Burgess Owens: “So for all who are listening, no matter where you are, it is important to note the fact that we celebrated. We…”

“So for all who are listening, no matter where you are, it is important to note the fact that we celebrated. We celebrated the fact that students, teachers, librarians, all over the country came to the aid of those of us in Congress who were fighting to maintain and expand the e-rate. What is the e-rate? The e-rate is a special fund created as a result of actions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. When we passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a provision was put in the Act which called upon the telecommunications industry to provide free or very low-cost services to all schools and libraries in America. Private schools, public schools, all schools were to be included and have been included in the e-rate process--and libraries. The development of the procedures and the standards for doing this under William Kennard were magnificent. They determined that, instead of providing it free, they could not go that far, there was a lot of pressure on them from industry, they did determine that funds could be made available not through the Treasury of the United States or any other government but through the industry itself. The funds could be made available to allow for a discount program where every school and library in America would at least get a 15 percent discount on their telecommunications services.…”