. >> host: two more members talked about who has authority to yea or nay this deal, john shimkus, republican of arizona and anna eshoo, a california. >> there may be different issues dealing today and i want to make a clear i do not want the department of justice and 19 policy, that's our job and i would be careful were members to another way giving up our responsibility is on telecom policy by enacting processing and procedures and using this in the department of justice to do that. so that's kind of where i stand here and in a possible increase universal is possibly good and i hope this merger will facilitate the creation of more popular programming choices of americans. one of the great exports our country has is armenia, american films, television shows are one of the ways we rich cultures that around the world and i also would not sure that is always a good reach of culture and i do question some of the things are consumers like to watch and what we do sell abroad and i think it does sometimes not put the best focus on us as a culture. >> communications megamerger is as well as those an

. >> guest: yeah, both of those -- i can't remember -- representative shimkus was talking about net neutrality too when he was talking about the department of justice and the fcc. basically making policy through mergers. and that's something that republicans complain about a lot. and they actually complained when kevin martin was the chairman of the fcc and was still in charge because the fcc likes to basically create policy and merger conditions because they can do a lot with merger conditions. you can get companies to agree to an awful lot. and that's something that, you know, we're seeing here with the net neutrality debate which is something that comcast is knee deep in because they've got a pending lawsuit against the agency about this and the democrats would really like to see some sort of net neutrality condition put on this merger. republicans don't want to see that at all. and comcast doesn't want to see that. and comcast along with the republicans are arguing that it doesn't make a lot of sense to impose some sort of net neutrality condition only on comcast as a merger condition beca

shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. mr., i come to the floor today joining with my friend, colleague, congressman, to speak out on an issue that is important on the over the air classical association. a legislation is currently pending before the f.c.c. and we have been contacted by our constituents that the purchaser of the station may cease the classical program in the st. louis that they have benefited from. they have been a part of the st. louis area and it is heard classical 99 and features large amount of programming for the fine arts institutions of st. louis, including the symphony orchestra, the rerp tower theater, the st. louis art museum and historic art museum and historical society, botanical gardens, arts center of university of st. louis, the bach society of st. louis, the st. louis public library and children's choir. it is a virtual partnership with these institutions as many hours are given to these organizations for live broadcast, education as well as promotion. the close of classic 9 is a loss to the co

shimkus february 9. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? mr. quigley: i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes revise and extend their remarks and include therein extraneous material, ms. woolsey, mr. defazio, mr. sestak, mr. kaptur and of course, mr. quigley. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009 and under a previous order of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. ms. woolsey from california. mr. deal from georgia. mr. defazio from oregon. mr. poe from texas. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. poe: thank you, mr. speaker. they called it the war to end all wars. four million 700,000 americans went over there to europe in the great world war i. 116,000 of them never came home. many more when they arrived back in the united states in

shimkus. the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman.nk you for scheduling this hearing at the onset of the merger review process so that we can gauge the potential effects of this transaction and weigh in with our concerns before the agencies begin their analyses. the comcast/nbc universal merger will effect millions of people. many of them, obviously, in my own district. comcast has 24 million cable subscribers and 16 million broadband subscribers nationwide. nbc universal produces and distributes broad swaths of entertainment programming. like any merger, this transaction could produce beneficial synergies. comcast's fcc filing spells out a sincere commitment to the public interest, but having a philosophical commitment to protect consumers is far different than having a legal obligation to do so. telecommunications' megamergers as well as those in other industry sectors have the potential to create mow nop listic titans. the department of justice will ensure this merger doesn't violate our anti-trust laws. but the fcc has a special b