(Host) Congressman Peter Welch says it’s unlikely that a bill aimed at Internet piracy will be revived this session.
As VPR’s Bob Kinzel reports, Welch describes Vermonters’ opposition to the bill as "absolutely amazing."
(Kinzel) The House bill is known as the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and it set off a firestorm of protest from members of the on-line community.
Backers of the bill said the legislation is necessary to help prevent the piracy of music, books and movies on the Internet.
But opponents said the bill would give law enforcement the power to shut down Internet Service Providers that were used by people stealing copyrighted materials.
Welch says he understands the need to stop piracy but he says this bill was way out of balance.
(Welch) "Because essentially it would make Internet providers censors they’d have to be the cop on the beat, if I posted something on one of these Internet providers they would be liable for something I said. You can’t have an open and free Internet if you’re going to impose that kind of censorship."
(Kinzel) Welch says his office received over 2000 calls and emails opposing the bill and he says this kind of reaction took place all across the country.
(Welch) "What I know is that the reaction by Vermonters was mirrored by reactions in Congressional districts throughout the country. So every member heard loud and clear from influential people, namely their own constituents, that ‘hey, you guys have got a lot more work to do’".
Given the fierce opposition to the bill, Welch doubts it will come to the House floor for a vote this year.
One bill that Welch hopes will make it to the floor is a measure to provide several billion dollars to upgrade the nation’s transportation and broadband infrastructure. He thinks this bill could win bi-partisan support.
(Welch) "Every member of Congress represents districts where we need to improve our infrastructure. Every member of Congress wants to put the people in their district back to work. So infrastructure is an enormous opportunity if we can put our ideological battle gear down and just try to focus on it."
(Kinzel) Welch also wants Congress to reduce the national debt by backing legislation that would cut spending and raise new revenue but he’s not optimistic about the outlook for this bill.
(Welch) "That would do a lot to stabilize confidence in the economy and confidence in government. That’s going to be tough because of the political year but in fact I think it would work to the advantage of both parties if we could come to an agreement on that."
(Kinzel) Welch says he’ll be very disappointed if the partisan fighting that dominated the 2011 session, carries over into 2012.
For VPR News I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier.