Larry Pressler: “I did want to praise Senator Inouye for his leadership and willingness on the GTE consent decree. I thank the Senator…”

“I did want to praise Senator Inouye for his leadership and willingness on the GTE consent decree. I thank the Senator very much. Mr. President, I will go a bit further to describe in more detail some of the things in the Dole package this morning. I think all this was worked out in Dole-Daschle and others, including myself as a cosponsor. In that package, the current law does not recognize the uncertainty and disproportionate burdens rate regulation imposes on small cable companies. Without relief, many small cable companies will be unable to rebuild and upgrade their systems; moreover, they may be unable to survive or compete in the telecommunications marketplace. Small cable companies must spread high fixed costs over a small subscriber base, making it difficult to rebuild and upgrade facilities, to obtain a return on investment, and to service debt. At the same time, small cable companies typically incur a higher cost of capital than the industry as a whole. The current regulatory scheme has required small cable companies to devote a substantial amount of their operating budgets to legal and accounting expenses simply to understand and comply with the complex regulations spawned by the Cable Act of 1992.”