Tom Harkin: “Today we are voting on the approval of historic telecommunications legislation that will reshape the landscape of the…”

“Today we are voting on the approval of historic telecommunications legislation that will reshape the landscape of the entire communications industry and affect every household in this country. The future success of America's economy and society is inextricably linked to the universe of telecommunications. After a decade of intense debate, this legislation rewrites the Nation's communications laws from top to bottom. The bill before us, S. 652, has come a long way and survived many battles. It is not a perfect bill in the sense that no one got everything they wanted--but I believe it will unleash a new era in telecommunications that will forever change our society and make our Nation a key driver on the information superhighway. We should applaud this amazing effort and support the conference report to S. 562. The debate over this measure has never been about the need for reform--everyone agrees that it's time. The real debate has been over how we reform our telecommunications law.”