Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, to begin, I want to answer the question posed by the gentleman from Indiana about whether Members of Congress who play music when people are on hold are paying ASCAP. My understanding of this bill is that you incur that obligation if you are charging people, that is, if you are selling them a meal. So I assume those Members who have charged people to call them would owe ASCAP money. So if you have a separate line for contributors, then you better talk to ASCAP. For those of us who do not charge our constituents to call us, I think we are probably not in this situation. Although I do not play music on my phone, I do not sing or dance for my constituents, I have more mundane services I try to perform for them. But I would say to the gentleman, if you are charging people to call you, then you better be in touch with BMI and ASCAP.”