Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I want Members to know I am going to put a statement in the Record supporting this legislation and urging all of our colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5728, the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization. The House passed H.R. 4572 in July, a bill that extends the expiring satellite television law and makes targeted reforms to the video marketplace. Since that time, we have engaged in bicameral, bipartisan negotiations that produced the compromise bill before us today. First and foremost, H.R. 5728 ensures that 1.5 million satellite subscribers across the country will not lose access to broadcast content when current law expires at the end of the year. H.R. 5728 maintains the key provisions designed to address abuses in the video marketplace that received bipartisan support in the Energy and Commerce Committee. In particular, it prohibits the collusive practice of joint retransmission consent negotiations by two or more broadcasters in the same market. I want to note that the language is carefully crafted to ensure it does not become a loophole for broadcasters who are deemed ``commonly owned'' under the Joint Sales Agreement attribution rules to continue to jointly negotiate retransmission consent deals with distributors. Further, we adopt additional reforms proposed by our colleagues in the Senate Commerce Committee.…”