(CNSNews.com) - Conservative lawmakers and activists are pressing the House of Representatives to hold a floor vote on the Broadcaster Freedom Act, a bill that would ensure that no future president could regulate the airwaves without an act of Congress.

The bill is a preemptive effort to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, which mandated that broadcasters airing opinion programs must also grant air time to those expressing an opposing viewpoint. The Fairness doctrine was in effect from1949 to 1987.

At a press conference on Wednesday, leaders of the House Republican conference said that re-imposing The Fairness Doctrine would be "unfair" and would limit the constitutional right to freedom of expression.

"Bringing back the Fairness Doctrine would amount to government control over political views expressed on the public airwaves. It is dangerous to suggest that the government should be in the business of rationing free speech," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act a year ago.

The bill is bottled up in committee. Pence has gathered 194 signatures (out of a required 218) on a discharge petition, a maneuver that would force the bill to bypass committee and go straight to the House floor for a vote. On Wednesday, Pence challenged House Democrats to "declare their independence, stand for freedom and sign the Discharge Petition for Broadcast Freedom before the 4th of July."

Conservatives note that since conservatives dominate talk radio, any attempt to reimpose the Fairness Doctrine would be an attempt to muzzle and stifle conservative speech. The thought is that broadcast executives, faced with a choice of matching conservative programs with liberal programs, would scrap all of it.

"The idea of the government being the censor of what happens on the radio is one of the more bizarre things I have heard," said House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio). "Let's make a permanent law so we don't have government censorship of our airwaves."

"It's time to get the government out of the business of regulating who is and who is not allowed on the airways and how much time they will be allocated," said House Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam(R-Fla.). "We call on listeners to stand up and be heard."

L. Brent Bozell III, founder of the Media Research Center, the parent organization of Cybercast New Service, said Democrats view the Fairness Doctrine as a muzzle: "With talk radio flourishing, and conservatives finally having their voices heard, liberals desire to shut them up and shut them down by reinstitution the Fairness Doctrine," he said.

Laura Ingraham, a conservative talk show host, said, "This is nothing more than an attempt to have government regulate one of the most effective forms of political discussion today."

Right now, there is no pending legislation to restore the Fairness Doctrine, but a number of liberal lawmakers have raised the possibility, including Senate Majority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)