Three members of the Congressional Black Caucus have asked Sirius Satellite Radio to reconsider its decision to stop broadcasting The Word Network, a channel featuring African-American ministries and gospel music, according to an Aug. 11 release by The Word Network.

In letters to Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) and Albert Wynn (D-Md.), claim that ending the broadcast of the network violates the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) original intent for satellite radio: to serve the public interest.

“We view the availability of family-oriented programming such as The Word Network as consistent with the promotion of the FCC’s public policy objectives,” Cummings and Wynn said in letter. “The Word Network is truly unique in this respect, as it is the only network providing family value programming specifically oriented toward urban ministries and the African-American community.”

The representatives met Aug. 10 with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, host of The Word Network’s Rainbow Push program; Lewis Gibbs, the network’s vice president of operations; John Mattiello, the network’s director of marketing, and Jay Clark, vice president of programming for Sirius.

During the meeting, Clark told Jackson and Gibbs that Sirius also had cancelled two other minority channels, The Word Network said.

“We’re certainly going to explore why they are silencing minority voices,” Gibbs said. “… Our request is simple: if Sirius can make room for the values Howard Stern represents, we’d also like them to make room for the values we represent.”