[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7538]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                                 E-RATE

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, my goal in Congress is for the Federal 
Government to be a better partner with States, local government, 
business, and private citizens in promoting livable communities. This 
means helping our citizens guarantee their families they are safe, 
economically secure, and healthy.
  While we give much attention to the physical infrastructure in 
livability, roads, housing, transit, environmental protection, there is 
another fundamental building block of a livable community and that is a 
healthy education system.
  The Federal Government has, throughout our history, been a key 
partner with the States and local communities in education. Some 
mistakenly suggest that there is no Federal role. Yet from the 
Northwest Ordinance of 1789, which set aside land in each of the new 
States for educational purposes, to the GI Bill following World War II, 
to the important legislation in the 1980s that expanded educational 
opportunities to the disabled, the Federal Government has played an 
instrumental role in the development of American education.
  One of the most important actions Congress has taken in the last 10 
years to promote both the goal of quality education and connections to 
the broader world through the Internet is to be found in the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996. This Act mandated that some of the 
billions of dollars in savings for the telecommunications industry be 
returned to our community in the form of reduced rates for Internet 
access.
  Known as the E-Rate, short for educational rate, it is part of the 
Federal Universal Service Fund. It provides a 20 to 90 percent discount 
on telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal 
connections for public schools, both public and private, as well as our 
library systems.
  One of the major battles in the last Congress was to protect the E-
Rate. There were some justifiable concerns about the initial start-up, 
but these were turned into political issues that threatened the future 
of the discount itself.
  Others tried to turn it for partisan advantage, attacking the Vice 
President in his work to develop the information superhighway, 
characterizing the E-Rate as a ``Gore tax.'' While it was a clever 
laugh line, it ignored the fact that the Universal Service Fund has 
been an accepted part of the Federal communication landscape for over 
60 years.
  Adding the E-Rate to this mechanism simply brought it up to date, to 
the modern challenges faced by both rural and urban America. It was 
exciting to be a part of a coalition that included educational 
advocates, farsighted members of the industry, libraries across the 
country, and over 100 Members of Congress who put their names on the 
line as part of that effort.
  Although scaled back somewhat, and with some important adjustments 
and reform, we were able to hold the system intact. There were over 
25,000 applications approved who received $1.66 billion.
  Well, the word is in for this year. There are even more applications 
than last year, over 36,000 from around the country, more applications, 
and the total requests are over $2.4 billion.
  Even though we successfully resisted efforts to eliminate the E-Rate 
in the last Congress, and even though public opinion polls show 
overwhelming support for it, we must not be complacent. Once again, 
there is legislation circulating in this session of Congress that would 
repeal the E-Rate and deny this essential program.
  I am optimistic that we will prevail in protecting it. I am 
optimistic that this administration and this Congress will approve more 
money for school construction, and that we will do a better job being a 
partner to provide more teachers in our classrooms.
  But it is essential, as we focus on education and livable 
communities, that we protect and enhance the capacity of every child in 
this country to gain computer skills and have access to the worldwide 
Internet connection.

                          ____________________