[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 5 (Monday, February 5, 1996)]
[Pages 144-145]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Passage of the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1995

February 1, 1996

    I wish to congratulate the Congress for passing the 
Telecommunications Reform Act of 1995. As I stated in my State of the 
Union Address, America needs this legislation and this kind of 
bipartisanship to build our economy for the 21st century, to bring 
educational technology into every classroom, and to help families 
exercise control over how the media influences their children.
    For the past 3 years, my administration has promoted the enactment 
of a telecommunications reform bill to stimulate investment, promote 
competition, provide open access for all citizens to the information 
superhighway, strengthen and improve universal service, and provide 
families with technologies to help them control what kind of programs 
come into their homes over tele- 

[[Page 145]]

vision. As a result of this action today, consumers will receive the 
benefits of lower prices, better quality and greater choices in their 
telephone and cable services, and they will continue to benefit from a 
diversity of voices and viewpoints in radio, television, and the print 
media.
    I want to thank the bipartisan leadership of the conference that 
produced this landmark legislation--Senators Pressler and Hollings and 
Representatives Bliley, Dingell, Fields, and Markey. I also want to 
thank all those in my administration from the Justice Department, the 
Commerce Department, and the Education Department for their hard work on 
this bill over the past 3 years. And I want to give a special thanks to 
Vice President Gore who began talking about the information superhighway 
nearly 20 years ago and who I know is very proud to see this legislation 
enacted today.
    With this legislation today we are building the information 
superhighway that will lead all Americans into a more prosperous future.