Democrats in the US Congress are still trying to delay the transition to digital television, according to the chairman of a powerful committee in the US House of Representatives.

US Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, stated Thursday that Democrats in the Congress may try to pass legislation delaying the digital television transition until June 12. Currently, all television broadcasters in the US are scheduled to switch to digital-only Feb. 17. But Waxman and other legislators are concerned that too many Americans are not prepared for the transition.
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The U. S. Senate voted Monday to delay the transition to digital television to prevent up to 21 million households around the country from losing their television signals.

The Senate voted to delay the DTV transition until June 12. Many African American, low-income and rural families as well as senior citizens are at risk of being cut off from using their televisions.
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The co-chair of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team urged the US Congress to delay the conversion from analog television to digital broadcasting because of “major difficulties” they discovered in the preparation for the transition.

John Podesta wrote a letter addressed to the chairmen of the committees at the US House of Representatives and the US Senate on January 8 asking for a delay in the so-called DTV transition, scheduled right now for February 17, 2009.
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“Without funding schools like Bronzeville that are central to the development of the city’s youth, we’ll fail. There won’t be a future without us,” said Keidra Williams, a junior at the Bronzeville Academic Center, to State of Illinois officials during a public hearing on January 9 at the Chicago Urban League.

Williams was one of several students to testify on national youth joblessness and the high school dropout crisis. A student at Bronzeville, an alternative high school at 220 W. 45th Place, Williams added that schools like hers “need more funding to promote achievement of its students.”
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