47 U.S.C. § 151 — Purposes of chapter; Federal Communications Commission created

This section states the purpose behind regulating wire and radio communication across states and countries: to make a rapid, efficient, nationwide, and worldwide communication service available, as far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The service should come with adequate facilities at reasonable prices. The regulation also serves the purpose of national defense, and it promotes the safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communication. To carry out this policy more effectively, the section centralizes authority that used to be spread across several different federal agencies, and grants additional authority over interstate and foreign commerce in wire and radio communication. To do this job, the section creates a commission called the "Federal Communications Commission." The FCC is set up as described elsewhere in this chapter, and it executes and enforces this chapter's provisions.