Trent Lott: “recently we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the passage of the 1996 Telecom Act. This legislation--a comprehensive…”

“recently we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the passage of the 1996 Telecom Act. This legislation--a comprehensive overhaul of our nation's laws governing communications-- was the product of approximately ten years of hard work by many people. The intent of Congress in passing the Act was to spur competition, promote innovation, and provide new services at lower prices to consumers. I hoped at the time that we passed the Act that it would have a tremendous impact on the economy, and my hopes were realized. Hundreds of thousands of new jobs were created in the communications sector in the first four years after passage of the Act, and this sector has been a major contributor to the nation's real economic growth since the Act's passage. The blueprint of the 1996 Act provided industry and the markets the necessary certainty to foster and encourage investment in the telecommunications sector. This investment has occurred despite significant delays in the Act's implementation on the part of the FCC, and more disturbingly, delays related to the litigation of the Act in the courts. I am encouraged by the birth and growth of the competitive local telecommunications industry. Furthermore, I am pleased that two of the regional Bell companies satisfied the checklist required by section 271 of the Act in several states, thus indicating that these states are fully open to local competition.”