[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 140 (Wednesday, October 2, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1904-E1905]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      UNIVERSAL TELECOMMUNICA- TIONS SERVICE AND NATIVE AMERICANS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BILL RICHARDSON

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 2, 1996

  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing a House resolution 
expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that universal 
telecommunications service can only be met if the needs of Native 
Americans are addressed and policies are implemented with the 
cooperation of tribal governments.
  As the joint Federal-State Board on Universal Service prepares to 
issue its recommendations, the implementation process of the 
Telecommunications Act reaches a critical stage. I believe it is 
important to make it perfectly clear that the intent of Congress can 
only be fulfilled if the universal service policies or procedures 
established to implement the act address the telecommunications needs 
of low-income Native Americans, including Alaskan Natives.

[[Page E1905]]

Cost-effective solutions are best developed with the cooperation of 
tribal governments.
  When Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act in February, great 
emphasis was placed on ensuring the delivery of telecommunications 
services, including advanced telecommunications and information 
services, to all regions of the Nation. This principle of universal 
service is designed to address the exceptional needs of rural, insular, 
and high-cost areas and make sure those services are available at 
reasonable and affordable rates.
  This policy was established in the belief that telecommunications 
services have become essential to education, public health, and public 
safety of all people within the United States.
  Indian and Alaskan Native people live in some of the most 
geographically remote areas of the country, with 50 percent of Indian 
and Alaskan Native people living in Oklahoma, California, South Dakota, 
Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and Washington.
  Indian poverty in reservation areas in 3.9 times the national average 
rate. The average phone penetration rates for rural Native Americans is 
only 50 percent. The actual penetration rates are often much lower than 
50 percent--for example, the Navajo Nation estimates that 65 percent of 
its citizens do not have telephones. What phone service there is in 
Indian country is often substandard and prohibitively expensive.
  There is a continuing need for universal service in Indian country 
and for tribal governments to be directly involved in providing these 
services.
  Among the recommendations in the 1995 Office of Technology Assessment 
report, Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans is a 
strengthened Federal/tribal government partnership in the 
telecommunications field to provide better services to persons in 
Indian country and to enable tribes to be direct providers of 
telecommunications services.
  Now is the time to recognize the critical role that tribal 
governments can and must play in the implementation of universal 
service objectives.

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