December 7, 2006 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS, Vol. 152, Pt. 18 23073 I extend my most sincere congratulations to that a satellite television provider has engaged victims here, from the abrupt cutoff of all net- Ashley Byrd and wish her the best of luck in in copyright infringement by providing the sig- work television service. The ability to receive her academic and athletic career. nals of out-of-market television stations to in- network television programming is important to f eligible homes. Southwest Virginians, and I am committed to I, like many of our colleagues, have been assuring its availability by satellite throughout H.R. 4766, ESTHER MARTINEZ NA- flooded with phone calls over the last several my district. TIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES weeks from concerned constituents who sub- I therefore urge my colleagues to protect PRESERVATION ACT OF 2006 scribe to EchoStar’s DISH network satellite tel- rural households by adopting this measure evision service. They are upset and confused and clarifying that a court may adopt a settle- HON. HOWARD P. ‘‘BUCK’’ McKEON because their access to the signals of out-of- ment to which the parties in a lawsuit have OF CALIFORNIA market network television stations was sud- agreed. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES denly cut off, and many of them are now un- f able to receive any network television service Wednesday, December 6, 2006 from DISH. Many of the affected households WELCOME TO FIRST LADY OF THE Mr. MCKEON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in are in rural and underserved areas with a lim- REPUBLIC OF , MRS. support of H.R. 4766, the Esther Martinez Na- ited choice of alternative video programming MEHRIBAN ALIYEVA tive American Languages Preservation Act of providers to turn to. In my district alone, thou- 2006. This measure will empower Native sands of people have lost service, and nation- HON. BILL SHUSTER American tribes, organizations, and colleges wide, 800,000 are affected. OF PENNSYLVANIA as they seek to preserve Native languages The Satellite Home Viewer Act (SHVA), IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES and cultures. which was enacted with my support in 1988, In many Native American communities, Na- allows residents to receive by satellite the net- Wednesday, December 6, 2006 tive languages are disappearing at an alarm- work signals they cannot receive over-the-air Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, as the new co- ing rate. It is estimated that only 20 indige- from their local broadcast television stations. chairman of the Azerbaijan Caucus, it is a nous languages will remain viable by the year As a result, thousands of Southwest Virginians privilege to join with my good friend, the gen- 2050. Providing grants to Native American lan- and millions of Americans who cannot view tleman from Texas and fellow co-chairman guage programs consisting of language nests, local television signals over the air today re- SOLOMON ORTIZ, to welcome to Washington, survival schools, and restoration programs will ceive by satellite ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC DC, the first lady of the Republic of Azer- bolster the effort to preserve this important network channels that originate from markets baijan, Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva. part of our Nation’s history and culture. outside of their own communities. In some We welcome Mrs. Aliyeva as a member of By encouraging a greater focus on Native areas of the , particularly in the Azerbaijan parliament—Milli Majlis—and language programs, we are not only striving to mountainous regions like Southwest Virginia, a as chairperson of the United States-Azerbaijan preserve the identity of the Nation’s tribes, but home may be predicted to receive a strong Inter-Parliamentary Working Group. we’re encouraging greater academic perform- over-the-air signal from a local television sta- This week, Mrs. Aliyeva and a delegation of ance among Native American students as tion but not actually get a quality picture. Re- parliamentarians from Azerbaijan are meeting well. In fact, the legislation requires that Native ceipt of good local television signals is effec- with Members of Congress and administration American language survival schools work to- tively blocked by obstructions between view- offices to further reinforce understanding of ward a goal of all students achieving both flu- ers’ homes and the local station. These Azerbaijan and encourage dialogue between ency in a Native American language and aca- households have come to depend on the dis- Congress and the Milli Majlis. demic proficiency in mathematics, reading (or tant network channels for important news and Members of the parliamentary delegation in- language arts), and science. It is our intention emergency information, as well as network clude: Gultakin Haciyeva, New Azerbaijan that students in survival school programs dem- programming. Without SHVA, millions of Party; Ganira Pashayeva, Independent; Evda onstrate adequate progress in English pro- Americans, particularly those in remote areas, Abramov, Independent; Malahat Hasanova, ficiency according to their appropriate grade would be denied network television program- New Azerbaijan Party; and Ali Huseynov, New level. ming. Azerbaijan Party. Also part of the delegation is It is also our intention that the Department Since December 1, 2006, EchoStar’s DISH Deputy Foreign Minister , a of Health and Human Services’ Administration network has been prohibited by a permanent former abassador from the Republic of Azer- for Native Americans administer this program injunction from providing out-of-market signals baijan to the United States. in such a way that Native American survival to any of its subscribers due to violations of We thank our distinguished colleagues for school grantees be required to obtain parental SHVA. The court which enjoined EchoStar their visit and encourage continued support of permission for students to enroll in the survival also rejected a settlement negotiated by the Inter-Parliamentary Working Group and schools. All parents should be able to make EchoStar and affiliates of the ABC, CBS, Fox coordination with the Republic of Azerbaijan, decisions about their children’s education, and and NBC networks which would have avoided one of our important strategic allies. this bill provides Native American parents with mass consumer disruption by allowing DISH to f new opportunities to do so. continue to provide most out-of-market chan- I urge my colleagues to join me in sup- nels. I am deeply disappointed that the court TRIBUTE TO porting this worthwhile legislation. found that it could not accept the settlement, f an outcome which was acceptable to the de- HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT fendant and four of five plaintiffs in the case OF ALABAMA INTRODUCTION OF A BILL TO and which would not have prevented the fifth IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AMEND TITLE 17, UNITED plaintiff from availing itself of the remedies Wednesday, December 6, 2006 STATES CODE provided by statute. In virtually any other law- suit, the parties may settle at any time, even Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today HON. RICK BOUCHER after the jury or judge has rendered its deci- to recognize the country of Kazakhstan on the OF VIRGINIA sion. I am gravely concerned that the result of occasion of its 15th anniversary of independ- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES the court’s action has been a denial of net- ence from the former on Decem- work programming to hundreds of thousands ber 16, 1991. Kazakhstan has been at the Wednesday, December 6, 2006 of households located primarily in remote crossroads of trade and empires for centuries Mr. BOUCHER. Mr. Speaker, today my col- areas. along the ancient Silk Road, and today plays league from Virginia, Mr. GOODLATTE, and I in- The simple, straightforward measure we in- an increasingly important role in the stability troduce a bill to amend Section 119 of Title 17 troduce today would merely clarify that the and security of the Central Asian region, and of the United States Code. This modest, con- court has the option of accepting a settlement of our world. sumer-focused measure would simply allow a between the parties to a distant signal copy- I had the privilege of visiting Kazakhstan court to accept a negotiated settlement be- right infringement lawsuit. It would enable the along with Congressman JIM MCDERMOTT, tween parties to a lawsuit in which it is alleged court to protect consumers, who are the true Congressman MAURICE HINCHEY and former

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