[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 132 (Tuesday, December 5, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S11174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           PORTLAND--UNWIRED

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize my home State of 
Oregon and the city of Portland. Thanks to the visionary leadership of 
Portland city officials and their plan to ``Unwire Portland,'' the 
forecast in Portland today is ``overcast, with free broadband access 
for everyone.'' You see, there is a new cloud covering the city--a Wi-
Fi broadband cloud.
  Residents, businesses, and city officials will be able to access the 
Internet anywhere under the 134 square mile Wi-Fi cloud, download 
content as quickly as 1 megabyte per second, and upload at speeds 
reaching 256 kilobits per second. And they will be able to do it all 
for free.
  The Wi-Fi network will not only offer city residents and businesses a 
new affordable choice for broadband access, but will also improve the 
efficiency of city government operations. Public safety and other 
field-based employees will now be able to wirelessly download and 
upload reports and data from the field.
  The public / private partnership that was struck by the city to 
realize this accomplishment perfectly illustrates how municipalities, 
free of State restrictions, can improve access to broadband 
opportunities for its citizens while improving city services.
  The Wi-Fi cloud over Portland also reminds us that the future 
competitiveness of our country depends upon ubiquitous broadband 
deployment.
  Congress must enact legislation that clearly articulates a national 
broadband policy and provides affordable broadband access for all 
Americans. I look forward to working with each of you, my colleagues, 
toward this endeavor.

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