FC: Gephardt-Daschle letter to Bush: Broadband or bust!

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Clearly life would not be complete without a Properly Capitalized National 
Broadband Policy. How else would companies know how to sell high speed 
Internet access otherwise??? --Declan]

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From: "Leader, Democratic" <Democratic.Leader () mail house gov>
Subject: re: Gephardt-Daschle Letter to President Bush on the Need for a 
National Broadband Policy
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 13:22:16 -0400


                        NEWS FROM THE HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                        House Democratic Leader 
Richard A. Gephardt
June 13, 
2002 
H-204, U.S. Capitol
                                                                         http://democraticleader.house.gov/ 


Gephardt-Daschle Letter to President Bush on the Need for a National 
Broadband Policy

                                                    June 12, 2002

The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As you convene the President's Council of Advisors on Science and 
Technology this week, we write to urge you to take quick action on 
articulating a national broadband policy.  We would welcome your leadership 
in advancing a national plan for broadband and write to provide our ideas 
for a successful effort.

We have already set as our goal making broadband access available to every 
American by the end of the decade.  On April 5, 2001, we announced a 
detailed and substantial agenda called the "Congressional Democratic 
E-Strategy for Economic Growth" for accomplishing that goal.  Among other 
things, that agenda called for tax incentives, loans, grants, innovative 
technology programs, support for the E-Rate and civilian research and 
development funding, enhancing E-government and facilitating 
telecommuting.  Much of that agenda has already been enacted, but more 
remains to be done.

We believe that bringing broadband and its benefits to more Americans is a 
national imperative.  First, broadband holds a key to the nation's economic 
growth.  As the use of technology and the Internet drove the productivity 
growth and the fiscal surplus of the 1990s, the use of broadband can once 
again vastly increase productivity, increasing economic growth and 
standards of living.  Second, broadband is essential to maintaining our 
international leadership.  Other nations are pushing ahead with ambitious 
national broadband plans and the United States must be prepared to match 
their efforts because the widespread use of new and innovative technologies 
are not possible without a broadband connection.  Third, broadband is an 
important piece of homeland security.  The proliferation of broadband 
Internet connections can provide the bandwidth necessary for high-level 
encryption, real-time first-response communications protocols and rapid 
dissemination of complex medical information in the event of a 
biological/chemical attack.  Lastly, there are myriad societal benefits 
that can be realized through broadband.  Expert medical care and monitoring 
can be provided to citizens confined to their home or in remote locations 
through e-medicine solutions.  High quality educational resources can be 
provided to resource strapped schools and children at home through distance 
learning.  Pollution and road congestion can be greatly reduced through 
increasing the number of teleworkers.

In addressing the broadband issue, we urge you to take a multi-faceted 
policy approach that includes promoting capital investment in broadband 
infrastructure, stimulating broadband demand, enabling wireless broadband 
and investing in the research and development of new technologies.  These 
efforts should advance a range of broadband technologies, including cable 
modems, DSL, satellite, fixed wireless, mobile wireless, fiber to the home 
and others.  Throughout this effort, we also urge you to focus on next 
generation technologies that will maximize the bandwidth available to 
consumers.  We recognize that no one policy action or technology will be 
sufficient, but if we can significantly advance each of these areas, we 
believe the nation will soon see the benefits of broadband.

In the past year, we have led efforts in Congress to move the broadband 
agenda forward, as outlined in our E-Strategy.  We have won passage of the 
largest program in U.S. history to promote broadband deployment to rural 
areas, which will spur economic growth throughout Rural America.  The 
initiative, enacted as part of the Farm Bill, will provide up to $750 
million each year in low-cost loans to companies that provide high-speed 
Internet service to rural communities that don't currently benefit from 
it.  We have pressed for passage of a broadband tax credit (S.88 and H.R. 
267) to increase broadband deployment in rural and underserved urban areas, 
and won Senate Finance Committee approval of a tax credit approach.  The 
Information Technology Industry Council estimates that a one-year version 
of this credit would bring broadband access to 6 million homes.  We also 
strongly supported the successful inclusion of an accelerated depreciation 
provision in the economic stimulus legislation passed earlier this year in 
order to increase capital investments in things such as broadband 
infrastructure.

While we believe the federal government should move forward in formulating 
a national broadband policy, we also welcome and applaud important industry 
leadership on this issue.  The Information Technology Industry Council has 
released a detailed broadband policy plan, and TechNet and the Computer 
Systems Policy Project have released broadband reports that set ambitious 
broadband policy goals.  Likewise, the National Research Council's Computer 
Science and Telecommunications Board, made up of some of the nation's 
leading technology and academic leaders, has released an in-depth analysis 
of broadband issues.  While you or we may differ in our approach or 
emphasis, these efforts provide a helpful basis in considering a national 
plan for broadband and demonstrate the commitment of the high tech industry 
to helping government address this issue.

The nation must have a plan to ensure that consumers have affordable 
broadband Internet access at the maximum speeds, enabling them to 
experience the full potential of the Internet and the information 
technology revolution.  We look forward to working with you on such an effort.

                                        Sincerely,


            Tom Daschle                                         Richard A. 
Gephardt
            Senate Majority Leader                              House 
Democratic Leader 




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