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Politech is the oldest Internet resource devoted to politics and technology. Launched in 1994 by Declan McCullagh, the mailing list has chronicled the growing intersection of culture, technology, politics, and law. Since 2000, so has the Politech web site.
[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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