Letter from Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) to William Kennard.
Re: Black Caucus support for increased funding of the FCC's Schools and Libraries Program (aka "e-rate").
Date: May 26, 1999.
Source: Office of Rep. Bobby Rush.

May 26, 1999

The Honorable William Kennard
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street SW
Suite 8 B201

Washington, D.C. 20554

Dear Chairman Kennard:

I am writing on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus in anticipation of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) vote on Thursday of this week on the funding level of the E-rate program. The Congressional Black Caucus strongly supports full funding of the E-rate program up to its annual cap of $2.25 billion. Without full funding of the E-rate program, we face a continued digital divide between the haves and the have-nots.

The E-rate program was established to provide affordable access to telecommunications and advanced services in schools and libraries located in disadvantaged or high-cost areas. The program provides discounts ranging from 20 to 90 percent with the poorest schools and libraries receiving the largest discounts. In other words, the E-rate program was specifically designed to provide access for schools and libraries which could otherwise not afford to be hooked up to the internet and whose students are least likely to have computers at home.

In just eighteen months, the E-rate program has connected over 600,000 classrooms in over 80,000 schools and libraries. However, during the first year of the program, 15% of those who applied did not receive any funding at all, and there have been more applications filed this year than last year. Clearly the need for the E-rate program is present, as is the demand. We must meet the demand so that all of our nation's children have access to the technology which is literally changing the world.

Access to information technology does not guarantee our children will succeed, but we believe without access to this technology, they will surely fail. We cannot allow that to happen, and that is why the Congressional Black Caucus has made full funding of the E-rate program one of its top priorities. Computers hooked up to the internet must be the rule in every classroom, not the exception, and that is what the E-rate program was designed to do.

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Arguments that the E-rate program is a federal tax burdening long distance consumers are disingenuous at best. The same law which created the E-rate program is responsible for billions of dollars of savings to the long distance companies. By dubbing the E-rate the Gore Tax, opponents of the E-rate program have put partisan politics ahead of ensuring that every child in America has the access to information technology which is so vital to success in the 21st Century. We are indeed in the midst of the Information Age, and today literacy includes not only the ability to read and write but also the possession of computer skills. With so much at stake, there is no place for demagoguery.

On behalf of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, I am asking that you vote to fully fund the E-rate program on Thursday. I appreciate your attention and look forward to a favorable decision from the Federal Communication Commission.

With kindest regards, I am

Sincerely,

James E. Clyburn
Member of Congress

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