WASHINGTON-High-power, star power and political power were on hand Wednesday when actor George Clooney lent his support for the Calling for 211 Act. Clooney acknowledged that getting funding for the $200 million in annual matching grants contemplated by the act would be difficult, but he said, “We are not going away.”
The 211 bill is being sponsored by Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) in the Senate and Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) in the House. Clinton and Eshoo also sponsor a bill to provide grants to states and localities to implement 911 services, but both said in response to a question from RCR Wireless News that both services are important and should be funded.
211 was reserved by the Federal Communications Commission in 2000 as a number to access nonprofit services. Clooney appeared in support of the bill because he is a member of the board of trustees of the United Way of America.
