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Richard Hanna on Technology |
Proponent's Argument for voting Yes:
Opponent's Argument for voting No:
[Rep. Waxman, D-CA]: This bill will cripple National Public Radio, public radio stations, and programming that is vital to over 27 million Americans. We are now voting to deny the public access to one of our Nation's most credible sources of news coverage. This bill does not save a penny. This legislation does not serve any fiscal purpose, but it does serve an ugly ideological one. This legislation is not about reforming NPR. It is about punishing NPR. It is vindictive, it is mean-spirited, it is going to hit the smallest stations in rural areas particularly hard. Public radio is indispensable for access to news that's hard to get, especially where broadband service is limited.
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation: aviation, maritime and waterborne transportation, roads, bridges, mass transit, and railroads. But the Committee has jurisdiction over other aspects of our national infrastructure, such as clean water and waste management, the transport of resources by pipeline, flood damage reduction, the economic development of depressed rural and urban areas, disaster preparedness and response, activities of the Army Corps of Engineers and the various missions of the Coast Guard.
When combined, these areas of jurisdiction provide a comprehensive view of how communities across the United States are connected to one another, how infrastructure affects the growth and flow of commerce at home and abroad, and how an effective government can improve the lives of its citizens.
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
|---|---|---|
| Aviation | Tom Petri (R-WI) | Jerry Costello (D-IL) |
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation | Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) | Rick Larsen (D-WA) |
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management | Jeff Denham (R-CA) | Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) |
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Highways and Transit | Jimmy Duncan (R-TN) | Peter DeFazio (D-OR) |
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials | Bill Shuster (R-PA) | Corrine Brown (D-FL) |
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Water Resources and Environment | Bob Gibbs (R-OH) | Tim Bishop (D-NY) |
Congressional Summary: Revises the definition of "widow" concerning the transfer of a copyright to an author's spouse following the author's death. Declares that an individual is the widow of an author if they were legally married at the time of the author's death, even if they could not marry in their home state. (Currently, only the author's surviving spouse under the law of the author's domicile at the time of death is considered a widow.)
Supporters reasons for voting YEA: (by Human Rights Campaign, hrc.org): This bill would fix wording in the Copyright Act that currently prevents some same-sex couples from receiving inheritance rights. Because of restrictions in current law, some agencies--including the Copyright Office and the Social Security Administration--do not recognize same-sex couples living in states without same-sex marriage equality.
Background: (Wikipedia.com on "U.S. v. Windsor"): Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, a same-sex couple residing in New York, were lawfully married in Canada, in 2007. Spyer died in 2009, leaving her entire estate to Windsor. Windsor sought to claim the federal estate tax exemption for surviving spouses. She was barred from doing so because the IRS said the exemption only applies to heterosexual couples under the federal Defense of Marriage Act, and compelled her to pay $363,053 in estate taxes. The Supreme Court rules 5-4 to overturn DOMA as unconstitutional. [This bill applies that Supreme Court ruling to copyright law].
Opponents reasons for voting NAY: (PopVox blog postings on H.R.238 & S.23):