[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 77 (Thursday, May 22, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H4532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BROADBAND REGULATION

  (Mr. BASS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, by most measures the United States is the most 
technologically advanced country in the world. One measure, however, 
where the U.S. is sorely lacking behind other industrialized nations is 
high-speed Internet access for citizens and small businesses alike. The 
United States is not even among the top five countries in these 
broadband access rates. In fact, we are behind South Korea, Canada, 
Taiwan and Sweden, just to name a few. The statistics for DSL, a form 
of broadband that uses the telephone infrastructure, are even worse. 
The U.S. is not even in the top 10.
  The Federal Communications Commission has begun to see that 
regulation of DSL harms the ability of companies to deploy that 
technology. Part of the FCC's Triennial Review, adopted this past 
February, improved some of the DSL regulations. That should help make 
DSL deployment easier.
  However, there are two problems. The first is that the FCC has yet to 
actually issue these rules agreed upon in February, and the second is 
that action in February is just a start.
  The FCC is looking at whether or not to regulate DSL as a telephone 
service. The broadband provided over cable, satellite or wireless is 
not as regulated as telephone.
  I urge this body to urge the FCC to move forward on this rule-making 
process.

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