Michael Burgess: “I do want to thank Chairman Barton, chairman of the Full Committee; and the gentleman from Michigan, who is the…”

“I do want to thank Chairman Barton, chairman of the Full Committee; and the gentleman from Michigan, who is the subcommittee chairman; as well as Vice Chairman Pickering. And also we have enjoyed the bipartisan support from Bobby Rush on our committee. This is truly a bipartisan product that was forged together after countless hours of negotiation. Its recent passage out of the Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 42-12 only underscores this point. Mr. Chairman, I represent a district in north Texas, and there is a community within that area in north Texas named Keller. Keller, Texas, a very forward-thinking town of over 36,000 people. Keller is home to Verizon's first fiberoptic television system. What has happened since the fiberoptic system was introduced in the Keller market is that prices for cable TV are now 25 percent lower than they were before the entry into the video market. New services, new technologies, lower prices. Consumers now have a choice, and over 30 percent of the market has signed up for this new fiberoptic service from Verizon. Clearly, people want choice. The citizens of Keller not only have access to one of the best telecommunications networks in the world, and a choice of providers, but they also get much better services at competitive prices. What is even more intriguing is about a third of those new video customers were not previously cable customers.…”