[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2143-E2144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REGARDING INTENT TO INTRODUCE THE BROADBAND EXPENSING ACT OF 2007 IN 
                           THE 110TH CONGRESS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DORIS O. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 6, 2006

  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss an important piece 
of legislation I will reintroduce early next year, along with my 
colleague, Mr. English of Pennsylvania, to encourage the deployment of 
broadband high-

[[Page E2144]]

speed Internet service throughout the United States. The Broadband 
Expensing Act of 2007 will allow immediate depreciation of the costs of 
new infrastructure investments providing broadband connectivity. In 
previous Congresses this measure has received extensive bipartisan 
support with as many as 225 House cosponsors and 65 Senate cosponsors. 
As the Congress and administration consider various methods of 
encouraging innovation in America, a broadband incentive of this nature 
must be of high priority.
  This bill was a priority for my late husband, who worked with Mr. 
English, Senator Rockefeller, Senator Baucus, and the late Senator 
Moynihan to craft it in 2000. They all worked hard on it for several 
years and built tremendous bipartisan support in both chambers of 
Congress. My husband spent a lot of time discussing this measure with 
his colleagues in the House, explaining how it would work, seeking 
cosponsorships. It has been a popular measure. On three separate 
occasions it has almost passed the Congress, but each time fell short 
in the House. Three times this bill has passed the Senate, and three 
times it has been rejected in conference with the House, to the 
disappointment of my husband, my colleague Mr. English, and many other 
members of this body who supported it and felt it could make a 
significant contribution to improving America's telecommunications and 
information technology infrastructure.
  Now we are prepared to make another push for this bill in the 110th 
Congress. The Broadband Expensing Act will provide a temporary two-
tiered tax incentive to stimulate new investment in this crucial 
infrastructure: 50 percent expensing for investment in ``current-
generation'' broadband infrastructure in rural and underserved areas, 
and full expensing for ``next generation'' broadband investments in 
those same areas, as well as residential areas generally. Moreover, it 
is designed to be technology neutral, making delivery of service, not 
the delivery medium, the factor for eligibility. Any broadband provider 
meeting the required speeds, measured in megabits of data delivered to 
and from the consumer per second, is eligible, whether such service is 
provided over telephone wire, cable modem, optical fiber, wireless, 
satellite, or other forms of technology.
  It is important to act quickly. Recent reports by the Organization 
for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International 
Telecommunications Union find the United States lagging in broadband 
penetration compared to other nations. We should not sit idly by and 
allow the United States to fall behind in this crucial area. Just as 
the federal government stepped in to provide national availability of 
electrification and transportation in the mid-1900s, we must now ensure 
a national system of electronic information.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support this important measure. I look 
forward to working with my cosponsors and the leadership of both 
parties to see the Broadband Expensing Act become law in 2007.

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