House Energy and Commerce Committee Member To Update Summit Attendees On The Year Ahead In Telecom
PITTSBURGH, February 12, 2013 – The American Cable Association today announced that Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), a leading voice for communications policy reform on Capitol Hill, will address ACA Members and attendees at ACA’s 20th Washington Summit, offering independent cable operators insights into the key telecommunications issues facing Congress in 2013.
“ACA is very pleased that Rep. Scalise will join hundreds of ACA Members for this historic Washington Summit. Rep. Scalise is recognized as a unique leader within the House because of his Chairmanship of the Republican Study Conference (RSC) and as a true communications policy expert. He possesses a firm understanding of today’s video and broadband marketplace, and we appreciate that he understands the needs of the independent cable community. We have been pleased to work with him and his staff and value their recognition of ACA Members’ commitment to policies that promote choice and competition in hometown America,” ACA President and CEO Matthew M. Polka said.
Rep. Scalise is scheduled to address the ACA Summit on Wednesday, March 13, from 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Rep. Scalise is the chief sponsor of the Next Generation Television Marketplace Act, a sweeping measure that would, among other things, repeal retransmission consent provisions contained in the 1992 Cable Act. Eliminating unnecessary and burdensome mandates on the telecommunications industry is one of Rep. Scalise’s key legislative priorities.
First elected to Congress in a special election in May, 2008, Rep. Scalise was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2008, 2010, and again in November, 2012 to continue serving Louisiana’s First Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Scalise is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a key panel that oversees the Federal Communications Commission and the communications sector, including cable TV and broadband Internet access providers. Also, he is the head of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) for the 113th Congress.
ACA previously announced that two other leaders in the field of communications policymaking – Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) and Commissioner Ajit Pai of the FCC – have accepted invitations to address the ACA Summit. ACA expects to announce more speakers in the future.
Pai is scheduled to have a one-on-one discussion with ACA’s Polka on Wednesday, March 13, while Rep. Barrow will speak the following day, delivering that morning’s Congressional Address moments before hundreds of ACA Members head to Capitol Hill to discuss issues important to voice, video and broadband providers and consumers.
Independent cable operators from communities all across the great American heartland will gather in Washington, D.C., on March 12-14 to celebrate their two decades of achievement at the 20th Summit.
This year’s ACA Summit – cable’s premier event for smaller, independent and competitive cable operators – will take place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. The Summit is widely considered as the best opportunity for small business owners serving hometown America with advanced communications services to advocate for change in face-to-face exchanges with Obama Administration officials, Capitol Hill lawmakers and senior FCC personnel.
The 20th ACA Summit will extend its tradition as the most important forum nationally to honor the critical role played by independent cable operators that serve rural and remote regions of the country that are typically much more costly to build out with advanced technology.
The year’s ACA Summit will once again underscore the trade group’s firm commitment to finding consensus and highlighting progress made on many critical issues, especially retransmission consent, broadband deployment and access to content on fair and reasonable terms.
ACA is currently seeking exhibitors and sponsors for the event. Interested parties should contact Stacey Leech at [email protected] or (412)-922-8300, ext. 15.
Further information about the ACA Summit 2013 agenda and the exciting lineup of speakers will be made available on the ACA Summit 2013 website closer to the time of the event.
Meanwhile, to register and learn more about ACA Summit 2013, please visit: http://acasummit.org/
About the American Cable Association: Based in Pittsburgh, the American Cable Association is a trade organization representing about 850 smaller and medium-sized, independent cable companies who provide broadband services for more than 7.4 million cable subscribers primarily located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America. Through active participation in the regulatory and legislative process in Washington, D.C., ACA’s members work together to advance the interests of their customers and ensure the future competitiveness and viability of their business. For more information, visit https://acaconnects.org/