[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 151 (Wednesday, October 21, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 STATEMENT BY CONGRESSWOMAN CONNIE MORELLA, CHAIRWOMAN SUBCOMMITTEE ON 
                    TECHNOLOGY, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 21, 1998

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the House on an 
issue of importance to our Nation's ability to compete in the 21st 
Century's high-tech economy. Although the issue involves arcane 
subjects such as international standards, chip rates and band width, it 
has the potential to impact every American consumer who owns a cell 
phone and every U.S. manufacturer and service provider whose products 
enable our citizens to communicate on-the-go.
  The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is currently in the 
process of deciding on a third generation wireless communications 
standards, better known as 3G. 3G is intended to provide cell phone 
customers with seamless global roaming capacity. In theory, wireless 
communication devices will be able to work not only in every State in 
the Union, but in virtually every country.
  Such a universal standard, or series of standards, clearly has the 
potential to greatly benefit U.S. consumers, cell phone manufacturers, 
and wireless telecommunications providers. It also has the potential to 
harm all three.
  That is why I, along with Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member 
James Barcia (D-MI) and Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), wrote to 
the administration outlining our findings from a hearing entitled 
''International Standards Part II: The Impact of Standards on the 
Digital Economy.'' The hearing was held by the Subcommittee on 
Technology on June 4, 1998, in advance of the U.S. submission to the 
ITU of proposed standards for 3G. As the letter stated:

       While the witnesses at the hearing had divergent views on a 
     number of substantive issues, one issue which seemed to 
     generate a significant degree of consensus was the need to 
     ensure that any future glogal standard not strand 
     technologies which are currently in use. While some members 
     of the panel made the point that this is only one of several 
     important issues that must be addressed in 3G, they all 
     agreed that avoiding stranding systems was an important goal 
     for any global standard.
       One method to ensure technologies are not stranded is to 
     require backwards compatibility. With the significant 
     investment made in the U.S. by developers, manufactures and 
     service providers of wireless telecommunications 
     technologies, [it is imperative that the U.S. Government] 
     should work diligently to ensure that these investments are 
     not rendered worthless through the international standard 
     setting process.

  To further emphasize this point, I entered into a colloquy with 
Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Harold 
Rogers (R-KY) on August 3, 1998 indicating that the Department of 
Commerce, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Department of 
State need to work diligently to ensure that the large U.S. investments 
in built networks are not rendered useless through the international 
standard setting process.
  That danger persists today. The European Union (EU) is currently 
considering adoption of a single technical standard known by the 
acronym W-CDMA. W-CDMA is not compatible with existing CDMA 
technologies. Because of previously approved EU-wide technological 
standards, CDMA is not being used in the EU. CDMA, however, is one of 
the leading technologies used in the United States. While U.S. 
consumers, manufacturers, and service providers use a variety of 
technologies, many are heavily vested in CDMA technology.
  I have long been a proponent of allowing the marketplace to determine 
which technologies survive. In the case of wireless standards, however, 
we currently face a government mandated technological monopoly in 
Europe and a free and open technology marketplace in America.
  Clearly, the current system is unfair and greatly disadvantages a 
number of U.S. companies. It is my goal to ensure that the 3G process 
does not perpetuate this unfair technical barrier to trade, and 
unnecessarily waste billions of dollars in U.S. investments.
  Though often overlooked, international standards, including 3G, are 
an extremely important component of international trade. We must, 
however, be ever vigilant to ensure that these standards are not used 
to bar U.S. businesses from competing abroad.
  Mr. Speaker, as the 105th Congress draws to a close, I want to assure 
my colleagues that, if my constituents give me the honor of 
representing them in the 106th Congress, I will continue to vigorously 
pursue, through hearings and if necessary legislation, the arcane but 
vital issue of preserving U.S. competitiveness in the international 
standard setting arena.