In an end-of-the-year legislative effort, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, my bipartisan legislation that ensures 1.5 million satellite television consumers won’t be deprived of the news they rely on and the television programming they enjoy.
The issue at hand was a law, the Satellite Home Viewer Act, which needed to be reauthorized by December 15. If the law were allowed to expire, American households that are only served by satellite television would not have access to their current programming.
In rural Iowa, for instance, some people are faced with the challenge of not being able to receive over-the-air broadcast signals, so satellite television is their only option.
The Satellite Home Viewer Act first established the distant signal license in 1998. This law was intended, with the Cable Act, to foster competition and protect consumers. Since then, both Republicans and Democrats have always come together to enact satellite reauthorization legislation.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing in March about the reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act, more commonly referred to as STELA, and more broadly about the challenges facing rural and urban communities. You can read my statement from that hearing here.