedings. On March 19, 1979, the live broadcast could be seen in 3.5 million households. Today, 87 million homes have C-SPAN.
The new era of gavel-to-gavel coverage expanded to include a number of shows, including Lamb’s Booknotes, a weekly, hour-long interview program with a non-fiction author, and live viewer call-in sessions, whereby viewers can voice their opinions to elected officials and journalists. The network has aired numerous speeches and press conferences.
So today, let us raise our gavels as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of what Lamb once called “a step toward the development of a better governmental system”–and let us hope for many more years of responsive lawmakers and a more politically-aware public.
Erin Montgomery is an editorial assistant at The Weekly Standard.
