WASHINGTON-Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whose fight to attach a boxing commission measure to wireless and universal service legislation is drawing growing criticism, is working with Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) to pull the universal service bill from the telecom package and vote on it separately.
A Senate Commerce Committee spokesman said McCain, outgoing chairman of the panel, and Hollings, minority member of the committee and retiring from Congress, will seek approval from Senate leadership to vote on a universal service bill currently combined with relocation trust fund and wireless enhanced 911 legislation.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell are pressing Congress to approve a Bush administration-supported telecom package comprised of relocation fund, enhanced 911 and universal service bills, but McCain’s efforts to attach boxing legislation and concerns of key Senate appropriators remain obstacles to passage in the waning days of the 108th Congress.
“The trust fund legislation is a vital step to release valuable spectrum for wireless broadband services. Similarly, the E911 provisions provide critical resources to America’s first responders,” said Powell.
In a statement, Powell said the universal service measure would “mitigate unnecessary increases to our contribution factor as well as to ensure our school children have continued access to computer resources.”
More than 30 Republicans and Democrats from both houses wrote House and Senate leaders, focusing on the educational implications of the latter issue.
“We need to pass this legislation now,” said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.). “The recent suspension of funding for telecommunications services for schools and libraries has caused significant hardship for these institutions across the country, especially those in rural areas. The suspension has also threatened to drive up consumers’ telephone bills.”
McCain is unwilling to back the telecom package unless his bill to regulate the boxing industry is included. But the House, which last month passed the telecom package, is unlikely to approve a Senate bill with McCain’s boxing measure attached.
McCain’s spokesperson did not immediately return a call for comment. Negotiations are continuing, according to sources.
“These services have connected millions of school children to the Internet and have spurred the deployment of high-speed broadband service across the country. We must pass this legislation before we adjourn,” said Rockefeller.
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who teamed with Rockefeller to write the Internet education discount, or E-rate, into the 1996 telecom act, agreed.
“Unless legislation is passed now schools and libraries around the country will start disconnecting their Internet service and consumer phone bills will rise,” said Snowe. “The desire in the Congress is there to correct this problem for one year, while we devise a permanent solution. We owe it to rural phone companies and their customers, to schools and libraries, and to low-income communities to get this fixed now.”
The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D), House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
More than $400 million in Universal Service Fund requests from schools and libraries have not yet been met because new FCC-imposed accounting rules drastically limit the amount of funding for these programs. Without passage of this legislation, according to the lawmakers, the FCC could be forced to increase contributions to USF to meet all of the fund’s commitments. That could mean an increase in telephone fees to all residential and business customers beginning in January.
The measure would exempt the USF from the Anti-Deficiency Act for one year. Under the exemption, E-Rate could continue to issue commitment letters based on future revenue, not according to the cash-on-hand rules that the FCC began demanding in August. Lawmakers said a more permanent fix for the program would be considered during the 109th Congress.
According to Rockefeller and Snowe, the USF suspension has delayed more than 4,000 school systems’ requests for E-Rate funding.
