[Libs-Or] Fwd: [ALA-WO:279] URGENT ACTION NEEDED on S. 2686 - Contact the Senate Commerce Committee!

[Diedre Conkling]

Well, it looks like we need to make another call to Senator Smith about e-rate and netneutrality.  Yes, it is all mixed together in this one bill.  

Phone # for Senator Smith:  (202) 224-3753

Senator Smith's website:  http://gsmith.senate.gov/public/

ALA Legislative Action Center:  http://www.onlineadvocacy.net/  

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Subject: [ALA-WO:279] URGENT ACTION NEEDED on S. 2686 - Contact the Senate Commerce Committee!
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2006 11:55:28 -0400
From: "ALAWASH E-MAIL" <ALAWASH at alawash.org>
To: ALA Washington Office Newsline <ala-wo at ala.org>

ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 15, Number 65
Date: June 21, 2006

In This Issue: URGENT ACTION NEEDED on S. 2686 - Contact the Senate
Commerce Committee and Tell Them to Put the Public Back in the
Telecommunications Debate!

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED:

All library supporters should contact members of the Senate Commerce
Committee and urge them to put the public interest back in S. 2686
during the bill's pending markup.

The Senate Commerce Committee is still scheduled to start the markup
discussions on Thursday morning, June 22. Even if this date slips (which
has not happened as of this ALAWON), the latest draft of S. 2686 as well
as certain amendments by Senators Ensign and Sununu do not protect the
E-rate.  Also, network neutrality is still not adequately addressed.

MESSAGE:

PROTECT THE E-RATE & UNIVERSAL SERVICE
- Do not threaten a successful program that makes telecommunications
services, in many cases advanced broadband services, available to the
public through their public libraries and K-12 public and private
schools. Thank you for the USF exemption from Anti-Deficiency Act
accounting rules.

- Do not support the Ensign & Sununu amendments, which will slowly kill
the E-rate program and threaten all universal service programs.

ASSURE NETWORK NEUTRALITY
- Do not let big telephone companies decide what the public can access
on the Internet.

- Pass Snowe-Dorgan amendment (equivalent of S. 2917).

FURTHER TALKING POINTS:

Universal Service and the E-rate:
* The library community applauds S. 2686 supporters' efforts to
stabilize the Universal Service Fund and for exempting USF programs from
Anti-Deficiency Act accounting requirements.
* The E-rate program is working by making telecommunications services
affordable to libraries and schools in the poorest communities.
* Communities benefit by having Internet access at their libraries,
especially in those high-poverty areas that receive the deepest
discounts and need the E-rate to support the ongoing costs of
connectivity.
* The E-rate is providing stable and predictable support for the ongoing
costs of connectivity.
* The program promotes the build-out of broadband services and
establishes new markets for telecommunications providers.
* The education and training done by libraries and others raises new
demands and public expectations that help create new consumers of
broadband services and benefits.

Network Neutrality:
* The library community supports a proactive approach to preserving
diverse sources of information on the Internet by passing enforceable
network neutrality language.
* Libraries of all types are providers, creators and users of digital
information and serve users with on-site Internet access in libraries
and remote access to online catalogs and collections.
* Libraries' ability to provide services to our communities could be at
risk in a tiered Internet environment.
* Libraries, K-12 and higher education and many other public sector
institutions should not be marginalized or moved into slower tiers in
favor of corporate content providers, not should the owners of the
pipelines be allowed to make such content decisions.
* It is too risky not to pass affirmative language at this time
especially since there has been little attention paid to the public
sector implications.

Members of Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee:

Chairman Ted Stevens (AK)
John McCain (AZ)
Conrad Burns (MT)
Trent Lott (MS)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)
Olympia J. Snowe (ME)
Gordon H. Smith (OR)
John Ensign (NV)
George Allen (VA)
John E. Sununu (NH)
Jim DeMint (SC)
David Vitter (LA)
Co-Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (HI)
John D. Rockefeller (WV)
John F. Kerry (MA)
Byron L. Dorgan (ND)
Barbara Boxer (CA)
Bill Nelson (FL)
Maria Cantwell (WA)
Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ)
E. Benjamin Nelson (NE)
Mark Pryor (AR)

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee can be reached
by phone at 202-224-5115.

Thank you in advance for your efforts in support of E-rate and net
neutrality. Stay tuned for updates on these important issues under
rapidly changing circumstances on the Hill.


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