SUPREME COURT DECISIONS -- (House of Representatives - June 29, 2005)
(Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, this week's Supreme Court decisions have been a mixed bag, and I did not like the eminent domain ruling which, in my view, is contrary to America's great tradition and respect for public property.
Why is it that Americans can be born poor and yet realize the American Dream? It is because Americans can dream and create and own and benefit from their labor.
I was glad to see the Court reinforce private property, at least when it comes to intellectual property. It is so important that our digital marketplace not become a place where anything goes and where pirates and robber barons rule the Information Highway.
As a Member of Congress from Tennessee, I have a great number of constituents, small business owners who write music, create television programming, films, radio content, people who write books and publish them and develop software. The creative community is alive and well and working hard in Tennessee.
I can tell my colleagues that illegal downloading has hurt our songwriters and our performers. And I am not talking about millionaires; I am talking about small business people. They are the backbone of the entertainment industry.
As cochairman of the Congressional Songwriters Caucus, I applaud the Grokster decision and hope that they will promote a fair and digital marketplace.
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