S10186 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 30, 2008 

table, and that any statements relating 

to the bill be printed in the RECORD. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

The bill (H.R. 6524) was ordered to a 

third reading, was read the third time, 

and passed. 

f 

VESSEL HULL DESIGN 

PROTECTION AMENDMENTS OF 2008 

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the Senate 

proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 931, H.R. 6531. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will report the bill by title. 

The legislative clerk read as follows: 

A bill (H.R. 6531) to amend chapter 13 of 

title 17, United States Code (relating to the 

vessel hull design protection), to clarify the 

definitions of a hull and a deck. 

There being no objection, the Senate 

proceeded to consider the bill. 

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. Presdient, I am 

pleased that the Senate today will pass 

the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act 

Amendments of 2008. The Senate unanimously passed a similar bill last year. 

This is a small, but important, piece of 

legislation and has bipartisan support. 

This updated version was introduced to 

address concerns of the Navy, and gives 

the Department of Defense full assurance that Government and defense designs will not be subject to unwarranted restrictions. I thank the cosponsors of the Senate’s bill—Senator 

CORNYN, Senator KOHL, and Senator 

WHITEHOUSE—for all their hard work 

and contributions. 

In 1998, Congress passed the Vessel 

Hull Design Protection Act to recognize the significant time, effort, and innovation that figure into ship design. 

Recent action in the courts has made it 

clear that in order to be effective, this 

law needs to be clarified and refined. 

This bill does exactly that, and no 

more, by clarifying the definition of 

‘‘hull’’ and ‘‘deck.’’ This ensures that 

the intellectual property rights of vessel hull designers will be protected. 

I am pleased the Senate will adopt 

this measure today, and I look forward 

to the President signing it into law. 

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the bill be 

read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 

table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating 

to the bill be printed in the RECORD. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

The bill (H.R. 6531) was ordered to a 

third reading, was read the third time, 

and passed. 

f 

WEBCASTER SETTLEMENT ACT OF 

2008 

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the Senate 

proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 7084, which was received 

from the House. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will report. 

The legislative clerk read as follows: 

A bill (H.R. 7084) to amend section 114 of 

title 17, United States Code, to provide for 

agreements for the reproduction and performance of sound recordings by webcasters. 

There being no objection, the Senate 

proceeded to consider the bill. 

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. Presdient, I am 

pleased that the Senate has passed the 

Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008, a 

short but important bill for all of us 

who love to listen to music online. I 

have long championed the development 

of new business models for transmitting music to the public, and I have 

been delighted to see the webcasting 

community grow and prosper. From 

tiny operations serving the smallest of 

musical niches, to collegiate stations 

playing cutting edge performers, to 

large established webcasters providing 

a whole new array of services to listeners, the online music world has 

truly blossomed in the last 10 years. 

But with all new growth comes growing pains, and we also must be constantly vigilant to ensure that the development of new business interests 

does not come at the expense of settled 

property rights. 

When webcasting was even younger, I 

sponsored the Small Webcasters Settlement Act of 2004, which established a 

Copyright Royalty Tribunal to replace 

the old Copyright Arbitration Royalty 

Panel as the administrative body for 

determining—in the absence of privately negotiated contracts—the royalty rates to be paid by online music 

providers to the performers who hold 

the copyrights in that music. The new 

system has seen its first adjudications, 

and this legislation reflects the need 

for a slight readjustment in that system. The bill simply extends the time 

to next February during which the parties can negotiate their own rates, even 

after the CRB proceeding, and will permit any deal that is negotiated by that 

time to bind the interested parties. 

I am not, in the normal course, a proponent of legislative readjustments 

like this one, but I understand the advisability of this particular extension. 

I will not, however, sanction repeated 

returns to Congress if webcasters are 

again dissatisfied with the results of a 

system that they urged upon us in 2004, 

and which they applauded when it was 

created. The parties on both sides of 

these agreements—the webcasters and 

the copyright owners—would be well 

advised to consider these negotiations 

seriously, and to behave appropriately. 

The rights of our creative artists are 

the life blood of the entire music industry, including that of the online music 

providers, and we all owe them respect. 

I trust the parties when they tell us 

that the time extension will allow 

them to come to terms that will ensure 

mutual benefit to them, and ultimate 

benefit to all the listeners, like myself, 

who enjoy music transmitted over the 

Internet. I am pleased the Congress has 

passed this measure before recessing. 

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the bill be 

read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 

table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in 

the RECORD. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

The bill (H.R. 7084) was ordered to a 

third reading, was read the third time, 

and passed. 

f 

APPOINTMENTS 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

Chair, on behalf of the President pro 

tempore, pursuant to Public Law 99– 

498, as amended by Public Law 110–315, 

appoints the following individual to 

the Advisory Committee on Student 

Financial Assistance: Norman Bedford 

of Nevada. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

Chair, on behalf of the Minority Leader, pursuant to Public Law 110–183, announces the appointment of the following individual as a member of the 

Commission on the Abolition of the 

Transatlantic Slave Trade: Rainier 

Spencer of Nevada. 

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will call the roll. 

The legislative clerk proceeded to 

call the roll. 

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVISTS DEBT RELIEF ACT OF 2008 

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the Senate 

proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 963, S. 3197. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

clerk will report. 

The assistant legislative clerk read 

as follows: 

A bill (S. 3197) to amend title 11, United 

States Code, to exempt for a limited period, 

from the application of the means-test presumption of abuse under chapter 7, qualifying members of reserve components of the 

Armed Forces and members of the National 

Guard who, after September 11, 2001, are 

called to active duty or to perform a homeland defense activity for not less than 90 

days. 

There being no objection, the Senate 

proceeded to consider the bill, which 

had been reported from the Committee 

on the Judiciary, with an amendment, 

as follows: 

(The parts of the bill intended to be 

stricken are shown in boldface brackets and the parts of the bill intended to 

be inserted are shown in italics.) 

S. 3197 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in 

Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National 

Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Act of 

2008’’. 


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