be considering h r twenty nine ninety four the satellite view or reauthorization act or vera vera grew out of the competing policy goals of promoting competition for pay television service and protecting our nationwide system of free local over the air broadcast television i'm pleased that this bill strikes the proper balance between these competing policy goals notably for the first time ever thanks to incentives included in h r twenty nine ninety four and the judiciary committee's portion of this bill we may be able to provide satellite service to all two hundred ten te levision markets including highly areas the committee started its work on this bill in february and since that time it has gone forward in a uniquely bipartisan manner i would like to thank chairman boucher for his leadership in this effort as a member of both the commerce committee and the judiciary committee chairman boucher's expertise has been instrumental in moving this bill towards the house floor that you just about your subcommittee counsel amy levine also deserves high praise for her efforts and knowledge of this arcane area of the law and i'd also like to think tim powderly of the committee staff for his tireless effort ranking members stearns and his staff particularly neil  freed deserve thanks for their hard work in bringing this bill forward this could not be processed through the subcommittee and now the committee without their dad it could not have been processed through the subcommittee and now the committee without their dedication and expertise and finally like to thank the national association of broadcasters direct t v and dish network for their contributions to this effort a bill of this complexity involves a balancing of issues involving content creation technology diversity and competition this cannot be written without the cooperation of all affected interests in order to serve the larger public interest we look forward to continuing to work with the satellite and broadcast industries as we resolve outstanding issues while this bill moves consideration by the house chairman boucher will be offering a bipartisan manager's amendment in the nature of a substitute that makes a number of changes r twenty nine eighty four which he will explain in more detail upon introduction we will also consider h r eleven forty seven the local community radio act as a longtime advocate of expanding low power f m radio denying the contribution they make to localism a bedrock of our communications law i'm pleased at the committee's acting on this important bipartisan measure i would like to recognize mr  terry for their leadership on this issue as a national public radio for working with the committee in a constructive manner to strengthen the interference protection measures contained in the bill are final communications related measures h r thirty six thirty three the public safety interoperable communications grant program extension act introduced by representative harman this bill has strong bipartisan support as well as the enthusiastic endorsement of leading public safety organizations the national governors association and several state police state police public safety officials including the city of los angeles the p s i see program program funds state projects that will we need to allow states the time and funds necessary to complete projected projects already underway or in planning stage stages if adopted president harman's legislation will provide the necessary time with regard to white extension act of two thousand and nine this program has been serving people living with hiv aids for nearly twenty years it provides treatment support services to nearly half a million people after  hearing last month we came together with our senate colleagues to find common grounds to ensure this program could continue on interrupted to reach consensus we all had to compromise because this bill reflects that approach it doesn't contain all of the provisions i'd like to see however i believe we have arrived at good solid that will strengthen the ryan white program for the next four years well i urge my colleagues each of these bipartisan measures and look forward to further discussion of them during today's markup i want to recognize members for opening statements and particularly the chairman and ranking members of the subcommittee involved the two subcommittees involved and we'll hear from m have been addressed in the substitute which will be offered this is a good bill to support it the original satellite in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight is credited with fostering the incredibly competitive video marketplace that we have today in high definition when the local affiliate is not broadcasting in high definition so as long as a satellite operator does the local affiliate high definition is available in that format they must clear existing regulatory obstacles rather than create a whole new set of rules as i've already mentioned the video market is robust competitive in that environment there should be less interference in the market not more  inspector general found that need additional time to comply with the program requirement this bill would simply allow funds to remain available for up to two years and would extend the performance  morning this morning our committee considers three measures that have been reported from the communications subcommittee i want to express my appreciation to the ranking member of the subcommittee mr stearns from measures were considered in fact the process we undertook at subcommittee on each of these measures was fully bipartisan and i want to commend all of the members who took part in our conversations on both sides of the aisle for that outstanding effor local television affiliate of that particular network it has generally worked well and deserves reauthorization and our measure this morning is designed to continue that feature in the law key provisions of the law expire at the end of this year and therefore passing this reauthorization in that air time frame is a necessity we've taken the opportunity of legislating on this subject in order to achieve what  for me has been a long held goal and i know it's a long held the gold for many rural residents today who could not receive local television signals delivered by satellite because in twenty eight local television markets around the united states neither of the two principal carriers of satellite delivered television echostar and direct t v currently uplink those local television signals we have two hundred ten television markets across the country and given commitments that have been made by one of the major carriers by echo star in a commitment letter sent to me earlier this year and with  are contained in the legislation we're considering this morning every salt's will be that in the near timeframe all two hundred ten local television markets will receive a local and a local television service and that truly is a major step forward i want to commend today echostar for making a very generous offer commitment letter earlier this year that if echostar receives the promotion  the statute an order to import distant network signals which is now barred by a law firm doing into those markets where there is not a full of network of cell the presence within that market in order to fill those gaps and serve those short markets with all the major networks that echo star would in the very near time frame probably within the year two thousand and ten serve all two hundred ten local television markets across the country that is a very generous offer and i want to express appreciation for it as a result of that commitment and the provisions we have in this legislation local television news weather and essential emergency information will soon be available to satellite subscribers and every market in the nation as the negotiations on this matter preceded the broadcasters and direct t v also played a highly constructive role and i want to commend all of the stakeholders for the good faith effort and the successful negotiations that have led to this landmark achievement today the committee also considers the local community radio active patron by our pennsylvania colleague mr doyle which will lead to the award of significantly more low power radio licenses unable to broader coverage of local matters of public interest under an agreement that has been reached between the proponents of more low power radio licenses and public radio stations special consideration of must be given to the translator facilities that are so commonly used by public radio stations and water to propagate to their signals across very broad geographic areas those translators stations typically receive a fairly weak signals from the transmitter and agreement legislation were barking up this morning that special consideration for those translator facilities will be provided i want to commend him for his fine work in bringing the matter before the committee i and i also briefly mr chairman i want to com our colleague harman and also our colleague from louisiana for their sponsorship of the third rail that we're marking up today which is a measure to enable funding for the  satellite television provisions are among the most complex that we deal with in the telecommunications in i'm pleased that members on both sides and their staffs have agreed to work in a bipartisan to reauthorize this piece of legislation we also are going to consider h r eleven forty seven the local community radio act which was introduced by mr terry and mr doyle that bill was passed unanimously by voice in the subcommittee last week it would repeal the statutory authority statutory limits on how close low power f m stations may operate to a full power station based on an f c c recommendation that there would not be interference nation's first responders have state of the art communications equipment to effectively communicate with others in times of disaster without an extension this effort will fall short because many states will be left with incomplete and partially funded project congresswoman harman on the majority side congressman who is not a member of this committee on the minority side are the two primary co sponsors of this legislation finally we are also reporting that of the full committe white care act which i'm a proud co sponsor of which we just reported at a subcommittee yesterday afternoon on a bipartisan basis not going to repeat all the remarks about the ryan white bill since we did that flexibilities to grants grantees using funding realistic testing goals and communications with emergency responders want to thank congressman pallone on the majority side congress when dealing congresswoman bono on the minority side for working to make this bill bipartisan into help clear through both houses just weekly is this is possible that mr chairman we look forward to the markup we'll pass thank you very much mr barton a chair now recognizes the chairman of the subcommittee on health said mr palumbo thank you mr chairman and thank you mr barton as well let me begin by recognizing the important role that chairman waxman played in the ryan white program since it inception he and his staff have been at the forefront in making sure people infected with hiv aids can access the treatment and services they need to stay alive and our actions today will make sure that this critical program continues to serve those in need this is chairman of hiv aids impacts almost every corner of this nation does not matter what part of the country you come from or who you are and for for the past twenty years the ryan white program has been there to provide the resources necessary for communities across the country to respond to this epidemic and provide lifesaving treatment for those who are infected as modern medicine and science continues to evolve and we discover more breakthroughs people with hiv aids are living longer and healthier lives that continue to provide these lifesaving treatment comes with a price tag that we must absolutely find a way to afford the fact that a diagnosis of a hiv aids no longer means a death sentence means we have to make sure every american is affected by this virus has an opportunity to access the medications he or she needs to stay alive and that's why i'm happy that the bill we're marking up today increases the funding levels for the ryan white program so that perhaps at this increase in funding fewer people will have to be told to wait to get the medicine or medical treatment they need to stay healthy my hope is that one day no one will have to wait either because enough funding is made available to provide treatment to everyone who needs it or that one day they will simply be a vaccine or cure discovered that will stand about this disease but until that day without objection all members will have an opportunity to submit an opening statement for the record i would like to recognize members who are however who wish to give an opening statement today to speak for one minute thank you for holding the markup and also want to thank you for the work that was done on the reauthorization the satellite home viewers act this was a bipartisan effort and i am appreciative of the fact that chairman  and their staff are willing to work with me and to include some language that i suggested in this bill i truly appreciate that i think we can all appreciate the importance of this bill as every five years it defines the rules by which the citizens of our country receive access to information by satellite creating an informed and connected but i am concerned about this issue of keeping our citizens involved as you're all aware there are nearly a hundred forty three states with or fun counties in which the residents of these counties principal source of news sports politics and weather from a major city not within their state many of us have long been aware of the problems associated with our constituents receiving non and state programming the recent senate judiciary markup of this bill as well as the senate commerce hearings has directed more attention to the fact that many members on both sides of the and within both chambers are feeling the sense of urgency to fix this problem i find it regrettable that committee was unable to finally fix the problem of orphan county d m a as this is a problem which i think will get worse as more and more citizens to our to their elected officials to let them know the extent by which their choice as consumers has been limited because they do not have access to local programming within their own state of eventually consumer choice and free market practices will lead this industry i believe that my language which is contained in this bill will help us progress in that direction hopefully in the future of this committee and those that have jurisdiction over all video programming it will allow consumers the choices which they demand i'm also pleased though that this committee will be considering h r thirty ryan white care act because the reauthorization is so essential to ensure the resources for individuals and families that are affected by the tragic disease and i'm pleased to priority for our unanimous consent so we're well on the way to extending a very important grant program i will comment when the legislation is brought up but i did also want to say i appreciate  very much appreciate the bipartisan support of comments in this committee for the legislation and for the sponsor of the legislation it means a lot and it was ironic and wonderful to actually chair a portion of the subcommittee hearing on the bill even though i'm no longer ensure that priorities and diverse voices get on the airwaves through the use of low power f m i'm also an original co sponsor of the ryan white care act which has been invaluable to the people of illinois our state over seventy five million dollars and ryan white funding and we need to pass this bill to continue the wide range of services provided to the legislation i want to also thank the community nationally in illinois and in chicago including  its foundation of chicago for being a tireless advocate and unwavering and the forty four thousand people living with hiv aids in the states we literally could not accomplish this bill another important piece of legislation like comprehensive making progress in addressing this very dreaded disease but we must stay focused we must continue to invest in treatment so that the lives of americans and their quality of life can be enhanced among the top ten counties with treatment i can't even fathom the idea of being able to afford proper health care the ryan white program has been a blessing to me and has given me a second chance to live a proactive life if the program so you know what to do even worse the insurance my employer provides would cover absolutely nothing i would be less complicated life saving medical treatment or keeping a roof over my head unfortunately i would have to choose the latter and have my authorization act the version before the committee is h r twenty nine ninety four as amended by the subcommittee on communications technology and the internet the clerk will report the bill and also mr stearns from florida it is a bipartisan amendment let me just briefly describe the major provisions that the substitute contains it inserts a provision that mr stearns had suggested that the f c c be directed to complete a study of whether the standard for determining the ability of holmes to receive a television signal that contains a network  a local affiliate of that network by means of an over the air reception as it is today using at and that is thirty feet in height which is a little unusual for homes to have  one questions whether those many of those are even routinely manufactured at the present time or whether perhaps other standards for the structure of the and so on and the height of the antenna should be accepted another provision makes conforming amendments that would prevent time shifting for the importation of a distance from an earlier time zone that's a provision of current law we simply retain that going forward  another provision contains the implementing requirements that are necessary for the commitment of that echostar has made an order to all two hundred local television markets nationwide essentially that implementing provision is that echostar be permitted to import distant that work noles in order to fill what we call short markets these are local television barket that do not have a full complement of all of the network affiliates and under this provision echostar could import the distance where that particular signal is missing on the local market so that a full complement of local stations and networks signals can be playing echostar under current law cannot perform that distant network signal importation they amendment contains a provision that states that nothing in the law will be required to be construed to require must carry for multicast signals with the digital television transition local television stations now have multiple streams of broadcast their primary signal is three or four additional streams that we called multicast signals and and that is a ritual of alternative entertainment in some cases they're carrying missing network signals we have another provision reaffirming that nothing in the act stands in the way of private negotiation for the retransmission of programming another provision requires that the federal communications commission issue our report to the congress concerning the number of households that receive local broadcast stations from a station that is licensed in another state that report would also have to the extent to which consumers have access to state television programming and whether alternatives exist to the current system by which determinations are generally made with regard to local markets that is known as the model and we're asking whether or not a different arrangement would be sensible for us to adopt as a way to encourage the provision of more programming for television viewers and i want to credit mr ross and also mr deal  for their advocacy of and state television programming and for bringing this study recommendation to us finally we have a provision that ensures that television viewers will not lose distant network question i'd be happy to regarding the study on different types of antennas page twelve of your amendment lines be in line seventeen re talking about taking into account the types of antennas are available to and used by consumers and then go into the considerations on the next page and whether or not they can be mounted on the roof replace the home or fixture capable of rotating i'm assuming that your intent here is not to go with the  least possible receiving capable antenna the other words the one that gets put inside a concrete building apartment building or something but will look at a range of them and that the report study would not make it make a determination that you can't receive it if you have this lesser antenna inside but you could on the roof but as you can to get one inside there for you now you get to signal is that with the gentleman well absolutely yes let me respond that the gentleman is absolutely correct we intend for the commission to look at the broad range of antennas that are commonly used by television viewers at the present time when we first wrote this law in  we ought to ask the commission to provide more current information so that perhaps the next time we authorize this measure or even through some interim amendments in the time before the expiration of the statute we might be able to better reflect the broad range of hands that is currently in use and i understand that and i don't have a problem with that what i want to make sure those i know from my own experience movie an antenna a few inches in some cases and some frequencies will be it inside versus outside can make a huge difference in reception how you turn it everything else and what i don't want to end up happening is for the commission to go and determine that you can have the you can make this decision on whether or not you get out of market signals floor will be able to deal with the language dress what our colleague from oregon but to make sure that the study's going to be a fair study and we don't preordained conclusion with the gentleman i'll be glad to thank you very much market television programming from various states oftentimes you have people and the orphan on the orphan side of that market meaning that is the smaller part of the overall market where people are receiving the great bulk of not all of their television programming from the state of the market that is primarily based in that ad the consequence is that dominant market area scenario is applied to satellite kerridge it's simply not possible for people to get satellite television signals that originate in their state they're getting it from from the state next door mr ross and mr have been very explicit about their concerns on this and there are concerns that in major part i share and i think other members do as well we need a system that is fair to all parties concerned fair to the television viewers that are part of that market share to the broadcasters wherever they're situated the goal is not to disrupt the business model of those broadcasters based on serving their current viewers and hopefully to a greater extent the ability of viewers to get television programming that programming is much more relevant to those viewers in many instances than the programming they're getting from another state and so we're not we're not trying to dictate a result and i  y differ with the gentleman's suggestion that that is the effect simply trying to get the most current information about other possible scenarios that could honor the needs of all of the interested parties but having said that let me also say million households are without access to their local channels when they subscribe to satellite service americans in these households reside in rural areas and are dependent on satellite or local news broadcasts local sports weather as part of the nine communications act to carry one carry all elected to use section one twenty two of the copyright act to gain a compulsory license for local broadcast media if they utilize a privilege provided by the government a free copy right if you will then they would be required to follow section three thirty eight obligations and could not discriminate against carry only two large stations in the local market companies could simply choose to station in a given market instead they are triggered by the decision to carry that station by making use of the section one twenty two license a satellite carrier that provides that carrier privately negotiate the required copyright clearances and retransmit the signal of the local broadcast station without incurring satellite without incurring any carriage obligations the court  industry discriminate against to remain real markets while simultaneously receiving government provided benefit my proposal management is actually weaker to what congress passed in the two thousand and eight satellite reauthorization when we mandated carriage thousand and four to eight billion in the fourth quarter of two thousand and eight so i would hope that members of the committee recognize that this is no longer industry unable to take on the public interest obligations i'm advocating now my proposal mehmet represents only  has the language in this amendment most import les the language not only accelerates the carriage date it precludes potential waivers of that date extending well into the future now dish has roughly fourteen million subscribers and they all deserve access to public television's h d signals dish gets privileges under this bill but i think that with those privileges comes the responsibility to serve the public interest my preference would have been that during the past three years of negotiations with p b s the dish would have decided to serve the public interest and provided equal treatment for non commercial stations it's important to note that direct v offers h d channels of one hundred and six local public television stations in their local markets dish is carrying h d in local commercial broadcast and a hundred fifty two markets covering ninety three percent of s households but here's the problem they're only carrying local public television h d broadcasts in alaska and hawaii where they are legally obligated to do so so i think everyone can appreciate the difference that exists here consumers i think have the right to view publicly funded programming and congress i think should act rather than stand in the way of this service there's been adequate notice of a serious problem but there's essentially been a failure to act that's why i'm offering the man meant i think that we've demonstrated mr chairman a great deal of patience and flexibility before offering this amendment my original bill mandated the dish carry the multicast signals of the p b s stations as well so this amendment is actually pared back and is a lighter touch for dish i think today is an opportunity for this committee to make a statement on whether or not it will acquiesce to this  last locally owned and controlled media entities in our country these public broadcasters provide local communities with high quality programs and services that should be available in high definition i am very disappointed that we have to resort to a legislative solution but on notice for years a congress has concerns about the availability of public broadcasting and i understand there are technical considerations that have to be addressed but i think these discussions are out of voluntary solution congress will act to ensure that households in all markets will receive their local public television if they are satellite subscribers and i join you  ok i'll be very quick number one i think it's very important for everyone to understand that the only the only satellite company that is not carrying the public broadcasting  from california ms eshoo and i recognize myself for five minutes to address the amendment i want to begin by commending you for her admirable advocacy of public broadcasting and i share her admiration for public broadcasting i am a public broadcasting viewer and the goal of her amendment is entirely commendable and i want to thank her for putting up before the committee and bring into our attention the need to have the public broadcast signals delivered in high definition by both satellite carriers at the earliest possible time but this morning because i have deep reservations about the way the amendment would affect existing understanding and business models  reluctantly oppose the amendment and i want to explain my reasons for that opposition under current regulations that are in force at the f c c the satellite carriers are already under an obligation to carry public broadcast ations and other stations in the local markets that they are up linking with local and to local services in high definition under a schedule that is set forth in the regulation and under that current requirements and that schedule by february the seventeenth of each of the next four years and ever the larger number of local television markets that the carriers have to playing in high definition in february of two thousand and ten fifteen percent of the markets that a carrier up with have to be carried in high definition under that existing requirement the next year local markets would have to be at high definition and by february the seventeenth of two thousand and thirteen all of the markets in the nation that a carrier would have to be uploading to high definition and so by and thirteen february of that year all of the p b s stations as well as other stations that the carrier uplinks would have to be carried in high def and under the current law the amendments that the gentle lady has offered would accelerate that timeframe with respect to public broadcasting stations and my concern is that echo star simply cannot achieve the high definition carriage schedule that the amendment would require and still honor the commitments that echostar has made to this committee and to the house judiciary committee that within the near term it will up a link all two hundred local television markets across the united states it's a question of whether or not there is adequate satellite capacity in order to honor both of those goals and achieve them both at the same time worried about the current schedule that echostar has for satellite launch is an order echo star has scheduled a new satellite launch for two thousand and ten for next year in order to honor the commitment it has made to uplink all two hundred local television markets across the united states and begin carrying those twenty eight local markets but at the present time do not have a local and a local television service and then in the fourth quarter of two thousand and twelve echo star has plans to launch a second new satellite that would meet the obligations that currently is imposed upon it by the federal communications commission to the uplink in high definition all of the markets that it would be up linking and that of course would include s stations now the company has said it simply cannot given its satellite capacity limitations and the planned launch schedule will meet the high definition requirements that are contained in the amendment for p b s stations and also honor the commitment that it's made to the committee that if it gets the right to import just and that work signals to fill the gaps in short markets that it will call two hundred ten local television markets in th term and that's the reason that i oppose this amendment i want to make just a couple of additional points echostar covers at the present time with local into local service one hundred eighty one markets direct t v coverage one hundred fifty two and the business plans of these two companies are somewhat different their business strategies are different direct t v beams more high definition programming that covers with that signal quality a large number of subscribers in the market it serves echostar has opted for bread and discovering with standard definition a far larger number of local markets and has now committed to us that it will go all the way to two hundred ten local markets covering the twenty eight that are not covered at the present time but much of that coverage of necessity is going to be in standard definition television echostar is today the single largest distributor among all of them all to channel distributors of public broadcasting television echostar carries more public broadcasting than any cable system and more public broadcasting than its competitor in the satellite t v space which is the largest distributor today of p b s programs and when it's up with links all two hundred ten local television markets it will be an even larger distributor of public television that it is today now that's a benefit to public television stations because they will be able to reach more viewers  through that new uplink an opportunity and that of course of enhanced is their fund raising and other things and so i am just concerned that that if this amendment is adopted it will upset the very carefully negotiated agreement that we have that would have echostar in the near term uplink all the two hundred ten local television markets my time has expired and at this time i'm pleased to recognize the gentleman from texas mr barton for five minutes to speak only a little thank you mr chairman let me echo your comments at the beginning of your remarks in terms of your respect and affection for the author of the amendment congresswoman eshoo i have the utmost respect and go out of my way to try to be supportive and offers amendments i am opposed to this amendment and i'm opposed to it very strongly my opposition is based on a different approach than yours mr chairman you were very eloquent in your practical explanation of the situation with echostar in the number of markets  timetable and their commitment and things like that my opposition is is philosophical we have a mandate that public television stations be carried  satellite and by our broadcasters i don't have a problem with that me because of the word public public television there isn't current law or regulation or requirement as you pointed out about two thousand and thirteen those stations be carried in high definition but how definition is a qualitative standard it's not an absolute minimum service standard and as you pointed out some of our satellite companies have responded more aggressively are to the market for high definition in public broadcasting in others and to me that's acceptable and appropriate because they're private so the issue i'm in that before us is making the argument that there has to be a qualitative standard applied and it has to be applied sooner and i think that's a mistake if one satellite provider wants to do it one way and another wants to do it another way and those that want to view public broadcasting over over satellite they have a choice they can buy the choices they make in the marketplace they can decide which satellite service to have to use and to pay for we should let consumers in the market make that choice middle a this is a minor it's a three year differential i mean it's this is not the sun's going to rise in the set in the west top of the debate it's it's it's it's a qualitative debate and it's it's a debate at the margin we're all going to support the  the satellite home years act when it comes to final passage and i don't think any of us will lose any sleep tonight depending on how this vote on the issue with women comes out you know she's be commended for strongly supporting the position that she has but i think people like myself should be commended for standing on a basic principle that when it's at all possible we should let the market operate and i don't see that the republic is going to be at fault if different satellite providers have different timetables for providing had definition service on their satellites it would be like if we had a mandate that everybody has to have a telephone and then we came back and mandated that it has to be a   full committee to vote against her amendment and strongly encourage the members on the minority to vote against the gentleman's time has expired the gentle lady california  right under the thank you mr chairman and i thank the ranking member i just want to make a few points on this it's clear that dish can do more than they are now required and whatever the that they've demanded other concessions that are unrelated and are unacceptable to the public station so they can clearly do more than they're saying and they should not be allowed to benefit from  think even though it's offensive to some people to hear that it's really discriminatory behavior furthermore there's no guarantee that they will in fact comply with the twenty thirteen deadline and they come up with an agreement this amendment melts away but for every single member of the committee these are publicly funded programs on public airwaves and i think to have that kind of denial with the exception of the state of alaska and hawaii is really not the best we can do in our country for our constituents that's the motivation for the amendment as i said we parroted back and  have plenty of time to do it i believe that their business plan can accommodate it and most frankly i don't think it's up to what chairman boucher just described in terms of understanding with others this time i'd be happy to give it but the dish network is carrying a local commercial broadcast one hundred fifty two markets covering ninety three percent of u s households however dish is only hearing local public television broadcasts in alaska and hawaii which it is legally obligated to do so in a dish is skewing the viewing public against local public television stations at the same time that the public  is funding these stations in fact dish is continuing this practice of discrimination even today recently added carriage to columbus mississippi south bend indiana fort wayne indiana lacrosse so cl its carriage of local signals from thirty markets to one hundred and fifty two markets without picking up a single public television station so it seems congress does have an interest in  necessarily for the public broadcasting channels so that means if you take a look at it they're already doing a high def they're just doing the public broadcasting channels and as i said they already have the infrastructure the spot beam instructors in place they have the capacity so this is really a debate on whether we as a committee believe then sure public broadcasting is on the same level as private broadcasters in the public interest there they're grown all of them were brought up watching educational programming on my local public broadcasting stations between sesame street mr rogers neighborhood reading rainbow all these other great things public broadcasting stations offer a great number of program the kids and when these kids grow up they're able to watch the high quality news cultural and documentary broadcast on the same station many people in this room know i'm a huge baseball fan i have to say that ken burns documentary on baseball is one of the best shows i've seen on television right now as our colleagues have mentioned p b s stations are a huge disadvantage with satellite customers in almost all marketing all markets across the country w satellite customers are enjoying the great benefits of high definition commercial broadcast satellite companies have chosen not to broadcast p b s in h d and it's a massive disservice to americans who want to see high quality programming the way it was meant well and i for one i am my very strong supporter of public broadcasting i consumers know across the country and i was there in las vegas a few years ago and we saw the first demonstration of what it could do and what it could swath of communities mostly i assume rural communities would no longer get selection on that well it will the gentleman yield yes there are twenty eight local television markets across the nation that do not have what we call a local and a local television service that means that neither want of the two major satellite carriers are the local television stations in those markets and beaming them back into the market for reception by television viewers locally they're what dish network echo star has committed to do if provisions in this bill we have in the manager's amendment become law in order to meet that obligation and to serve these twenty eight local markets echostar simply does not have satellite capacity that is necessary and will not under its current launch schedule to do that and provide that market local service and at the same time meet the requirements that would be imposed under amendment whereby the p b s stations nationwide would have to be carried in high definition the capacity to do both simply doesn't exist and the concern i expressed earlier which i will offer in answer to the gentleman's question is that i am troubled by the fact that this amendment if it becomes law could upset the very carefully negotiated arrangement that we  mister i really can't allow it to stand in the record that this is a surprise today i introduced the legislation almost three years ago circulated the bill to every single member both sides of the counsel of dish so this is pretty well known throughout the committee i think and so i just i just want to correct that i think what i think is that is a real misconception i also want and because of a through dish other satellite companies have done this and with all due respect i don't believe this is going to upset a business plan i mean this is this is something that can be worked out by the parties and this amendment will melt away this is not going to stand in in the twenty second century this is not some fearful menace seen oh my god the sky is caving in thing we're saying to these people get to the table and get this thing settled so that people across the country will have access to what we know is really valuable programming for people in our country but every member here knows regardless of what side of the aisle they're on the value of p b s in a time when there is more shouting and more heat rather than light cast on things public broadcasting is the place that makes the breakthrough where they bring facts to the american people and it's up to people to make up their minds to broaden the intellect in the understanding of our great democracy so while do any further members desire to be recorded  the clerk will report r thirty six thirty three a bill to allow funding for the interrupt operable emergency communications grant program established digital television transmission and public safety act of two thousand and five to remain available until chairman on nine eleven there were two massive failures one of them was our failure to connect with the f b i didn't talk to itself it didn't talk to the cia there was information in our government that could have led us to find several of the hijackers on that day and hopefully prevent them and perhaps prevent the whole plot from occurring but the other major failure was the lack of an in communications network the n y p d helicopters were circling over the towers the trade towers while they were glowing red and the police department was frantically trying to communicate with the fire department whose brave firefighters were climbing up the stairs and who had counseled people to remain in place obviously the information was wrong but the firefighters couldn't receive the  every major law enforcement agency and certainly the support of the police chief and the sheriff of los angeles county the largest county in america it will fix part of problem it will give these communities a longer time to get the funding absolutely need from the federal government and that i applaud and i think every member this committee is what it won't fix however is the urgent need for a national interoperable communications capability and that will only come when we finally get on with figuring out how to continue to favor a public private partnership and not just push the talk radio system in every community in america but nonetheless this bill is a critical building block for a read the gentleman from pennsylvania mr doyle is recognized for five minutes to strike the last word thank you mr chairman i want to thank you chairman waxman for so strongly supporting this legislation that will bring local communities across this country access to their airwaves i'm very proud of the support that this bill has from both sides of the aisle including the bill's lead co sponsor and my friend terry and for many other members of this sub committee through the creation of lp fm the federal communication commission sought to create opportunities for new voices on the airwaves and to allow local groups including schools churches and other community based organizations to provide programming responsive to local community needs and interests when congress passed the radio broadcasting preservation act in two thousand many of those organizations were prevented from communicating to their members supporters and residents on the f m radio dial by what were known as third adjacent protections basically a low power station has to be more than three clicks of the dial on both sides away from a bigger broadcaster the bill was enacted because some incumbent broadcasters worried about the interference that new low power ref am radio stations might cause that would harm radio listeners across the dial thanks to the work of my good friend chairman dingell and others congress at that time also wisely mandated that an outside study be conducted to evaluate those claims and congress demanded that our export agency over the public's airways that they review that outside study analyze its impact on listeners and incumbent radio broadcasters and then vote on its conclusions and recommend to us if we should reduce the impact or eliminate altogether the impact of that law on a unanimous bipartisan basis the federal communication commission issued a report t congress on feb nineteenth two thousand and four which stated congress should readdress this issue and modify the statute to a limb and the third adjacent channel distance separation requirement for lp f m stations for a second time on nov twenty seventh two thousand and seven and for a third time once again last month on september seventeenth two thousand and nine before the subcommittee all five commissioners agreed that congress should lift the restrictions on lp f m stations and allow the f c c to license new stations in more communities where they are allowed to exist under current law lp f m stations have proven to be a vital source of information during local or national emergencies and these stations promote the arts and education from religious organizations community groups organizations promoting literacy and many other civically oriented organizations but we have to act on the e third but you don't have to take my word for every f c c commissioner since two thousand and three words or the might or corporations outside studies for we all know what will work because it already works currently large commercial and noncommercial f m stations duplicate and extend their signal on second and third adjacent channels to our radio station using a was two and a half times more powerful than the thank you the chair now calls up h r three seventy nine to the ryan white h i v aids treatment extension act clerk will report the title of the bill h r thirty seven ninety two and without objection the bill we will be considered as read i'm not aware of any  anybody interested in commenting on this any further if anybody feels they need to say something please tell us otherwise we're going to move to move the bill to the floor ok i would move that the committee report h r three seven nine two to the full house with the recommendation that the bill passed all those in favor will say i all those opposed say no in the opinion of the chair house without objection the staff is authorized to make technical and conforming corrections to all the bills approved today before we adjourn though we do have to make a change to the previous bill the local community a clarification with regards the previous bill h r eleven forty seven the local community radio act of two thousand and nine the bill was reported to the needy rather than to the full house and so i would basically asked that we move to report h r eleven forty seven the local community radio act of two thousand and nine to the full house with the recommendation that the bill pass and so will have another vote on that all those in favor will say all those opposed say no and if you knew that you had eyes have it and that bill h r eleven forty seven is also reported to the full house with  recommendation that the bill passed that any other business before the committee today if not without objection the meeting of the committee is adjourn