Haley Stevens: “I think this is among one of the most significant days I have been here on the floor of the Senate. The 1934…”

“I think this is among one of the most significant days I have been here on the floor of the Senate. The 1934 Communications Act has served this Nation well. It brought us from a country with a fledgling communications system to the age of telecommunications. And now with the advent of digital communications becoming universal, this bill is absolutely necessary to assure the expansion of these industries that depend upon telecommunications. This is not a total deregulation bill. It is not time yet for a total deregulation bill. We are dealing with a bill that lessens regulation. But it is not a re-regulation bill. It begins to bring into our present system the total power of competition, with the approval of the National Government. I think one needs only to look at the definitions to see the scope of this bill as compared to the 1934 act. Look at it: Dialing parity, exchange access, information service, interLATA services, local exchange carriers, network elements, number portability, rural telephone companies, telecommunications, telecommunications carrier. If you look at the scope of the definitions alone, it signifies the changes in our system that are driven by telecommunications.”