Copyright 2002 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company  
The Houston Chronicle
February 26, 2002, Tuesday 3 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 22

LENGTH: 345 words

HEADLINE: TAUZIN - DINGELL;
Bill is poster child for undue influence in Congress

SOURCE: Staff

BODY:
This week the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act. The aims of the act are exactly opposite those implied by the bill's title, yet the bill is given a good chance of House passage.

The bill is more commonly known by the names of its principal sponsors, Reps. Billy Tauzin, R-La., and John Dingell, D-Mich. The issues are complicated, but basically the bill would allow the former regional Bell telephone companies and cable companies to dominate high-speed, broadband Internet access without having to share their networks with the competition.

The legislation is supported by the Baby Bells, such as Verizon and SBC, and opposed by virtually everyone else, including many state and local utility regulators, consumer groups and long-distance phone companies such as AT&T and Sprint looking to compete for local service customers.

If passed by the House, the bill stands little chance of passage in the Senate, where it faces bipartisan, public-spirited opposition. Unfortunately, just the possibility that the bill could become law one day tends to dampen innovation and competition for telecommunication services and reinforce the recession in that industry.

Particularly egregious is the section in the Tauzin-Dingell bill that would limit the ability of state and local regulators to protect the public interest. A similar clause in the 1996 Telecommunication Act allowed fiber optic companies to dig up city streets willy-nilly and hobbled local officials' ability to prevent or repair the damage.

Why are Reps. Tauzin and Dingell sponsoring legislation so adverse to the public interest? Campaign contributions from the beneficiaries might be a factor, but underlying them is the congressmen's hidebound indifference to the interests of the citizens. If the House passes the pernicious and deceitfully named Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act, Americans will know that Tauzin and Dingell's hostility to the public good commands a majority of the people's representatives.



TYPE: Editorial Opinion

LOAD-DATE: February 27, 2002