Howard Berman: “I do not think we should put artificial restrictions on the ability of the Bell companies to go into long distance, I…”

“I do not think we should put artificial restrictions on the ability of the Bell companies to go into long distance, I supported the manager's amendment because it got rid of a test that made it virtually impossible for them to ever enter that competition. Now the only question is whether the Justice Department, that had the foresight starting under Gerald Ford, finishing under Ronald Reagan, to break up the Bell monopolies, should be allowed to have a meaningful role, a role defined by a test which is so restrictive that it says, unless, unless the burden supports, the assumption is with the Bell companies. It says unless the Attorney General finds that there is a dangerous probability that such company or its affiliates would successfully use market power to substantially impede competition in the market such company seeks to enter, it is an extremely rigorous test that must be met to stop them from entering the market.”