Congress should allow C-SPAN's news cameras to broadcast House and Senate action from the chamber instead of only providing a video feed to the public affairs network, a C-SPAN executive told Just the News.

C-SPAN Corporate Vice President and General Counsel Bruce Collins described the current setup as state-run television in an interview on the "Just the News AM" show.

During the CARES Act debate last March, some lawmakers in the House objected to passing the $2 trillion stimulus bill with a voice vote, but the public could not see a shot of the full chamber while the situation unfolded. "Well, that's the difference between journalism and government, I don't know, propaganda, or government television — state TV, is what we have in the House, in the Senate," Collins said, referring to the example above.

"[O]ver the years, we've noticed many times where there will be a disturbance in the gallery, for example, and everybody will be looking up," Collins recalled. "But the state TV or the congressionally controlled cameras won't show you what's going on."

C-SPAN has sent letters to congressional leaders over the years to request camera access in the House and Senate chambers. Despite C-SPAN's outreach efforts, Collins doesn't think the network will be able to get their cameras inside Congress any time soon.

"The answer is no," Collins said.