[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 18 (Thursday, January 29, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1063-S1064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Ms. Snowe):
  S. 348. A bill to amend section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 
to provide that funds received as universal service contributions and 
the universal service support programs established pursuant to that 
section are not subject to certain provisions of title 31, United 
States Code, commonly known as the Antideficiency Act; to the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I am proud to reintroduce, with my 
colleague Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, a bipartisan effort to ensure 
that all universal service programs can continue to operate smoothly 
and effectively. While Congress has annually taken action to deal with 
this issue, our hope is to enact a permanent solution.
  For many years, we have fought hard for universal service, including 
the E-Rate. It is essential for all of the universal service programs 
to operate in a timely manner.
  The Universal Service Fund is accomplishing its mission, and every 
member who has worked with us should be proud of the progress of this 
program. Our country has a strong telecommunications network, and rural 
customers are getting service at affordable rates. Lifeline and Linkup 
programs help the poorest of customers keep basic telephone access 
which is essential in our modern world. Rural health care is helping 
connect our rural clinics to modern medicine and specialists.
  In 1996, when the Telecommunications Act passed, only 14 percent of 
all classrooms were connected, while just 5 percent of the poorest 
classrooms were connected. The latest data is encouraging with 93 
percent of all classrooms connected and 89 percent of the poorest 
classrooms connected. Since 1998, West Virginia schools and libraries 
have received over $101 million in E-Rate discounts. While this is an 
extraordinary success, the need for E-Rate discounts remains because 
schools and libraries face monthly telecommunication costs and Internet 
access fees. Additionally, every school and library will periodically 
need to upgrade its internal connections as the demand of technology 
grows and institutions need greater bandwidth to handle ever increasing 
demand. At the beginning of the debates in 1996, schools were talking 
about dial-up access,

[[Page S1064]]

now every school wants--and needs--broadband.
  This legislation gives the Universal Service Fund a permanent 
exemption from the Antideficiency Act which will provide sustainability 
and consistency for the program. Over the last few years, we have done 
one-year exemptions. Other Federal programs have permanent exemptions 
for the Antideficiency Act, and it is common sense to grant an 
exemption for the Universal Service Fund.
                                 ______