[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1996 TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT

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                          HON. DAVID E. BONIOR

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 22, 1998

  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, February 8, 1998 marked the second 
anniversary of the passage of Telecommunications Act of 1996. Though 
the Act was signed with great fanfare, the promised competition and 
lower rates for consumers have been slow to materialize.
  Delays through court appeals and what have become unsurmountable 
regulatory hurdles for the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) 
have cost millions of dollars and valuable time in giving customers 
more options through competition. With the passage of the 
Telecommunications Act, came the assurance of lower rates and greater 
choices through competition. Where is the competition? Where are the 
lower rates? Why aren't they here?
  By significantly reforming regulations over the industry, the new law 
promised that competition would drive rates down, produce better 
services, higher quality and consumers would be given more options. 
Well after two years, it is about time that all the hard work put into 
passing the Act start to pay off. Constituents don't know what the 
fourteen point checklist entails. They don't know what a Sec. 271 
application is or what forbearance means. Why should they? But, what 
they do know is that their rates aren't coming down. Their choices 
haven't changed. Now that has to change.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for the FCC and DOJ to remove the stumbling 
blocks to true competition. It is time to allow the Act to do what 
Congress intended for it to do, tear down the barriers to competition. 
Allow the industries to compete in each others' market. Allow consumers 
to have a say in who will provide their services. The time has come to 
focus on encouraging new services in new markets, rather than trying to 
protect the status quo.

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