[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7698]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPETITION AND AMERICAN JOBS IN THE 
                       TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw attention 
to an issue I think should concern us all.
  Americans increasingly rely on high-quality and reasonably priced 
telecommunications services for almost everything they do. Key to 
providing that service is a robust and competitive market in wireless 
communications which drives innovation, keeps costs low, and employs 
tens of thousands of Americans in good, stable jobs. Safeguarding this 
competition and these jobs is our responsibility.
  With that in mind, I find the actions taken by Sprint over the past 
year since its acquisition by the Japanese firm SoftBank particularly 
troubling. In that time, Sprint laid off more than 2,700 call center 
workers. Almost 900 whom were in my home State of Texas.
  Now, rumors exist that Sprint is preparing to buy T-Mobile. FCC 
Chairman Tom Wheeler and Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer have 
expressed strong skepticism about this potential merger because they 
believe, as I do, that competition drives innovation and lower prices 
in the marketplace.
  Coupled with Sprint's recent layoffs, Congress must take a careful 
and critical look at this deal, if and when it is announced, and stand 
up for what is best for American consumers and American jobs.

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