Ed Markey: “as the gentleman points out, there are thousands of people across the country who are affected by this court ordered…”

“as the gentleman points out, there are thousands of people across the country who are affected by this court ordered cutoff of distant TV signals, meaning that people with satellite dishes cannot pick up the national NBC or CBS or ABC or Fox feed. Specifically here I think CBS and Fox are in question. The legislation that we are introducing today will help give consumers limited relief to reapply for permission to obtain these signals or to apply for waivers from their local broadcasters, that is, write or visit their local TV station and say, ``Please, I can't get your signal here locally. Let me take this national feed so I can gain advantage to the programming, news and entertainment that are so valuable for my family.'' Equally important, it will give Congress additional time to develop a long-term plan to update the Satellite Home Viewer Act and to include permission for satellite local-to-local broadcasts. Meaning that we have to now develop as a strategy a way in which an individual with an 18-inch dish now, to pick up their local TV stations. Today, they cannot do that. Today, it is impossible. If you want to have a satellite dish, you have to give up access to your local TV stations. You have got to put up your own antenna. You have got to subscribe to the cable service as a supplement. {time} 1230 But you cannot get it all from a satellite dish.”