DTV Border Fix Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2607) to make a technical correction to section 3009 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the legislation under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of S. 2607, the Digital Television Transition Assistance Act. We have little more than 7 months until February 17, 2009, the date of the digital television transition when all full-power television stations in the country will stop broadcasting analog signals and broadcast only digital signals.

The Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, of which I am a member, has been working hard to prepare consumers for this event. However, not all television stations will immediately start broadcasting in digital on that day of transition. There are many stations that broadcast at low-power levels or that rely upon translators and boosters to reach viewers, and many of these stations will be transitioning to digital some time after February 17. Many of these stations serve viewers in districts like mine that are largely rural.

When Congress passed the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act in 2005, it recognized that many of these smaller, rural stations lacked the resources necessary to immediately switch to digital. Therefore, the statute established two grant programs designed to aid these stations.

One grant program provides funds so that low power and translator stations may purchase the equipment needed to facilitate continued service for viewers of low-power stations and translators on analog television sets.

The other grant program provides funds for low-power stations to upgrade

their facilities to digital. The provision establishing the grant program for low-power stations to upgrade their facilities to digital included a technical error that S. 2607 will correct. Current law prohibits grant funds from being awarded to stations after October 1, 2010, more than a year after full-power stations are broadcasting only in digital.

S. 2607 changes that date to February 18, 2009, one day after the transition begins. This technical correction will ensure that low-power stations can begin to transition to digital as quickly as possible. S. 2607 would also ensure that the funds Congress set aside for the translator grant programs are used to further the DTV transition.

This program allocated $10 million for qualified low power and translator stations to buy digital-to-analog conversion equipment so they can continue to offer analog signals after February 17.

However, it is estimated that at least $3 million of these funds will be unspent because not all stations are expected to take advantage of the program. Therefore, S. 2607 would permit the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to use the excess moneys to further consumer education efforts concerning DTV transition and the TV Converter Box Coupon Program.

S. 2607 would permit the NTIA to use extra funds from the $10 million grant program to create a program that addresses the educational and technical assistance needs of vulnerable populations such as senior citizens, residents of rural and remote areas, and minorities.

This is a simple bill that would make commonsense changes designed to speed the transition to digital television in all areas of the country and ensure that consumers are informed about the transition.

I urge Members to join me in supporting S. 2607.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Boucher).

(Mr. BOUCHER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).

I yield the gentleman an additional minute.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis).

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers if the gentleman from Florida, my good friend, would like to close.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I'd like to reiterate that this bill fixes two technical errors in order to bring great benefits to our constituents through their digital television transition.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I rise, Mr. Speaker, in support of this measure which will ease the transition next February to exclusively digital over-the- air television broadcasting. The bill makes funds available in a timely manner for low-power television transmitters to make the transition to digital, and it makes approximately $7 million available for public education, technical assistance, and the converter box program. While this new support is welcome, I'm deeply concerned that a truly smooth transition will require that this Congress do much more.

The total funding for the public education component of our program remains miniscule. While polls show that more than one half of the population has heard about the digital TV transition, most who know about it are confused about how it will apply to them and what they may need to do in order to prepare themselves effectively for it.

The need for technical assistance installing converter boxes and analyzing reception problems that may be experienced in the home will be vast. This bill makes little provision to meet that need which will be acute among our elderly population and in rural and low-income areas of the Nation.

In the United Kingdom, which has carried out their transition in some regions of the nation, as many as 10 percent of the external antennas and rabbit ears had to be replaced in order to receive a digital signal. Our experience with antennas will be no different, and we still have no public funding in order to meet that need.

The antenna replacement problem will be magnified by the lack of technical assistance. Viewers who correctly install their converter box may still not receive a digital signal, and without technical help will have great difficulty determining that the problem is an antenna that could receive an analog signal but is too far away from the transmitter to receive digital service. That viewer will lose TV reception on February 17. When he later finds that the antenna has to be replaced, he will have to shoulder that replacement cost on his own.

This Congress should do more to assure a smooth transition. If we don't, I fear that millions of Americans will lose the vital lifeline that television service represents next February.

We might want to consider instituting a program similar to the help scheme that has been employed in the United Kingdom. For a payment of the American equivalent of $40, TV households receive on-site technical support and, if necessary, hardware, including antenna replacement. Such a program in the United States would ensure a successful transition and would prevent the vital lifeline that television represents from being lost by millions of Americans who I otherwise fear will lose that service next February.

I thank the gentleman from Indiana for yielding.

Will the gentleman yield?

I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I share his belief that the demonstration project that we are going to have in Wilmington, North Carolina, sometime later this year will yield valuable information. My concern is that whatever information we receive from that demonstration, should it indicate that

additional steps need to be taken for technical assistance, for public education, for the replacement of either rabbit ears or external antennas, will not be information that is very useful to us in the absence of funding in order to carry out whatever steps that information suggests should be appropriate.

So my recommendation today is that we begin to have a conversation about how we could use information collected from the Wilmington experience, how we could use information that we can gain very usefully from the larger experience they've already had in the United Kingdom and put that information to work to make sure that our transition is as smooth here in the United States as it has been in the U.K.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

My colleagues, I rise in support of the DTV Transition Assistance Act, the Senate bill, S. 2607, and urge its immediate passage.

By setting February 17, 2009 as the date for full-power broadcasters to transmit exclusively in digital format, the DTV legislation gave industry the needed incentives to prepare for this transition.

The result, 91 percent of broadcasters are transmitting in digital; 68 percent are already on their post-transition channel and 68 percent are already broadcasting at full strength.

As of April 30, 2008, 78 percent of households had all their televisions prepared for the transition, and 91 percent of households had one or more televisions that were prepared for this transition. This means that with more than 9 months still to go, about 10 percent of households were relying exclusively on analog over-the-air broadcasts and needed to take action to receive programming after the transition.

Because low-power translator stations are not required to transition to digital television, our original DTV legislation created a $10 million grant program at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, NTIA, to help translators convert digital broadcast signals back to analog.

As it turns out, not many requests for money from the conversion fund have really been made. Moreover, even if every translator participated in the program, it looks like we will still have money left over. Therefore, this bill allows some of the $10 million to be used for DTV consumer education, but only if the NTIA determines that not all the money will be needed for the converter box program.

The original DTV legislation also created a second grant program making $65 million available to help low-power stations voluntarily upgrade to digital broadcasting. At the time, it was believed that low- power stations would not upgrade until after full-power stations transitioned in 2009. Consequently, money from the $65 million upgrade fund was not to become available until 2010. It now appears low-power stations intend to upgrade sooner, so this bill makes the upgrade funds available in 2009 instead of 2010.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense bill that will give the NTIA additional flexibility to help ensure that the DTV transition goes as smoothly as possible. I strongly support this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to also support it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I heard my good colleague from Virginia talk about some suggestions, and his suggestion is that we adopt something that Britain has adopted. But I'm not sure it's necessary because we're having a demonstration project of the digital transition in North Carolina. And I think with that sort of demonstration, I think after that, if we see problems, then probably that's the best time to adjust.

I would be glad to yield.

I would note that certainly his points are well taken, but I think after the Wilmington, North Carolina, demonstration, if it does not work, there is perhaps a possibility of another demonstration. But certainly most of the kinks should be worked out after that first demonstration, and I look forward to taking a very careful look at it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, but I will reserve the balance of my time just until I understand whether my colleague has additional speakers.

Mr. Speaker I would support the bill and urge its passage.

I yield back my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2607, the ``DTV Transition Assistance Act''. This measure will help facilitate the transition to digital television (DTV), a technology which holds great promise for this country. It will allow for more broadcast programming with better sound and picture quality. It will provide new opportunities for wireless technologies on analog spectrum being vacated by broadcasters. And most importantly, some of this vacated analog spectrum will be used to create a nationwide, interoperable broadband network for first responders.

With the February 17, 2009, DTV transition date slightly more than 7 months away, however, we must ensure that all Americans are prepared for it. S. 2607 takes a step in the right direction by solving some outstanding problems relating to the transition in a thoughtful manner.

Not all television stations will make the transition to digital broadcasting on February 17th. Low-power and translator stations, many of which serve rural, minority, and other underserved communities, do not have a set date by which they must switch to digital. The ``Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005'' established a grant program to help often financially constrained low-power television stations acquire the equipment needed to make the transition to digital. S. 2607 makes those funds available beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2009, rather than in FY 2011, as provided by current law. It also extends the availability of funding through FY 2012. These changes will help facilitate the DTV transition for low-power stations so they can offer consumers th benefits of digital broadcasting.

The 2005 Act also established a $10 million program to help translator stations continue providing an analog broadcast signal after February 17, 2009. Such stations are eligible for grants of up to $1,000 toward the purchase of digital-to-analog conversion equipment. That grant program is currently undersubscribed and includes more than enough money to accommodate every translator station. Accordingly, S. 2607 gives the Assistant Secretary of Communications and Information the flexibility to reallocate unspent money from the program to DTV consumer education.

Consumer education is the key to a successful DTV transition, and its importance cannot be overemphasized. Television is the predominant medium through which Americans receive critical public safety information and is one of the chief conduits for news and political discourse, as well as entertainment. Therefore, the most critical aspect of the DTV transition is ensuring that consumers are prepared for it. Congress mandated the DTV transition, and it is its responsibility to protect our constituents by ensuring the transition proceeds as smoothly as possible.

I am pleased to see the House consider this measure, which will contribute to a more successful transition. I strongly support S. 2607 and urge my colleagues to do the same.

I thank the gentleman so much for giving me the time to speak on this important bill.

The digital television transition is now 223 days away and many of our constituents are simply not prepared. I'm especially concerned about our most vulnerable population, our seniors. Eight million older Americans are in risk of losing their television reception on February 17, 2009.

I've been pleased to work with a number of groups that work directly with seniors, including the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the AARP, and the National Council on Aging, to ensure that older Americans are not left in the dark.

In May, Representative G.K. Butterfield joined me and 21 of our colleagues in sending a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration regarding this imminent problem, and I'm pleased that the bill before us today would take some of the necessary steps to ensuring that seniors are prepared.

Seniors could suffer real consequences if their TVs do not operate past February 17, 2009, including isolation from society, anxiety, or mental and physical decline. Imagine your parents or grandparents going to turn on the television on February 18 and finding nothing on the screen.

Also, we have to remember that there are hundreds and thousands of homebound seniors who are unable to go and buy a converter box. Many seniors face considerable physical challenges associated with the transition, and without people to help come in their homes and install these boxes, they're just going to be out of luck. And those seniors that have gotten the converter box may face real technological barriers. Most people have problems setting the clock on their VCRs. I have zeros blinking myself occasionally. Think about the challenge of looking at a converter box and trying to figure out what to do next.

That's why I rise in support of this bill. This legislation will free up funds not being used by the NTIA in the distribution of coupons so they can be used for consumer education and technical assistance.

It further directs NTIA to partner with, provide grants to, and contract with nonprofit organizations and public interest groups to provide for educational and technical assistance to seniors, rural residents, and others who may face difficulties with the digital transition.

Despite these efforts, there are sure to be people who we don't reach and who wake up on February 18 with no signal. I look forward to working with my colleagues to establish any future

funding needed to ensure that these individuals receive needed assistance.

Again, we're 223 days away from the digital television transition. I urge all of my colleagues to work to ensure that our constituents are aware of and prepared for the coming transition.

I want to thank the leadership for bringing this crucial bill to the floor quickly.