Jared Polis

Mr. POLIS of Colorado

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. A brief discussion of some of the many hearings and discussions that occurred on this matter. March 28, 2007, the subcommittee held its first hearings on the status of the DTV transition; October 17, 2007, second hearing on the status of DTV transition, at which the NTIA Assistant Secretary Kneuer testified.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, on September 7, 1927, Philo Farnsworth flipped a switch and brought television into the world. Nothing has been the same since. We can all remember our childhood, our growing up experiences with television, those of the next generation. It's had an impact culturally, both positive and negative. It's brought us closer together and yet further apart. And yet we have grown to rely on television for so much of our news and so much of our communication as well. Mr. Speaker, without this bill, in just 13 days, television will no longer work for millions of Americans. This will not only come as quite a surprise to them, but will also create even further gaps within our society. This is a one-time delay only. I can think of no time in our history when having access to television is more critical than now with the global emergency and the threat of terrorism. We can't stand by and allow millions of televisions across America to go dark. Yes, this delay was necessary because of the bungled implementation of this project, and no, it is not expected that there will need to be additional delays, and many people have spoken to the fact that they will not support additional delays in the conversion. I encourage all Members of this body to follow the Senate's lead and support this bill on the floor today. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and the previous question. I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. I don't have any further speakers at this point, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to reserve the right to close until the gentlewoman has closed for her side and has yielded back her time.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. I would like to thank the gentleman from Georgia. We originally thought that the omnibus would be ready today, so we required a previous rule that Chairman Obey file a statement by today explaining the bill. The bill is delayed potentially until after the recess so the rule changes the statement deadline to February 26. It is our intention to file the statement when the bill is introduced.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The Chair of the appropriate subcommittee, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Boucher), has indicated that he will not support an additional delay in the implementation of the change as have several of the other speakers who have advocated on this side of the issue as well. Again, the urgent need for a one-time delay is simply in the fact that 6.5 million people's televisions will go black in 13 days absent this very simple change that gives them more time. To show the ongoing urgent need for this, just yesterday 135,464 coupons were added to the waiting list. Two point one million households are now on the waiting list for coupons. These are people who did everything right, and they are on the waiting list. And if we pass this bill many of them will, in fact, be eligible for coupons as well. Again, this is a one-time delay only. Given the critical nature of television in today's society, that is why this has been supported by a number of national public safety organizations including the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, the Association of Chiefs of Police, the Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Emergency Managers Association. Television is an important way to communicate with people. We all have constituents that this affects. And that is why it's important to pass this bill today. I would like to yield 1 minute to Mr. Weiner from New York.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner).

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner).

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. As testimony to the demand for the need to change, there are currently pending about 2 million requests for coupons. This bill, as passed, would finally allow for some of those coupons to be reissued by allowing consumers to reapply for those coupons and help ensure that those who need coupons can still get them and their televisions do not go dark. Madam Speaker, I would like to reserve the remainder of my time.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time remains on both sides, please?

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Reclaiming my time, the gentleman from Nebraska has in his very own district 3,401 people who have not made the transition; I have in my district 3,671. There are a number of people across the country, particularly elderly people and people who aren't as aware of the technology. Now, Nielsen has estimated that 6.5 million remain. And it is critical that, again, this is something that a lot of people don't realize as they go about their everyday lives. We realize this in this body. We talk about it, those involved with technology do. Another issue is, for instance, many of the coupons were sent out via third-class mail, taking 4 to 8 weeks to deliver. Some of those, as is inevitable when things get mailed, actually get lost in the mail; when they arrive, some of them arrived after their expiration date, which was only a 90-day expiration date. One of the provisions in the bill would actually allow consumers to reapply for coupons when their coupons expired. So, again, for these reasons there would be a lot of difficulty in explaining to any of our constituents whose televisions will go off in 13 days why we didn't act to be able to allow them to continue to watch their television and give them time to see this transition through with this one-time delay. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, this delay is a one-time delay only. And given the national security issues and increasing number of natural disasters we face, I can think of no time in our history when having access to television is more critical than it is now. Absent this extension, millions of television sets will go dark in 13 days. This legislation contains specific language recommended by public safety organizations. It explicitly preserves the ability of public safety entities to use the DTV spectrum before the new transition date subject to existing FCC rules, and under no circumstances will there be any disruption of spectrum currently used for public safety communications. As I said before, this bill has the support of leading public safety organizations, including the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International, the International Associations of Chiefs of Police, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the National Emergency Number Association. I would add that allowing the 6.5 million households estimated by Nielsen that are completely unprepared for the DTV transition to go dark is in and of itself a legitimate public safety issue. Those homes will not be able to continue to rely on local broadcast stations for news about natural disasters, evacuations, terrorist attacks, or other public safety announcements. A one-time delay of 115 days is a reasonable response to a very difficult problem that millions of Americans would face in 2 weeks absent this legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. I yield to the gentleman from Nebraska.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, there are many Americans that don't realize that they have not made the transition to digital TV, absent this bill, in 13 days; with this bill, of a 115-day extension.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. You can read the transcript.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. This bill had extensive discussion. In the absence of acting soon, there will be millions of people who will not have TV, and they won't be very happy.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. I yield to the gentleman from Oregon.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. No, I have to complete this. October 31, 2007, subcommittee holds a third hearing on status of the DTV transition; February 13, 2008, a fourth hearing. It continues. There were a total of nine hearings at which this matter was discussed extensively. Those who wanted to be heard were able to be heard at that point.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, with regard to the delivery of the services, most SCHIP and Medicaid beneficiaries receive service delivery through private doctors and through private management care plans, not through government doctors. So, when we are talking about how the service is delivered, we are talking about an important aspect of what insurance and what coverage allows. Yes, separately, we certainly hope that we will be able to address universal coverage, in rural areas in particular, as an important component of health care in this country. With regard to income limits, this bill does provide that if a State covers children in families of three with income over $52,800, which is 300 percent of the poverty rate, then the States get the regular Medicaid match rate. There are, in fact, income provisions in here as well. There is also section 605 of the bill, which prevents payments to individuals not lawfully residing in the United States. So I believe that the issues that have been raised by my colleagues are addressed in the bill. It does, of course, matter what the bill says. The bill says very clearly that individuals not lawfully residing in the United States will not receive payments, and it also is very clear with regard to the income level. So I think that this bill has been clear. As I have mentioned, this bill has been voted on a number of times in Congress. The main difference now is we are sending it to a President who has indicated that he is, in fact, willing to sign it and, indeed, is willing to do so on this very afternoon. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, I would also like to discuss that SCHIP provides quality dental care, alleviating the most common childhood disease--tooth decay. I cannot help but remember a story that was told to me when I was visiting a free dental clinic in Boulder, Colorado that provides services to those who are uninsured. This story is about a young girl who was in the third grade. Due to the lack of dental care and poor dental hygiene practices at home, her teeth had actually rotted out. This is when she was a young girl. She had received no care for that as well. As a result, she was very, very shy, and was constantly in pain. Her diet suffered. She suffered malnutrition because of the condition of her teeth. Fortunately, the community there was able to help her, but there are hundreds of thousands of young people across the country who suffer from no or from poor quality dental care, which has vast ramifications as well. In addition, this bill gives the option of providing pregnant women critical prenatal care. When we talk about the impact on reducing the need for special education and for increasing one's IQ, these things start in the prenatal stage, and they continue through early childhood. I think that that is a very important aspect in terms of giving States that option as well as covering 4.1 million additional low-income children who currently lack insurance. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, another story from Colorado is about someone who I know firsthand, a student at one of the schools that I was involved in running. Like many of the students I worked with, this student lacked health care insurance. She was diagnosed with diabetes, and she was not diagnosed early. She had severe symptoms, weakness, et cetera, but because of economic barriers to seeking health care and because of her lack of insurance, she did not seek any form of preventative treatment. When she then went in, she went into the emergency room, and she needed emergency dialysis immediately. So a condition that could have been dealt with through a combination of diet and insulin instead became an acute condition which had to be dealt with at a much greater cost and with a much worse health outcome for the individual. These are the stories that are taking place across our great Nation. By passing this bill today, we can make a dent in making sure that people have access to preventative care and to health care throughout their childhoods. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, I am the last speaker for this side. I would like to reserve my time until the gentleman has closed for his side and has yielded back his time.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. Madam Speaker, SCHIP currently provides for coverage of 7 million children. This bill before us today would also allow for extending the coverage to 4.1 million uninsured children, every single one of them who is currently eligible for but not enrolled in SCHIP and Medicaid. Polls have shown that more than 8 percent of the American people support this bipartisan legislation, including large majorities of both major political parties. This is not only popular, Madam Speaker; this is the right thing to do for American families. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.

Mr. POLIS of Colorado. I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.