J.C. Watts: “this is a truly historic day for the American people. We are engaged in a discussion of a bill that fundamentally…”

“this is a truly historic day for the American people. We are engaged in a discussion of a bill that fundamentally controls a business that is the fastest growing segment in our economy--telecommunications. I welcome the opportunity to debate the merits of this ground-breaking legislation. Specifically, I would like to point out my concerns over the definition of facility-based competition. Real competition. To be effective, any market entry test must contain standards that clearly define the presence of local competition. Real competition will occur only when there are facilities-based companies serving many customers in major markets throughout the State of Oklahoma. As rules that define facilities-based competition are developed and implemented, I expect those charged with that responsibility to make certain: There are periodic studies of the degree of actual competition in local exchange markets to determine whether the incumbent exchanges' market power has been constrained enough to relax some of the regulations intended to safeguard against the abuse of market power; all local exchange service providers provide service to all customers who request service, provide line-side interconnection and unbundling of the local loop into its functional sub-elements--feeder and distribution, obey the equal rules that are in place, cap prices for exchange access services and reciprocal termination at the rates charged by the incumbent exchanges, and allow full resale of…”