[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 52 (Tuesday, May 2, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S3269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   FAIR ACCESS TO JAPANESE TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES AND SERVICES

  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Finance 
Committee be discharged from consideration of S. Res. 275, and the 
Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 275) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate regarding fair access to Japanese telecommunications 
     facilities and services.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution and preamble be agreed to en bloc, that the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating 
thereto be printed in the Record, with no intervening action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 275) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 275

       Whereas the United States has a deep and sustained interest 
     in the promotion of deregulation, competition, and regulatory 
     reform in Japan;
       Whereas new and bold measures by the Government of Japan 
     regarding regulatory reform will help remove the regulatory 
     and structural impediments to the effective functioning of 
     market forces in the Japanese economy;
       Whereas regulatory reform will increase the efficient 
     allocation of resources in Japan, which is critical to 
     returning Japan to a long-term growth path powered by 
     domestic demand;
       Whereas regulatory reform will not only improve market 
     access for United States business and other foreign firms, 
     but will also enhance consumer choice and economic prosperity 
     in Japan;
       Whereas a sustained recovery of the Japanese economy is 
     vital to a sustained recovery of Asian economies;
       Whereas the Japanese economy must serve as one of the main 
     engines of growth for Asia and for the global economy;
       Whereas the Governments of the United States and Japan 
     reconfirmed the critical importance of deregulation, 
     competition, and regulatory reform when the 2 Governments 
     established the Enhanced Initiative on Deregulation and 
     Competition Policy in 1997;
       Whereas telecommunications is a critical sector requiring 
     reform in Japan, where the market is hampered by a history of 
     laws, regulations, and monopolistic practices that do not 
     meet the needs of a competitive market;
       Whereas as the result of Japan's laws, regulations, and 
     monopolistic practices, Japanese consumers and Japanese 
     industry have been denied the broad benefits of innovative 
     telecommunications services, cutting edge technology, and 
     lower prices that competition would bring to the market;
       Whereas Japan's significant lag in developing broadband and 
     Internet services, and Japan's lag in the entire area of 
     electronic commerce, is a direct result of a noncompetitive 
     telecommunications regulatory structure;
       Whereas Japan's lag in developing broadband and Internet 
     services is evidenced by the following: (1) Japan has only 
     17,000,000 Internet users, while the United States has 
     80,000,000 Internet users; (2) Japan hosts fewer than 
     2,000,000 websites, while the United States hosts over 
     30,000,000 websites; (3) electronic commerce in Japan is 
     valued at less than $1,000,000,000, while in the United 
     States electronic commerce is valued at over $30,000,000,000; 
     and (4) 19 percent of Japan's schools are connected to the 
     Internet, while in the United States 89 percent of schools 
     are connected;
       Whereas the disparity between the United States and Japan 
     is largely caused by the failure of Japan to ensure 
     conditions that allow for the development of competitive 
     networks which would stimulate the use of the Internet and 
     electronic commerce;
       Whereas leading edge foreign telecommunications companies, 
     because of their high level of technology and innovation, are 
     the key to building the necessary telecommunications 
     infrastructure in Japan, which will only be able to serve 
     Japanese consumers and industry if there is a fundamental 
     change in Japan's regulatory approach to telecommunications; 
     and
       Whereas deregulating the monopoly power of Nippon Telegraph 
     and Telephone Corporation would help liberate Japan's economy 
     and allow Japan to take full advantage of information 
     technology: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the appropriate officials in the executive branch 
     should implement vigorously the call for Japan to undertake a 
     major regulatory reform in the telecommunications sector, the 
     so-called ``Telecommunications Big Bang'';
       (2) a ``Telecommunications Big Bang'' must address 
     fundamental legislative and regulatory issues within a 
     strictly defined timeframe;
       (3) the new telecommunications regulatory framework should 
     put competition first in order to encourage new and 
     innovative businesses to enter the telecommunications market 
     in Japan;
       (4) the Government of Japan should ensure that Nippon 
     Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) and its affiliates 
     (the NTT Group) are prevented from using their dominant 
     position in the wired and wireless market in an 
     anticompetitive manner; and
       (5) the Government of Japan should take credible steps to 
     ensure that competitive carriers have reasonable, cost-based, 
     and nondiscriminatory access to the rights-of-way, 
     facilities, and services controlled by NTT, the NTT Group, 
     other utilities, and the Government of Japan, including--
       (A) access to interconnection at market-based rates;
       (B) unrestricted access to unbundled elements of the 
     network belonging to NTT and the NTT Group; and
       (C) access to public roads for the installation of 
     facilities.

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