Letter from phone companies, information service providers, trade groups, education groups, and library groups wrote a letter to Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) and Sen. Tom Daschle (D-ND).
Re: HR 5419.
Date: December 3, 2004.
Source: House Commerce Committee.

December 3, 2004

Dear Majority Leader Frist and Minority Leader Daschle:

As a broad coalition representing a diverse group of entities, we are writing to express our strong collective support for H.R. 5419, a bill that includes the "ENHANCE 911 Act of 2004," the "Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act," and the "Universal Service Antideficiency Temporary Suspension Act." The House passed H.R. 5419 on November 20, 2004 by unanimous consent. When Congress reconvenes next week, we urge the Senate to take up and pass H.R. 5419 and clear this time-sensitive legislation for enactment in 2004.

H.R. 5419 responds to three key and immediate challenges --

• Enhancing and improving America's "E 9-1-1" emergency calling system;
• Protecting critical Department of Defense and other government communications capabilities while delivering additional spectrum for commercial uses; and
• Preventing dramatic increases in Universal Service charges to consumers, and providing critical access to the Internet for our nation's schools and libraries.

Each of the three bills that comprise H.R. 5419 stands on its own individual merit. However, with so little time remaining on the 108th Congressional calendar, it is imperative that the "ENHANCE 911 Act of 2004," the "Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act," and the "Universal Service Antideficiency Temporary Suspension Act" be considered collectively as encompassed in H.R. 5419.

H.R. 5419 is meritorious legislation that benefits consumers, public safety, educators, rural health care providers, and telecommunications providers. We thank you for your consideration of our request and the Senate's prompt passage of H.R. 5419.

Sincerely,

Alaska Telephone Association
ALLTEL
American Association of People with Disabilities
American Association of School Administrators
American Library Association
American Telemedicine Association
Association of Educational Service Agencies
BellSouth
Broadband Institute of California
Cingular Wireless
Colorado Association of Libraries
Colorado State Library
Communications Workers of America
Consortium for School Networking
Council of Chief State School Officers
Council of the Great City Schools
Cox Communications
CTIA - The Wireless Association (tm)
EarthLink, Inc.
General Communication, Inc.
Independent Telephone and Telecommunication Alliance
International Society for Technology in Education
MAAC Project
Motorola
National Association of Development Organizations
National Association of Independent Schools
National Association of State 911 Administrators
National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates
National Education Association
National Education Knowledge Industry Association
National Emergency Number Association
National Grange
National Indian Telecommunications Institute
National League of Cities
National Rural Health Association
National School Boards Association
National Telecommunication Cooperative Association
NEXTEL Communications
One Economy Corporation
Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies
Public Utility Law Project of New York, Inc.
QUALCOMM, Inc.
Qwest
SBC
Siemens Communications, Inc.
Sprint
State E-rate Coordinators' Alliance
Telecommunications for the Deaf
Telecommunications Industry Association
The Latino Education Project, Inc.
Thornburg Center
T-Mobile, USA
United States Telecom Association
Verizon Communications
Western Telecommunications Alliance
Western Wireless