Jim Sensenbrenner: “Mr. Speaker, I thank the majority leader for calling up this bill which is appropriately named in tribute to our…”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the majority leader for calling up this bill which is appropriately named in tribute to our colleague, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), who will retire at the end of this year after having served the citizens of Louisiana for more than a quarter century. This bill is a product of a remarkable collaborative effort that has involved members of the Committee on the Judiciary and Committee on Energy and Commerce. I would like to especially thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) for his excellent cooperation through this entire process. The manager's amendment to the bill, which the Committee on the Judiciary approved unanimously on July 7, 2004, incorporates H.R. 4501 which was the Committee on Energy and Commerce version of the bill reported on July 22. The manager's amendment incorporates important refinements to both the copyright and communications acts. These provisions are designed to extend for an additional 5 years the license that permits satellite TV companies such as DirecTV and EchoStar to retransmit to their subscribers TV programming shown on distant network stations and superstations. The extension will ensure that Americans who live in rural areas where they have trouble receiving signals from the regular broadcast stations will continue to have access to network TV programming. Significantly, this bill does not simply preserve the status quo for the statutory period.”