[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 155 (Friday, November 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S14093]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller):
  S. 1876. A bill to amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 
to require a report to Congress; to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions.


                 science and educational networking act

 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I am pleased to rise today to 
introduce the Science and Educational Networking Act with my colleague 
from West Virginia, Senator Rockefeller. This legislation is a 
companion bill to legislation introduced in the other body by one of my 
Connecticut colleagues, John Larson and cosponsored by 49 other 
members.
  Very simply, the Science and Educational Networking Act charts a 
course for the future for our schools and for education technology. 
Just as we cannot imagine schools and learning without books and 
pencils, computers and technology have become today a critical element 
in education. But like other tools, technology has its limits. Teachers 
must be trained to use technology in their teaching. Curriculum must 
incorporate and utilize technology. Students must have access to 
computers. Classroom technology must be connected, integrated and of 
high quality.
  This legislation focuses specifically on this last element in the 
equation--the quality of the technology in our classrooms. Computers in 
and of themselves are amazing machines. But what is more powerful than 
their simple computing capacity is the connections students can make 
with them. From accessing the collection of museums and libraries to 
``chatting'' with students from across the globe, computers have 
incredible potential to enrich our children's education. But in too 
many schools this potential goes unrealized because of outdated, 
inadequate or non-existent equipment and slow connections to the 
Internet.
  Since the enactment and implementation of the e-rate, we have made 
substantial progress toward meeting our goal of connecting all schools 
and classrooms to the Internet. Since 1994, the percentage of schools 
with access to the Internet has more than doubled from 35 percent to 89 
percent and the percentage of classrooms with access has risen from 3 
percent to 51 percent. Gaps however remain. High income communities are 
more likely to have Internet access than low income schools with over 
60 percent of classrooms in wealthier communities having Internet 
access compared to under 40 percent of low income classrooms.
  Further limiting the benefit of the Internet and the World Wide Web 
is the actual capacity of a school's connection. Most schools are 
connected over regular telephone loans--although in many states even 
this is a problem. In my home state of Connecticut, four in five school 
districts report inadequate classroom access to telephone lines. And 
frankly, a regular telephone line just is not enough--trying to use the 
Internet with a regular telephone line can be frustratingly slow as 
data quickly overloads the capacity of these lines designed for 
telephones not computers. Students need access to high speed, large 
bandwidth capacity. Without these connections, it is like requiring our 
students to make their way only on the back roads rather than on the 
freeway.
  High speed, large bandwidth connections, which are rare except in 
some of our nation's technological hubs, substantially increase the 
quality and capacity of Internet connections. The effect of these 
better connections is immediate--entering, searching and accessing the 
Web and the information it contains is faster and much more efficient. 
Much more important, in my view, is what this increased capacity will 
do for distance learning opportunities in our elementary and secondary 
schools. High speed, large bandwidth connections offer the potential of 
real-time, two-way video and audio interactions over the Net. This is 
where the promise of distance learning comes to fruition when students 
in a remote location or several remote locations participate in real 
time classroom activities.
  This legislation will move us toward this promising goal. It will 
bring together leading experts in government to assess the capacity of 
our schools in this area, to explore the digital divide, to examine 
ways to better utilize this technology in schools and to report to 
Congress on how we can help schools meet these challenges.
  Mr. President, this is an important first step if we are to make the 
promise of the Internet a reality for our children and schools. I ask 
that the bill be printed in the Record.
  The bill follows:

                                S. 1876

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Science and Educational 
     Networking Act''.

     SEC. 2. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

       Section 103 of the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 
     (15 U.S.C. 5513) is amended by redesignating subsections (b), 
     (c), and (d) as subsections (c), (d), and (e), respectively, 
     and by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(b) Report to Congress.--
       ``(1) Requirement.--The Director of the National Science 
     Foundation shall submit to Congress, not later than December 
     31, 2001, a report that addresses the issues described in 
     paragraph (3) and includes recommendations to address the 
     issues identified in the report.
       ``(2) Consultation.--In preparing the report under 
     paragraph (1), the Director of the National Science 
     Foundation shall consult with the National Aeronautics and 
     Space Administration, the National Institute of Standards and 
     Technology, and such other Federal agencies and other 
     education entities as the Director of the National Science 
     Foundation considers appropriate.
       ``(3) Issues.--The report shall--
       ``(A) identify the current status of high-speed, large 
     bandwidth capacity access to all public elementary and 
     secondary schools and libraries in the United States;
       ``(B) identify how high-speed large bandwidth capacity 
     access to the Internet to such schools and libraries can be 
     effectively utilized within each school and library;
       ``(C) consider the effect that specific or regional 
     circumstances may have on the ability of such institutions to 
     acquire high-speed, large bandwidth capacity to achieve 
     universal connectivity as an effective tool in the education 
     process; and
       ``(D) include options and recommendations for the various 
     entities responsible for elementary and secondary education 
     to address the challenges and issues identified in the 
     report.''.

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