Herb Kohl: “I rise in support of S. 2097, the Launching Our Communities Access to Local Television Act of 2000. Enacting this…”

“I rise in support of S. 2097, the Launching Our Communities Access to Local Television Act of 2000. Enacting this legislation will complete our work on the Satellite Home Viewer Improvements Act that we voted into law last fall. Simply put, the LOCAL TV bill is the last piece of the puzzle that will encourage competition to cable in all markets, not just the top 20 or 30 largest urban areas. At the SHVIA Conference just this past year, we tried to tackle how to encourage 'local-into-local' service into all areas, not just the biggest and most lucrative TV markets. But we only had mixed success. So it made sense to postpone the debate until this year. At the time, I was not entirely comfortable with the precursor of this measure. But I did then and I do now strongly support its goals. Today's package develops an approach that combines incentives and loan guarantees, which will pave the way for 'local-into-local' service to reach into our rural areas. I am encouraged by the revisions that addressed the concerns of Chairman Gramm and others.”