[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT

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                             HON. PAUL RYAN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 9, 1999

  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, three years ago, the President 
signed into law the Telecommunications Act of 1996. I was not a member 
of Congress then. But I had been, I would have supported the goals of 
the act to create an environment where new technologies, consumer 
choices and jobs would flourish.
  Today, I am frankly disappointed that those goals have largely not 
been met. There is local phone competition because local phone 
companies have opened their markets. However, due to the manner in 
which the FCC has implemented the act, new local competitors are 
``cream skimming'' and are providing service to predominantly 
businesses, not residential customers. Due to the FCC's implementation 
of the act, local phone companies are still tangled in a thicket of FCC 
regulations and are unable to provide consumers with more choices in 
long distance service. And advanced telecommunications services, which 
provide American households benefits including fast internet access, 
are not reaching millions of consumers. In fact, in one region of the 
country (which has sadly become known as the `No High Speed Internet 
Access Zone''), not a single citizen has high-speed internet access.
  Mr. Speaker, the act is not the problem, the FCC's implementation is. 
The Federal Communications Commission has disregarded the intent of 
Congress, and in my view, consumers are suffering. It's time to 
designate, and let the marketplace do its job.

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