Howard Berman

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7084, the Webcasters Settlement Act of 2008, which grants authority to relevant parties to negotiate an alternative royalty rate for the use of music on Internet radio stations under the existing government compulsory license. This license gives webcasters the privilege of using copyrighted recorded music at a government-mandated rate determined by the Copyright Royalty Judges. The recent government rate was determined on March 2, 2007. After considering voluminous written submissions and 48 days of trial testimony that filled 13,288 pages of transcript, the Copyright Royalty Judges determined fair, marketplace-based rates, averaged over a 5-year rate period. The judges followed their authorizing statute and carried out their duties in a fair and impartial manner. Both sides were able to present thorough cases and the judges came to a fair result based on the evidence presented. Since that determination, certain webcasters have requested that copyright owners enter into negotiation to offer an alternative rate for webcasters who meet unique conditions, and requested that the Committee on the Judiciary facilitate such negotiations. These negotiations have been proceeding in earnest over the past 2 months, and the parties are making considerable progress. Because the parties will not be able to finish their negotiations before Congress recesses, however, and because authority by Congress is required for a settlement to take effect under the government compulsory license, we are pushing this legislation that will grant such authority and hope the negotiations will continue in a positive direction for both sides. I might add that the issue of broadcasters who are doing or want to do webcasting negotiations in that area also will be starting in the immediate future.

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

Mr. BERMAN. I yield myself 1 additional minute. It is an important principle that negotiations are more appropriate before the copyright royalty proceeding. However, these conversations that have taken place under the committee's auspices are occurring in unique and extraordinary political and business circumstances and are unlike typical marketplace negotiations. This bill provides that any alternative private deal-making or any private deal regarding an alternative rate would not be precedential, unless, of course, the parties agreed that it should be. Some of the rates that are being discussed represent a large discount, a huge discount from what independent decisionmaking bodies have found to be marketplace rates, and less than what I understand many webcasters have been paying since the judges reached their decision. Neither this deal nor this bill should be understood as a criticism of the judges' decision, and I would expect marketplace rates to be higher and at least a reflection of what the judges decided absent the distinct circumstances that apply here. I hope this legislation will make it easier for more music to be performed online by paying services, and also that there will be an increase in compensation to creators. I urge my colleagues to support the bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee), the author of this legislation. The gentleman has been very focused on this issue since the time the Copyright Royalty Board came down with what I view as a just decision, but which others may have a different opinion of.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7084) to amend section 114 of title 17, United States Code, to provide for agreements for the reproduction and performance of sound recordings by webcasters, as amended.

Mr. BERMAN. I do.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just want to say that we have before us legislation that is supported by the DMA association, the Digital Media Association and the Sound Exchange, the collection agency, as well as their component memberships, including the labels, the performers, the musicians, the backup singers, National Public Radio, the small webcasters. I should report, based on the conversations and an amendment that extends till February 15 the deadline, this bill does not have the opposition of the National Association of Broadcasters. I urge the passage of H.R. 7084 and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BERMAN

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

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7177) to authorize the transfer of naval vessels to certain foreign recipients, and for other purposes.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I simply want to express my deep appreciation to my ranking member. We have been working together now for 7 or so months. We are not always perfect in our dealings, but it is a lot more good than bad, and getting better. I am grateful for her support and understanding of all the different shifts in these kinds of things, and I am glad to have her support for this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this bill reflects the bipartisan text agreed by the other body that incorporates several provisions from H.R. 5916, the Berman/Ros- Lehtinen/Sherman/Manzullo Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Reform Act of 2008 that the House passed in May. It authorizes the Department of the Navy to transfer surplus U.S. Navy vessels to friendly countries which Congress does on an annual basis. It strengthens the vital security relationship with our close friends and allies, South Korea and Israel. Building on the work of Representative Royce, U.S. law will now add South Korea to the list of countries in the Arms Export Control in the same way as NATO, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. This is a significant symbolic recognition of the critical importance of South Korea to U.S. national security and to peace and stability throughout East Asia. It also requires the administration to empirically assess on an ongoing basis the State of Israel's ``Qualitative Military Edge,'' we call it QME, against conventional or nonconventional security threats, to report that assessment to Congress every 4 years, and to use that assessment when reviewing arms exports to other countries in the Middle East. Every President since Lyndon Johnson has affirmed the U.S. commitment to Israel's Qualitative Military Edge against potential enemies. But unfortunately it has become clear the administration uses subjective judgment when evaluating Israel's QME. The State and Defense officials have admitted there is no objective empirical method for evaluating this critical measure of whether or not Israel maintains a qualitative superiority over potential threats to its security. It is also clear that by such subjective evaluations are performed sale by sale and country by country without clear, overall consideration of the balance of capabilities possessed throughout the region that conceivably affect Israel's security. This provision would remedy this glaring lack of a robust mechanism to make security and export decisions that could undermine the security of one of the most important friends and allies that we have in the Middle East. The bill also authorizes security assistance to Israel, including implementing the recent U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Security Assistance. It is fitting that on the 60th anniversary of Israel, the U.S. renews and strengthens its relationship with a most important friend in the region. It deserves all the support we can muster. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I very much thank the chairman for yielding and for all the work that he has done to bring this bill to this point. I rise in support of S. 3325, which is the Senate's companion bill to the chairman's and a number of us, our bill, H.R. 4279, which passed the House overwhelmingly by a 410-11 vote on May 6, 2008. S. 3325, like H.R. 4279, makes necessary changes to our intellectual property laws, improves coordination of our intellectual property enforcement efforts, and devotes more resources to tackling the scourge of intellectual property crime. The proliferation of intellectual property crime has had a disastrous impact on our economy and on public health and safety. Counterfeit and pirated products may account for up to 10 percent of the world's trade, and a significant portion of these are American products. Conservative estimates indicate that U.S. business loses up to $250 billion a year-- I know these days $250 billion isn't that much, but it's a serious amount--due to intellectual property theft. This level of counterfeiting and piracy translates to job losses, lower tax receipts, and greater trade deficits. Public health and safety is threatened by inferior and dangerous knockoffs, such as exploding batteries, toxic pharmaceuticals, and sawdust brake pads. In response to the grave threat of intellectual property theft and the threat that poses to the U.S. economy and the health and safety of our citizens, the House passed the PRO-IP bill. The bill strengthened our civil and criminal laws in ways that attack the organizational structures intellectual property thieves use and that reduce the economic incentives thieves have to engage in commercial-scale counterfeiting and piracy. It devoted more resources to investigating and prosecuting intellectual property crimes and to working with other governments to improve intellectual property enforcement aboard. Following our lead, the Senate passed S. 3325, which provides many of the same reforms called for in H.R. 4279. I just want to close by thanking very much Chairman Conyers, his staff, the subcommittee staff for all the work they put into it, the minority staff, Mr. Coble, Mr. Smith, who is a great partnership, and for working to develop and pass this bill, and to thank Senator Leahy and his staff for their efforts and urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7112) to impose sanctions with respect to Iran, to provide for the divestment of assets in Iran by State and local governments and other entities, and to identify locations of concern with respect to transshipment, reexportation, or diversion of certain sensitive items to Iran.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power, to me, is one of the great national security challenges of our age. A nuclear- armed, fundamentalist Iran would become the dominant power in its region. The global nonproliferation regime would crumble. Already today we know that many of Iran's neighbors are contemplating their own nuclear programs. And can anyone be sure that Iran, with a leader who speaks like he speaks now, would not resort to either the use of nuclear weapons or to the handoff of those weapons to terrorist organizations? The sanctions that the United States and the international community have thus far placed on Iran have squeezed Iran's economy somewhat, but clearly not enough to slow down its nuclear program. The present strategy is not working. I'm disappointed--and I believe the Iranian regime is surely heartened--by the failure of the administration's program to produce the kinds of results we need regarding Iran's nuclear program. We need to make our foreign policy priorities clear. And Iran must be at the very top of the agenda in all our dealings with other countries. Sanctions will never work unless we have buy-in and support from other key countries. And if the process of achieving that buy-in requires us to engage directly with Iran, that is certainly something we should do. Two months ago, the Permanent Members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany offered Iran all kinds of generous incentives to persuade it to suspend its uranium enrichment program. Just for the sake of initiating further talks on this package, they offered what they called a ``freeze-for-freeze,'' meaning we will agree not to pursue further sanctions for 6 weeks and Iran agrees not to increase the number of its centrifuges. But these offers weren't good enough for Iran, which responded only with a noncommittal letter. If Iran won't change its behavior as a result of the sanctions the international community has already imposed, and if it won't change its behavior as a result of the generous incentives package offered in Geneva, then we should be pursuing tougher and more meaningful sanctions. The legislation before us won't put an end to Iran's nuclear program, but it may help to slow it down. It will send a strong signal to Tehran that the U.S. Congress views this matter with urgency. And it will send a message to companies and countries that invest or consider investing in Iran's energy sector. This bill before us contains a somewhat diluted version of two measures put together in the other body that had previously been passed by the House by votes of 397-16 and 408-6. This legislation would codify and expand export and import bans on goods to and from Iran. It would freeze assets in the U.S. held by Iranians closely tied to the regime. It would render sanctionable a U.S. parent company if that parent company uses a foreign subsidiary to circumvent sanctions. It expands the Iran Sanctions Act to cover not only oil and all natural gas but related industries. It authorizes State and local governments in the United States to divest from any company that invests $20 million or more in Iran's energy sector. It increases U.S. export controls on countries that are directly involved in trans-shipment or illegal diversion of sensitive technologies to Iran. And it requires the administration to report all foreign investments of $20 million or more made in Iran's energy sector, an action which they have not done notwithstanding the existing law, and determining whether each such investment qualifies as sanctionable. Since 1996, the executive branch has never implemented the sanctions in the Iran Sanctions Act, even though well over a dozen sanctionable investment deals have been concluded with Iran by international companies. The administration hasn't even made a determination as to whether any of those investors are sanctionable. This bill will close that loophole. This legislation before us also reaffirms our Nation's commitment to multilateral diplomacy to increase pressure on Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program, and it exclusively states that nothing in this act authorizes the use of force. Based on previous votes, this body is committed to ending Iran's illicit nuclear program by taking measures that are peaceful but meaningful. I believe this legislation is a useful step forward toward that end. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, two issues: first, the gentlelady has mentioned several times that this bill is not as strong as we wanted, and she is right. But it does many good things, many important things. If we went on and fully extrapolated her comments, we would know the reason it isn't quite as strong as we wanted. It is because the White House, working with the other body, has worked very hard to not make it as strong as we would like. Even this good, but not good as we wanted bill, would have been much stronger. I would love to see a letter of support from the administration for this measure. On the issue she asked me to clarify, she got a very important piece of legislation through a couple of years ago that codified our sanctions and did not contain waiver authority. We don't believe this bill did, but we have made clear, by the language in section 108, that this waiver does not affect the provisions of the executive order codified by the Iran Freedom Support Act, that the waiver in this legislation has no impact whatsoever on her legislation, which passed in 2006, I am glad of that, and the specific provisions of section 108. Mr. Speaker, I would like to place two exchanges of letters with the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Ways and Means in the Record. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC, September 26, 2008. Hon. Howard L. Berman, Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing regarding H.R. 7112--to amend the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, to expand and clarify the entities against which sanctions may be imposed--is expected to be on the suspension calendar today. As you know, the Committee on Ways and Means has jurisdiction over import matters, such as the import ban and restrictions on imports imposed by the Iran Sanctions Act and the International Emergency Powers Act. Accordingly, the certain provisions of H.R. 7112 fall under the Committee's jurisdiction. There have been some very productive conversations between the staffs of our committees, during which we have proposed some changes to H.R. 7112 that I believe help clarify the intent and scope of the measure. My understanding is that there is an agreement with regard to these changes. In order to expedite this legislation for floor consideration, the Committee will forgo action on this bill and will not oppose its consideration on the suspension calendar. This is done with the understanding that it does not in any way prejudice the Committee or its jurisdictional prerogatives on this, or similar legislation in the future. I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming our understanding with respect to H.R. 7112, and would ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the Record. I look forward to the bill's consideration on the floor and hope that it will command the broadest possible support. Sincerely, Charles B. Rangel, Chairman.

Mr. BERMAN

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the Chair of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7081) to approve the United States-India Agreement for Cooperation on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, and for other purposes.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from American Samoa, Eni Faleomavaega, chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield the remaining time to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 1 minute to a very active member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the gentlelady from Texas, Ms. Sheila Jackson-Lee.

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

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 1 minute to a member of our committee, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, be given 10 minutes, one-half of my time, to be put under her control.

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the Chair of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, someone who was involved in this issue since the first announcement of the joint declaration in the summer of 2005, which was the first time Congress was ever told about this issue, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman).