Joe Barton: “my amendment expresses the sense of the Congress that the way to get valuable spectrum promptly into the hands of public…”

“my amendment expresses the sense of the Congress that the way to get valuable spectrum promptly into the hands of public safety officials without shutting off consumers' televisions is to enact comprehensive, hard-deadline digital television legislation. The Senate-passed 9/11 bill, however, requires the return of only a portion of that spectrum, rather than all the spectrum that broadcasters are currently using for analog broadcasts. Broadcasters estimate that these provisions would shut off as many as 75 stations. Many of these broadcasters carry major networks in major markets. Because the Senate bill does not require the other broadcasters to vacate their analog spectrum, there will be nowhere to relocate these 75 stations. By waiting until the 109th Congress set a date-certain for all broadcasters to clear the spectrum they use for analog broadcasts, we can turn spectrum over to public safety sooner, and all broadcasters will be able to move to their final digital channels. The remaining spectrum can be auctioned for advanced commercial services, such as wireless broadband. Some of the billions of dollars generated can then be used for digital-to-analog converter boxes so that households relying on over-the-air analog broadcasts can continue to use their analog televisions.”