Satellite Home View Reauthorization Act Of 2009
Floor Speech
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Mrs. LUMMIS. I would like to thank the chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee for the inclusion of language from my bill on statewide public television. Passage of this legislation will remove the legal obstacles for satellite carriers to offer statewide public television in Wyoming and other States. I don't care whether it's in high def or not. I just want public television carried in Wyoming and other States, and that's been achieved. So thank you kindly.
I also thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Deal) who worked diligently to address the problem of local television market areas. Despite his good work, I rise today to express regret for the missed opportunity the passage of this bill represents.
The decision to put off for another 5 years any real reform to the system of designated market areas carries with it very negative consequences for the citizens of my State. Out of Wyoming's 23 counties, 16 do not have satellite access to Wyoming-based stations. Over half of all television households in Wyoming do not have access to local television.
For a rural State like Wyoming, satellite sometimes represents the only viable option to receiving television programming. The inability to receive local stations restricts access to local content and severely limits the reach of emergency notifications.
Emergency situations, like the butane tank truck that recently overturned on an icy highway during a blizzard, should serve as proof that the availability of local stations on satellite television is not just an entertainment issue. The DMA system may make sense for the densely populated areas in the East, but it has created an absurdity in the sparsely populated areas of the West. I am grateful for the inclusion of a study to find a better way to determine what the local market is.
But, Madam Speaker, people in Wyoming do not need a study to tell them that when their network TV station originates 400 miles away from a different State, they are not receiving the local content they need. For this reason, I cannot support passage of this bill despite its tremendous improvements.
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