Copyright 1999 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
SEPTEMBER 30, 1999, THURSDAY
SECTION: IN THE NEWS
LENGTH:
483 words
HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT OF
THE
HONORABLE W.J. "BILLY" TAUZIN
SUBJECT - H.R. 1746 -
SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES INTERNET ACCESS ACT
BEFORE THE
HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TRADE & CONSUMER PROTECTION
BODY:
Good
morning. When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act in 1996, we included
the idea of a program for the discount of advanced telecommunications services
to organizations that would most need assistance with acquiring technology,
namely schools, libraries and rural health care centers.
The FCC broadly
interpreted the statute to require subsidies - not only for basic telephone
service for schools, but also for Internet access, content based information
services and equipment for internal connections. They even created a new
bureaucracy to take over the administration of the program, the Schools and
Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Co.
Furthermore,
the FCC took it upon themselves to create a $2.5 billion dollar fund, to be
developed by excise taxes on every consumers' phone bill. This type of illegal
tax was certainly not the intention of Congress. After some urging from Chairman
Bliley and myself last May, the FCC scaled back their original $2.5 billion
dollar program, to $1.3 billion dollars.
The fact is that neither the FCC
nor the FCC created USAC has the authority to levy taxes. Only the Congress can
do that - which is why I introduced the Schools and Libraries Internet Access
Act, H.R. 1746.
With this bill, we reassert control over Congress' original
idea. The Schools and Libraries Internet Access Act will cut taxes, not increase
them. The bill cuts the existing regressive 3% telephone excise tax by fully two
thirds for five years. In that five years, we pledge the remaining proceeds from
the tax to fund the schools and libraries program. After the fifth year, when
all of our schools should be connected to the information superhighway, we
completely repeal the tax. The bill removes this program from the FCC and puts
it into the hands of state education officials and the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Department of Commerce.
In sum, this bill will meet our goal of bringing advanced telecommunications
services and the Internet to our neediest schools and libraries and eliminates
the need for the improper new taxes imposed by the FCC that many have dubbed the
"Gore Tax." I am proud to welcome my friends and fellow co-sponsors of the bill,
Representatives Tancredo and Weller, to testify before the Committee this
morning. I am also pleased to welcome our second panel of witnesses this
morning: Christopher J. Wright, General Counsel, Federal Communications
Commission (FCC); Kelly Levy, Acting Associate Administrator, Office of Policy
Analysis and Development, National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA); Lois Gerber, Chairman of the Board, National Independent
Private Schools Association; Cheryl Parrino, CEO, Universal Service
Administrative Company; Kent Lassman, Deputy Director, Technology and
Communications, Citizens for a Sound Economy.
LOAD-DATE: October 1, 1999
