[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 296]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      HONORING CHAIRMAN TOM BLILEY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HOWARD COBLE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 31, 2000

  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, in just a few days--February 8, to be exact--
we will acknowledge the fourth anniversary of the signing of the 
historic Telecommunications Act of 1996. And so, it is fitting that we 
acknowledge one of the act's key sponsors, my good friend, the 
gentleman from Richmond, Chairman Tom Bliley.
  As part of the act's anniversary activities, the Competitive 
Telecommunications Association, more easily referred to as CompTel, is 
honoring Chairman Bliley as one of the two ``Champions of 
Competition,'' the other being Senator Fritz Hollings from the State of 
North Carolina. Both will be duly recognized, and rightly so, for their 
outstanding leadership and bipartisan spirit throughout the nearly 
decade-long debate in the Congress to update the 1934 act.
  Mr. Speaker, the Telecom Act provides for a procompetitive, 
deregulatory national policy framework designed to accelerate rapid 
private sector deployment of advanced telecommunications and 
information technologies and services to all Americans by opening all 
telecommunications markets to competition.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that the results are in following 
4 years after enactment of this historic piece of legislation. Thanks 
to Chairman Bliley's persistence in crafting proper safeguards to 
ensure open competition to all players, we see today the fruits of his 
labor.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, in addition to commending Mr. Bliley for his 
role in bringing competition to the local market, I would note that his 
good work on this historic bill has brought hundreds of new companies 
competing in today's marketplace offering better products and services 
than have ever been developed and deployed in our lifetime. With that 
said, it's important to note that not only are consumers better served 
with many choices, but served at lower prices. Mr. Bliley and the act 
intended this to happen. Mr. Speaker, I raise my hat to Chairman Tom 
Bliley and congratulate him on being named the Champion of Competition.

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