Cliff Stearns: “I stand here to support the rule. Obviously, I serve on the Committee on Commerce and the Subcommittee on…”

“I stand here to support the rule. Obviously, I serve on the Committee on Commerce and the Subcommittee on Telecommunications. But I say to my colleagues, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) has waited many, many months. This passed out of our subcommittee. It was controversial. There is one particular amendment that could have killed the bill. But it finally came out of our committee, and I think the time is now that we should bring it on the House floor and have a full debate. If it turns out this bill is defeated, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) will move on. But if the bill is passed, the Senate, under Mr. Hollings, is going to have to look at this bill carefully. Right now he is not doing that. But we cannot have this debate in America if we do not pass the rule. So I urge my colleagues to pass the rule. A lot of people have talked about the economy. This is a big-box economy. The NASDAQ has dropped dramatically, and part of it has been because the potential for broadband has not been met. If this in some small way moves the economy forward by giving high-speed Internet access service to Americans, then so be it. Right now cable has it. Perhaps we need competition for cable, and this would do it. So the lack of availability of high-speed connection has, I think, in fact slowed the growth in this economy and shunted off development.”