Rick Boucher: “The amendment that I offered at full committee and which was approved on a voice vote was meant to assure that the more…”

“The amendment that I offered at full committee and which was approved on a voice vote was meant to assure that the more than 1,000 smaller rural telephone companies in our Nation would not have to comply immediately with the competitive checklist contained in section 242 of H.R. 1555. Rural telephone companies were exempted because the interconnection requirements of the checklist would impose stringent technical and economic burdens on rural companies, whose markets are in the near term unlikely to attract competitors. It was never our intention, however, to shield these companies from competition, and it is in that context that the language the gentleman and I have agreed to is pertinent, and I would yield back to him to explain the amendment we have crafted.”