[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 24, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7130-H7132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ALLOWING SERVICEMEMBERS TO TERMINATE THEIR CABLE, SATELLITE TELEVISION, 
                 AND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE CONTRACTS

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 2409) to allow servicemembers to terminate their 
cable, satellite television, and Internet access service contracts 
while deployed, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2409

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

     SECTION 1. TERMINATION OF MULTICHANNEL VIDEO PROGRAMMING AND 
                   INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE CONTRACTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 305A of the Servicemembers Civil 
     Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3956) is amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by inserting ``, multichannel 
     video programming, and internet access'' after ``telephone'';
       (2) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following 
     new paragraph:
       ``(4) Additional individuals covered.--For purposes of this 
     section, the following individuals shall be treated as a 
     servicemember covered by paragraph (1):
       ``(A) A spouse of a servicemember who dies while in 
     military service or a spouse of a member of the reserve 
     components who dies while performing duty described in 
     subparagraph (B).
       ``(B) A member of the reserve components performing 
     military service or performing full-time National Guard duty, 
     active Guard and Reserve duty, or inactive-duty training (as 
     such terms are defined in section 101(d) of title 10, United 
     States Code).'';
       (3) in subsection (b), by striking ``cellular telephone 
     service or telephone exchange service'' and inserting 
     ``commercial mobile service, telephone exchange service, 
     Internet access service, or multichannel video programming 
     service'';
       (4) in subsection (c), by inserting ``for commercial mobile 
     service or telephone exchange service'' before 
     ``terminated'';
       (5) in subsection (d), in the matter preceding paragraph 
     (1), by striking ``cellular telephone service'' and inserting 
     ``commercial mobile service'';
       (6) in subsection (e)--
       (A) by striking ``For any'' and inserting the following:
       ``(1) In general.--For any'';
       (B) by striking ``If the'' and inserting the following:
       ``(2) Reinstatement of service.--If the''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) Return of provider-owned equipment.--If a 
     servicemember terminates a contract under subsection (a), the 
     servicemember shall return any provider-owned consumer 
     premises equipment to the service provider not later than 10 
     days after the date on which service is disconnected.''; and
       (7) in subsection (g)--
       (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (4); and
       (B) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
       ``(1) The term `commercial mobile service' has the meaning 
     given that term in section 332(d) of the Communications Act 
     of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)).
       ``(2) The term `multichannel video programming service' 
     means a subscription video service offered by a multichannel 
     video programming distributor, as that term is defined in 
     section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
     522), over a system the distributor owns or controls.
       ``(3) The term `provider-owned consumer premises equipment' 
     means any equipment that a provider of Internet access 
     service or multichannel video programming service rents or 
     loans to a customer during the provision of that service, 
     including gateways, routers, cable modems, voice-capable 
     modems, CableCARDs, converters, digital adapters, remote 
     controls, and any other equipment provided.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendments.--
       (1) Title heading.--The heading for title III of the 
     Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is amended by striking 
     ``TELEPHONE'' and inserting ``COMMUNICATIONS''.
       (2) Table of contents.--The table of contents in section 
     1(b) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is amended--
       (A) by striking the item relating to title III and 
     inserting the following:

``TITLE III--RENT, INSTALLMENT CONTRACTS, MORTGAGES, LIENS, ASSIGNMENT, 
              LEASES, COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE CONTRACTS'';

     and

[[Page H7131]]

       (B) by striking the item relating to section 305A and 
     inserting the following:

``Sec. 305A. Termination of telephone, multichannel video programming, 
              and Internet access service contracts.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fitzpatrick). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Takano) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and insert extraneous material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2409, as amended.
  The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, SCRA, was enacted by Congress to 
protect Active Duty servicemembers and members of the National Guard 
and Reserve from financial charges and judicial obligations that could 
incur due to their military service.
  As most Americans know, cell phone companies charge early-termination 
fees if a user cancels an agreement for service with the carrier before 
their contract has expired. SCRA currently allows a servicemember who 
is ordered to move or deploy for longer than 90 days to cancel their 
cell phone contract without paying those fees. However, it does not 
explicitly protect servicemembers from having to pay early-termination 
fees for cable, satellite TV, or Internet access contracts.
  H.R. 2409, as amended, which is sponsored by Congressman Ryan 
Costello of Pennsylvania, would fix this inequity. I am grateful for 
his efforts in this bill to acknowledge that servicemembers would be 
given the same type of protections for cable, satellite TV, and 
Internet contracts as those already in place for cell phone devices.
  The bill would also extend those protections to surviving spouses of 
servicemembers who are killed while on Active Duty.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Costello for bringing this bill 
forward, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2409, as amended, to allow 
certain servicemembers to terminate their cable, satellite television, 
and Internet service contracts while deployed. This is an important 
part of modernizing the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and helps it 
reflect the current lifestyle of servicemembers.
  Internet and television access have become necessities in the modern 
world. The SCRA is key to protecting the rights of servicemembers and 
allowing them to fulfill their service obligations.
  I would like to thank the chairman for working with the minority to 
match this bill to the changes we are making under H.R. 5882, as 
amended, the Gold Star Spouses Leasing Relief Act, which we will also 
be voting on today.
  I would also like to thank the chairman for working with us on 
including National Guard and reservist servicemembers who are killed 
while on duty.
  Lastly, I want to recognize Mr. Kilmer and Mr. McGovern for working 
with Mr. Costello to bring this important bill forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Costello), author of the bill and former member 
of the Committee on Veterans Affairs.
  Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 2409, bipartisan legislation I introduced with Congressman Kilmer.
  I want to thank Congressman Kilmer for his work with me on this bill. 
I also want to recognize the very stellar leadership of Chairman Roe on 
the VA Committee and Ranking Member Takano, as well as all the VA staff 
seated behind me and those not seated behind me, but who work every day 
to make that a highly performing committee here in the House.
  When our brave servicemembers are preparing to relocate or deploy 
because of Active Duty orders, they should not have to navigate costly 
and time-consuming cancelation fees and policies. Under current law, 
protections are granted to servicemembers with military orders for 
certain civil agreements, including rental leases or cell phone 
contracts; but they cannot terminate their cable, satellite television, 
and Internet access service contracts while deployed without incurring 
early-termination fees.
  Our legislation, very simply, fixes this by updating the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to include pay TV and Internet service 
contracts. While some States already do provide relief for pay TV or 
Internet services, this legislation would update the act to enact a 
policy at the Federal level, ensuring servicemembers and their families 
receive uniform assistance no matter in which State they reside.
  Mr. Speaker, I would again like to thank Chairman Roe for his support 
and his work to pass H.R. 2409. I would also like to thank Andrew and 
Erica in my office for their work on this important bill as well.
  Mr. Speaker, it is our responsibility to help provide peace of mind 
to our servicemembers and their families when they prepare to deploy, 
so I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Kilmer), my good friend.

                              {time}  1815

  Mr. KILMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this bill, which 
will allow our servicemembers to terminate their cable, satellite 
television, and internet contracts once they receive orders to relocate 
for more than 90 days.
  Listen, we ask a lot of our military personnel and their families. I 
know that because my district is home to so many veterans and Active-
Duty servicemembers. I met with these amazing, talented men and women, 
and they are so impressive. They step up and they sacrifice. They are 
constantly being asked to uproot themselves and their families across 
this country and all over the world, often on very short notice; and 
when their country calls, the members of our Armed Forces drop 
everything. They have our backs, and we should have their backs, too.
  Deployed servicemembers and their families shouldn't have to worry 
about bills piling up at home when they are gone because they are 
locked into contracts for television and the internet. In the last few 
days at home with their kids and spouses, they shouldn't have to spend 
a second on hold or haggling with a customer service representative.
  I am very proud to have worked across the aisle on this bill with 
Representative Ryan Costello. Taking care of our military families is 
an issue that all Americans, regardless of party, can stand behind, and 
I want to express my gratitude to the chairman for his leadership on 
those issues and Ranking Member Takano and others on that committee.
  Listen, this bill will provide a small measure of relief to our 
military members and to their families. It is the least we can do. I 
urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in passing 
H.R. 2409, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I was thinking here, as we were 
listening to the testimony, when I went into the Army many, many years 
ago to go to Southeast Asia, there was no internet, there was no cable 
TV, and there were no cell phones, so it was pretty easy for me to 
leave then. There wasn't much to leave. But things have changed a lot 
since then. I encourage all Members to support H.R. 2409, as amended.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 2409, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

[[Page H7132]]

  

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