Olympia Snowe: “I rise today with the support of many of my colleagues on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to…”

“I rise today with the support of many of my colleagues on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to introduce legislation to help keep Americans' telephone bills from rising and to prevent future disruption to the Universal Service Fund. The Universal Service Fund helps keep telephone rates at a reasonable level for millions of American consumers and businesses located in rural parts of our country, areas where phone service would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. The USF also provides discounts to schools and libraries on their Internet service through the E-Rate program, which I and Senator Rockefeller worked to establish in 1996. Finally the USF makes basic 'life line' phone service available to low-income Americans, and gives assistance to rural health care providers. The bill I introduce today is a corrective measure that addresses problems recently encountered by the Universal Service Administration Company, or 'USAC,' the private, nonprofit corporation that Congress created to administer the USF.”