[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 21, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. DeWine, and Mr. Kohl):
  S. 2013. A bill to amend section 119 of title 17, United States Code, 
to extend satellite home viewer provisions; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce with my friend 
and colleague from Vermont, Senator Leahy, the Satellite Home Viewer 
Extension Act of 2004. We are pleased to be joined in this effort by 
Senators DeWine and Kohl.
  S. 2013 provides for a five-year extension of the statutory license 
for satellite carriers to make secondary transmissions of ``distant'' 
network and superstation television programs, which is set forth in 
section 119 of the Copyright Act.
  The current section 119 license permits satellite carriers to provide 
subscribers that reside in unserved households with network programming 
from distant television markets. This section is set to expire at the 
end of 2004. The extension of this statutory license for an additional 
five years would continue to serve the many interests that the section 
119 license seeks to advance. Most importantly, it assures that 
television viewers incapable of receiving local network stations off 
the air retain access to network programming via satellite. This is 
particularly important for viewers who live in rural areas and may be 
unserved by either local stations or cable carriers. Indeed, many of my 
constituents in Utah depend on satellite systems for their television 
reception. This statutory license also enables the satellite home 
delivery industry to effectively compete with cable companies, which 
have long enjoyed a statutory license of their own.
  The limited extension also recognizes, however, that satellite 
carriers are still in the process of making local signals available to 
their subscribers, an important development for viewers and local 
broadcasters, as well as for the satellite carriers themselves. The 
Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999, which I was proud to 
help draft, authorized for the first time the retransmission of local 
signals to satellite subscribers residing in those local markets. The 
roll-out of ``local-into-local'' service by satellite carriers 
continues at a substantial rate, giving subscribers more choices than 
ever and further strengthening the competition between cable and 
satellite carriers. In light of these continuing changes, an additional 
extension of the Section 119 license is warranted pending further 
developments in this area.
  I recognize that there are likely to be other issues relating to the 
section 119 license that warrant consideration in connection with this 
reauthorization. I look forward to working with my colleagues and 
hearing from the interested parties on those matters in the coming 
months.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today I am pleased to join Senator Hatch, 
as well as Senators Kohl and DeWine, in sponsoring the Satellite Home 
Viewer Extension Act. The Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act, which 
we passed in 1999, established a statutory license for satellite 
carriers to make secondary transmission of ``distant'' network and 
superstation television programs. That license will expire this year, 
however, so today's bill will extend that license, found in section 119 
of the Copyright Act, for 5 years in order to ensure that the laudable 
goals of the initial bill are fully realized.
  The Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act was the result of much work 
in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and it enjoyed strong bipartisan 
support in both Houses of Congress. The license created in section 119 
serves a very worthwhile purpose: it permits households that cannot 
receive local network programming over-the-air to receive those shows 
by satellite. For the many viewers who are not served by local networks 
or cable companies--which is the case for a great many people in the 
rural areas of my home State of Vermont--this is absolutely critical. 
Of special importance is the fact that the Satellite Home Viewer 
Improvement Act permits the satellite transmission of ``local-into-
local'' programming, so that satellite companies can retransmit local 
broadcast signals to subscribers who actually live in the local market, 
but cannot receive the broadcast signal. Providing the news and local 
interest programming that is so vital to the creation and maintenance 
of a healthy and involved community has been the most gratifying result 
of the passage of that act. Furthermore, this license enhances 
competition by placing providers of satellite television programming on 
an equal footing with cable operators, which enjoy the benefits of 
their own statutory licenses.
  Such important progress does take time, however, and the satellite 
carriers have not yet made these local signals available to all their 
subscribers. Although the provision of ``local-into-local'' programming 
is proceeding well, and although competition between cable and 
satellite companies has been strengthened, there is still more to be 
done before the goal of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act is 
fully realized. If we fail to reauthorize the section 119 license, 
satellite programming may be unavailable as a real choice for many 
households, and many rural viewers will have little or no programming 
at all.
  I look forward to working again with my colleagues on this important 
issue and to a speedy reauthorization of this important license.
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