On March 2, 2007, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), a three member panel affiliated with the Library of Congress, issued a decision that changed royalty expenses for commercial and noncommercial webcasters and will likely end Internet radio as we know it today.  According to the decision, which is retroactive beginning January 1, 2006, and commences through December 31, 2010, commercial and noncommercial webcasters would be subject to an increase in royalty rates from .08 cents in 2006 per performance to .19 cents per performance in 2010.  The new royalty rates amount to a 300 percent increase for the biggest webcasters and up to 1200 percent for small webcasters.  For most webcasters the royalties will exceed their gross revenues and bankrupt them.  The CRB has refused to reconsider its decision so the higher royalties - including retroactive royalties back to January 2006 - are due May 15, 2007.  My fear is that these new rates will decimate Internet radio.  The 70 million Americans that listen to Internet radio every month no longer will have access to this music service.

For these reasons, I have introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act, H.R. 2060, which provides royalty parity for Internet radio providers.  The bill vacates the CRB’s March 2 decision and changes the royalty rate-setting standard that applies to commercial Internet radio royalty arbitrations so that it is the same standard that applies to satellite radio, cable radio, jukeboxes, and record companies (when they are licensees of songwriters).  The bill also sets a transition rate through 2010 that is the same royalty rate that satellite radio services pay (7.5 percent of revenue).  Finally, the bill expands the Copyright Act’s Section 118 musical work license for noncommercial broadcasters like National Public Radio to enable those broadcasters also to perform sound recordings over Internet radio at royalty rates designed for noncommercial entities.  Read the rest of this entry »

I am pleased to join Congressman Neal (D-Mass.) in introducing legislation to extend New Markets Tax Credit program for an additional five years through 2013. The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) has been successful in meeting its principal goal — namely, mobilizing capital to economically distressed urban and rural communities.

I am a strong believer in the potential of the New Markets Tax Credit to bring capital to communities that have traditionally been left behind. Reports from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, reveals that interest in the NMTC from the investor market continues to increase at a rapid pace. More than $7.7 billion in new private capital has already been raised from 560 distinct investors. A recent report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office indicates that 88% of investors in New Markets Tax Credit projects would not have made the same investment without the Credit.

The NMTC is a successful program because it brings diverse groups together — public and private sectors, investment banks and community development corporations — to attract private capital and jobs into some of the nation’s most impoverished areas.
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In this presidential campaign video, former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) said he regrets voting for the Iraq War.

“I was wrong to vote for this war, I should have never voted for this war,” Edwards said. “And I want you to know I am speaking out with every fiber of my being to get America out of Iraq.”

Investments in math, science and research are critical to good jobs and future economic growth.   H.R. 362 and 363 expand upon successful programs that encourage students to pursue careers as math and science teachers and provide incentives for a new generation of pioneers who will blaze the trail for scientific advancement in the decades ahead.  I enthusiastically supported these initiatives as they complement my efforts to further an innovation agenda that will promote opportunity and prosperity for our children and grandchildren.

Maine and many other states face a critical shortage of the qualified math and science teachers needed to ensure that our young people get the solid foundation they need in these key disciplines.  H.R. 362 is similar to financial aid legislation I first introduced several years ago to encourage science and math majors to become teachers.  The grants and awards created by H.R. 363 will reward the inventiveness and creativity that are key to future high-tech innovation.

In November of 2006, the American people sent a clear message to Congress - it’s time for a change in strategy in Iraq. Last week, when both chambers of Congress passed the Iraq supplemental bill, we carried out the wishes of a majority of the American people and passed a real plan for accountability in Iraq.

This war has cost us the precious lives of 3,000 U.S. troops, injured over 20,000, and cost us well over $400 billion in U.S. tax dollars. Because of our occupation in Iraq, we have taken our eye off the ball, and are not focusing on threats like Iran, which may be harboring a nuclear bomb and Afghanistan, where the Taliban is resurging. We need to refocus our strategy. Continuing this strategy dealing with this religious civil war is not working. Read the rest of this entry »

As our nation continues to debate the future of U.S. involvement in Iraq, some of my colleagues have argued that Congress should mandate a hard deadline for the redeployment of U.S. troops. While I believe that Congress has an important role to play in this debate, such crucial decisions should not be made without substantial input from our military and foreign policy leaders and should be considered separately from a bill providing critical funding for our soldiers. I have disagreed with many aspects of our strategy in Iraq, but I feel strongly that requiring an arbitrary date for troop withdrawal would endanger our soldiers and undermine efforts to maintain stability in the Middle East.Our men and women serving in the military are doing extraordinary work under very difficult circumstances and we owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Now is the time to for Democrats and Republicans to unite around a strategy that funds our troops and supports an effective way forward in Iraq. We can not afford to waste precious moments arguing over political objectives and pork barrel spending projects, such as those included in this conference report.

A little known fact is that nearly one third of the total U.S. diet depends on the pollination honeybees provide for a wide variety of crops. Honeybees may be small in stature, but as the contributors of $15 billion in pollination value alone to our domestic agriculture industry each year, their value to our food supply is anything but small.

While we probably still wince at the thought of a painful bee sting from our childhood, there might soon be a day when we wish we could still hear those fuzzy insects buzzing around nearby.

A biological mystery — the Colony Collapse Disorder — is wiping out 40 to 60 percent of hives in South Dakota and several other states across the country, with certain states experiencing as high as a 90-percent loss of hives. Scientists are conducting extensive research to determine the origins of this disorder, but its cause and cure remain a mystery. Read the rest of this entry »

In his latest presidential campaign video, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) defended the No Child Left Behind Act by making a distinction between federal and state governments’ role in education.

“The federal No Child Left Behind Act is often misunderstood and unfairly maligned as a total federal intrusion,” Huckabee said. “As long as the states are allowed to develop their own benchmark exams to determine the manner to create standards … there’s a value of having a national effort to at least set high standards.”

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has established the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which was authorized in the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, P.L. 109-417. This new office will be key in speeding up the development of drugs and vaccines to protect the American people from threats like bioterrorism and pandemic flu. BARDA will be in charge of the research and development of medical countermeasures to defend against chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear agents and emerging pandemic infectious diseases. HHS is currently recruiting a director for BARDA, who would report directly to the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Dr. Craig Vanderwagen.

For more information on BARDA from HHS, please see their press release here.

The pang of Virginia Tech cuts deep now. Yet we know, from other incidents of blinding horror, that the pain we feel today will dull. The living, except for families and survivors, will gradually adapt and move on.

It’s important, therefore, that we as a nation pause now—and fix in our minds the questions of what we can learn, and what we must change, to prevent the next senseless bloodbath in a school or workplace.

It’s time to consider Virginia Tech’s tragedy through the prism and value that have characterized our nation from its earliest days: common sense. Read the rest of this entry »