A letter signed by 72 members of the House of Representatives has been sent to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras opposing the proposed satellite radio merger.

The letter was authored by Reps. Gene Green (D-TX) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and signed by 47 Democrats (including Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich) and 25 Republicans. In the letter, the House members state that, "On its face, we believe that sanctioning the marriage of the only competitors in the satellite radio market would create a monopoly which would be devastating to consumers." They add that "there is scant evidence that a merger would produce any cost savings that a combined Sirius/XM potentially might pass on to subscribers. Both companies are locked into numerous long-term expensive arrangements with their most prized talent and programming. In addition, Sirius and XM would face protracted obstacles to combining their platforms because they use different radio encoding technologies."

The letter concludes by urging the DOJ, FCC and FTC "to protect consumers, and protect competition, by denying this merger."

Just last week, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and House Judiciary Antitrust Task Force Ranking Member Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) sent a letter to Martin and Gonzalez questioning the proposed merger.