releases: http://upton.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398380
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| http://upton.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398380 | House approves Uptons bipartisan satellite TV bill | 2014-11-19 | 2014 | 2014-11 | Republican | House | MI | Fred Upton | U000031 | upton.house.gov | legacy | The U.S. House of Representatives today approved bipartisan legislation introduced by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, to ensure 1.5 million American satellite television viewers continue to receive broadcast programming. H.R. 5782, the STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014, extends for five years the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), which expires at the end of the year. The bill also includes a number of targeted reforms to better meet the needs of today’s video marketplace. “The STELA Reauthorization Act is an important piece of legislation that ensures that millions of satellite TV subscribers continue to receive broadcast TV programming from their chosen satellite provider,” said Upton in his remarks on the House floor. “In addition to reauthorizing the distant signals offered by satellite providers, we were able to include targeted reforms that will in fact enhance the video marketplace and allow consumers to access the programming that they want, when they want it. These reforms are prime examples of the kinds of deregulatory changes we are looking at as we work to replace the 80-year-old Communications Act.” The House approved Upton’s H.R. 5782 by voice vote. The extension must now be approved by the U.S. Senate and signed by the President before December 31, 2014. Upton’s full remarks as delivered on the House floor follow: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to offer yet another outstanding example of bipartisanship and thoughtful policymaking from the Energy and Commerce Committee. The STELA Reauthorization Act is an important piece of legislation that ensures that millions of satellite TV subscribers continue to receive broadcast TV programming from their chosen satellite provider. We have reached across party lines and across the two houses of Congress to craft a compromise bill for this must-pass legislation that will improve the video marketplace for TV viewers across the country. In addition to reauthorizing the distant signals offered by satellite providers, we were able to include targeted reforms that will in fact enhance the video marketplace and allow consumers to access the programming that they want, when they want it. These reforms are prime examples of the kinds of deregulatory changes we are looking at as we work to replace the 80-year-old Communications Act. They’re going to spur investment in communications networks, promote competition, and, yes, create needed American jobs. For example, this bill eliminates the costly CableCARD integration ban that has increased the cost of cable-leased set-top boxes and makes them less energy efficient. Ultimately this is a double-whammy for consumers, because after being forced to pay for an unnecessary and antiquated technology, consumers then have to pay a penalty in the form of higher electric bills. Although we eliminated the whole mandate in our original bill that we passed through our committee, we worked with our Senate colleagues and agreed to sunset the provision in one year. This will provide time for the FCC to hold a working group on successor solutions to CableCARD without unduly delaying the benefits to consumers who choose to lease equipment from their cable provider. This bill also evens the playing field for all video providers. It seeks regulatory parity for cable and satellite providers when it comes to protecting broadcast signals during Nielsen sweeps. It also provides satellite operators and broadcasters with the opportunity to modify local markets - like cable operators already have the ability to do. We hope that, in our update of the Communications Act, we can find additional ways to eliminate regulatory differences that no longer serve a meaningful, technical purpose or that distorts business and consumer incentives. The bill provides other positive, bipartisan reforms, and it is our intent that as we update the Communications Act in the coming Congress that it continues along that very same path. That being said, the matter before us is the reauthorization of these provisions for the millions of satellite video subscribers that depend on them. The clock is ticking, and this bill will ensure when folks flip on their TVs, yes, their favorite show will be available, when they want to watch it. I would urge all my colleagues to vote for this bill as this Congress is quickly drawing to a close. I particularly want to thank the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chairman Greg Walden, Ranking Members Henry Waxman and Anna Eshoo, and Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte as well as our respective staffs for the bipartisan and hard work on this important bipartisan legislation. I’d also like to thank our Senate colleagues, Jay Rockefeller and John Thune for their willingness to work with us to find common ground. I am proud of our committee’s record of bipartisan results. As we work toward the CommActUpdate next year to modernize our nation’s communications laws for the innovation era, continued cooperation will be critical to that success. Without this bill, without this reauthorization moving forward, satellite viewers – millions of Americans – will have those sets turned off. It’s important that we reauthorize this bill and I’m pleased to do so in a very bipartisan way. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |