Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this bill is the single most important copyright bill to be considered by this Congress to date. It represents the culmination of a legislative process that began with hearings in the House Judiciary and Energy and Commerce Committees in February 2009. Though bearing a Senate bill number, many of the policy positions contained in this bill originated in earlier House versions of the legislation, including H.R. 3570, which overwhelmingly passed the House last year. The legislation that previously passed the House and is incorporated into S. 3333 actually integrates two separate bills: H.R. 3570, introduced by Chairman Conyers and reported by the Judiciary Committee on September 16, 2009; and H.R. 2994, which was the Energy and Commerce Committee's related measure to amend the Communications Act. The principal purpose of this measure is to extend the compulsory license in section 119 of the Copyright Act that authorizes satellite carriers to deliver distant network programming to subscribers. While fewer consumers rely upon the distant license to receive network programming than in years past, about 1 million households still derive some benefit from it. The absence of an immediate market alternative makes it necessary once again for Congress to extend the license temporarily until December 31, 2014.…”