Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Jeffries. I think one thing you and I both would point out in this is this is not one against another. It is not playing off. It is just being fair for all involved. You have artists who enjoy a very good living based on songs that were written by others. In this process and this ecosystem, we are not minding the platform. We are just saying to be fair in the use of it. We want to see every opportunity for every songwriter to be a part, but also be equally compensated, fairly compensated, not more, not less, just fairly compensated. I think that is the one thing I want to make sure that our songwriters and composers out there understand, that they are all in this together. They have advocated and continue to advocate, but know that we all come together. We are the beneficiaries of their genius. I think that is the thing. I appreciate you so much. Tonight, as we are coming sort of to an end, many people have asked me: Doug, how did you get involved in this? How did a kid from north Georgia get involved with songwriters? Well, the amazing thing is Georgia has almost 50,000 songwriters registered with many--BMI is one of the groups that is registered. ASCAP's Paul Williams is a dear friend. Of course, he has a real connection to Georgia, for all the folks who are watching, Smokey and the Bandit. Paul has connections to so many things in songwriting. This is a multimillion-dollar business, and these are all small entrepreneurs.…”