Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) Press Release on E-Rate.
Date: June 5, 1998.
Source: Office of Rep. Blumenauer. This document was created by scanning and converting to HTML photocopy of the original.
See also, Blumenauer comments at June 5 press conference.

Blumenauer to FCC:
Stand up for our Kids -- Fund the E-Rate Now!

Congressman Earl Blumenauer, who organized a letter signed by 102 members of Congress in support of the Education Rate (E-Rate), today called on the FCC to reject calls by some in Congress to delay funding the program, and to do the right thing by America's school children by providing full funding for the E-Rate.

"The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is within days of making a decision that could bring the power of the Internet to our nation's schools and libraries. If the telephone companies have their way, the Commission would back down in the face of a last minute campaign to discredit the E-Rate through innuendo, inaccuracies, and the imposition of spurious "surcharges" on telephone ratepayers. As a result of this campaign, the full story about the importance of the E-Rate and its potential impact on consumer's phone rates has failed to be heard.

The E-Rate is clearly not a "new tax" imposed by liberals on an unsuspecting populace, in fact, the E-Rate program was included in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was passed by a Republican Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. It built upon the existing 'Universal Service Fund' which was established in 1934 and is used to help poor and rural areas afford telephone service. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 extended universal service beyond residential customers to include schools and libraries, and expanded services available for universal service support beyond plain old telephone service. To suggest that this obligation is 'new' seems ludicrous -- especially since telephone companies have been paying for 'Universal Service' since 1934.

With all of these facts in hand, I simply cannot condone the action of those telephone companies who are adding customer surcharges of up to 5% and blaming the E-rate for increased costs. It simply isn't right for them to charge consumers for costs that they have already recouped, and more, as a result of deregulation. Did these same companies put line items on their bills indicating that , they were saving over $2.4 billion?. Until an audit is performed to determine whether carriers have passed-along these savings to consumers, they should not be permitted to place any universal service line item on phone bills.

The E-Rate is absolutely critical to our competitiveness as a Nation in the global marketplace. Our schools and libraries are trying to educate tomorrow's leaders with decades-old technological tools. The E-Rate puts our kids on par with the rest of the world. It must be supported. Our future depends on it."

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Background on E-Rate

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 recognized that to prepare our children for the 21st century, our Nation's schools and libraries must be connected to the information superhighway. In an effort to make that goal a reality, the Act included provisions for a special "education rate" or e-rate for elementary and secondary schools and public libraries to be financed by changes in existing telecommunications regulatory fees.

The e-rate is a win-win proposition for our schools, our libraries and our economic prosperity. Eligible schools and libraries will receive discounts ranging from 20% to 90%, depending on whether a school or library is disadvantaged or located in a high cost area. Under the original proposal, total expenditures for universal service support for schools and libraries would be capped at $2.25 billion per year, with a roll-over into following years of funding authority, if necessary, for funds not disbursed in any given year.

Additional Arguments

Many opponents of the E-Rate start from the myth that the federal government has no business helping local schools -- that this is essentially a local issue. In fact, the federal government has made it its business to use its ability to aggregate funds to assure that all areas of the country have electric, telephone and highway service. Further, the federal government has been involved in local educational issues since the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which provided schools with public lands. Under the Ordinance "Schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." It does not seem beyond our purview to help make certain that children and library patrons in poor and rural areas can access the Information Superhighway.

Even those who agree that the federal government has a role to play in this debate argue that the E-rate is not necessary because 80 percent of schools are already connected to the Internet. In fact, while many administrative offices may have Internet connections, only 27% of all public school instructional rooms - where learning occurs -have access to the Internet. Moreover, poor and minority students are hardest hit by the lack of access to the Internet, with only 14% of poor and minority classrooms having a connection.

Opponents have suggested that schools are asking for too much -- that they are looking for help with repainting walls, carpeting, and computer work stations. Nothing could be further from the truth. This program is very limited. Only telecommunications services defined as eligible by the FCC - mostly phone rates, Internet connections, internal wiring, hubs, routers and servers - receive discounts. It is crystal clear that E-Rate discounts CANNOT be spent on workstations, applications software, training, or other applications that do not fall into these categories. If schools and libraries wittingly or unwittingly apply for discounts on carpeting, painting or computers, those portions of their applications will be rejected. Further, in order to receive the discounts, eligible entities must certify that they have a technology assessment and plan for how they will use discounted services.