Editor’s Note: The following  press release was received form the office of Congressman Doug Collins.

WASHINGTON, [July 10] – Congressman Doug Collins (GA-09) said today that because no private solution could be reached, he will pursue a legislative solution to the issue of orphan counties.

Like many rural areas, the 9th district of Georgia has counties bordering another state that are in that state’s media market, not their own. This means that residents of those counties miss out on local weather, news, events, and public discourse through the crucial communications medium for rural America: television.

Collins made his intentions clear during the markup for H.R. 5026, which amends provisions of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010.

Congressman Collins said, “Localism is important, and the current DMA setup leaves my constituents feeling isolated and removed from their local communities.” Collins added that consumers deserve choice and that he’s moving forward with finding a solution on behalf of his constituents in Elbert, Hart, Franklin, and Stephens counties.

Collins said a legislative solution is needed because the federal government is “at the point of protecting business models at the expense of constituents.” Collins said that as he’s led efforts to find a solution to this problem, he has met with resistance from industry. “The inactivity is appalling,” Congressman Collins said. In closing, Collins said that this process has given him the ability to “go back to my constituents and say I know who’s the problem.”

A clip of Collins’s public remarks during the markup can be viewed here:

  Congressman Doug Collins