William Tauzin: “let me first apologize for the complexities in this bill. There is no way for us to deal with satellite policy and the…”

“let me first apologize for the complexities in this bill. There is no way for us to deal with satellite policy and the extraordinary nature by which this highly technical industry has developed without some very technical provisions. Let me secondly again compliment the chairman and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for the bill. It is a good attempt at accomplishing something which must be accomplished very soon, and that is the privatization of the government organizations, INTELSAT and Inmarsat, which service telecommunications needs across the world. Let me thirdly point out that the amendment I offer is in no way, shape, or form designed to gut this bill. It does not. It is a very targeted amendment which deals with a single provision in the bill, which many of us believe ought not be in the bill if we want a bill passed to accomplish its good purposes. Now, what is the provision that this amendment deletes? It is a very simple provision. It is a provision that says that the contracts that COMSAT has negotiated with companies like AT&T and MCI, those contracts to provide services over their network, could be abrogated by those customers unilaterally, at their own will, within a couple years. In effect, the provision in this bill is a grant of right by Congress to companies that have executed willfully, freely, contracts with COMSAT to then decide they will no longer keep those contracts and move their business to another company.”