Joe Barton

Mr. BARTON of Texas

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strongest possible opposition to the Markey amendment.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I would like to yield Ms. Lofgren 2\1/2\ minutes if she so wishes.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. How much time do I still have?

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, if I do, I will be happy to yield to the gentlewoman from California. I want there to be a full debate on this.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I will be happy to yield to the distinguished ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. I believe I probably still have 4 minutes; is that correct?

Mr. BARTON of Texas. With that understanding, I am going to change from opposition to support and encourage you for offering the amendment.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I wanted to clarify some things with the author of the amendment. Does your amendment deal specifically with the complaint adjudication process with regards to antitrust laws and the jurisdiction of the courts to hear such cases?

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Smith amendment.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I have no other requests for time, urge a ``yes'' vote on the Rush amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I thank the gentleman from Washington for raising this issue. We agree that as a matter of both public policy and public safety, American citizens should have access to basic 911 service. I understand your perspective on this concern, as a former law enforcement officer who had to respond to 911 calls himself for many years. I will work in conference to address your concerns. I can add that Mr. Gordon of Tennessee and Mr. Pickering of Mississippi, just to name two members of the committee, share your concerns and are working on this issue.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, for purposes of debate, I rise to claim the time in opposition, but I am not in opposition.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. They have the option. They have the option. They have an expanded list of remedies that they currently don't have. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. So far you have not tricked me, so I will continue to yield.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. They have the option under the pending bill, if the gentleman were so kind to vote for it on final passage, and I know he is thinking about that, we would expand the potential remedies. They would have every remedy under existing law, plus they could also go to the Federal courts and to the FCC.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Reclaiming my time, nothing in the pending bill will change current law with regard to how the cities control their local rights-of-way, the physical access to that right-of-way. They would have access through the local court system, and I would assume, if they wished to, they could also go to the Federal Court system or the FCC. But they can certainly continue to use the remedies available under current law.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I do support the Rush amendment. I think it is an addition to the base bill, and it continues to show the excellent leadership that Mr. Rush is providing on this issue, and I would urge my colleagues at the appropriate time to support the amendment. At this point in time, I would like to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from Washington, Congressman Reichert.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I would always yield to my friend from Pittsburgh, a member of the committee, and the new manager of the Democrat baseball team, who is so overworking his team that they are complaining to me about how hard they are having to work, yes.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. For a specific period of time, the answer to that is yes.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Would you repeat the question?

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Congressman Murphy, current law allows local authorities to assess a franchise fee of up to 5 percent of a cable operator's gross revenue for the use of the public right-of-way for cable service. The Act before us would allow the localities to assess the exact same fee on holders of a national franchise. In other words, localities may continue to collect the same rent for the use of the rights-of-way for cable service. The Act before us also preserves the locality's physical management of their right-of-way. Section 630(f) explicitly states that nothing in the Act affects the authority of the localities to manage their rights-of-way on a competitively neutral, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory basis.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. This is a good amendment. I am very supportive and urge a ``yes'' vote on the Wynn amendment.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I want to commend the gentlewoman from Houston for her leadership on this issue. I am somewhat unclear what her intentions are in terms of moving towards a vote. I will pledge to her to continue to work with her, if she were to withdraw the amendment, to reach a mutually acceptable resolution as we go to conference with the other body, but I am going to follow her yield or her wishes on the pending amendment. If she calls it for a vote, I will vote yes on the amendment. If she wishes to withdraw it, I will work with her as we move forward in the normal channels of the legislative process. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I have no further requests for time. I urge a yes vote on the Barton manager's amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.