There's Already a Broadband Deployment Program – It's Called the Free Enterprise System

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, today made the following statement at a Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet hearing entitled, “The National Broadband Plan: Promoting Broadband Adoption”:

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for calling this hearing. We’re discussing broadband adoption rates today, but there’s obviously much more going on in the telecom world.

“It is already a cliché: The Internet has changed our lives. We sit here in congressional hearings and throughout the Capitol—indeed, throughout our entire lives—able to quickly access all kinds of information…about the country, our constituents, and our families. All at the tips of our thumbs. I can update my Facebook status or tweet on Twitter.

“Our world has changed. Dramatically. I hope that it will continue to do so, but I have to tell you, I’m more than bit concerned about the FCC’s proposed path to ‘change.’

“Last week’s proposal from Chairman Genachowski is truly troubling. In an atmosphere of vibrant competition, impressive investment, and exciting and unprecedented innovation, we see a government ‘solution’ in search of a problem. Here we go again. Speaking of clichés, ‘we’re from the government and we’re here to help.’

“The public is paying attention. The public has raged against bigger government. The cap-and-trade ‘no-energy’ energy bill lit a prairie fire that continues to rage. The healthcare reform bill narrowly passed into law despite clear and consistent public opposition. And its new objectionable problems are reported every day. The Congressional Budget Office is revising its earlier estimates about the cost, and I believe it will inevitably find that the bill is pushing the country—our children and grandchildren—toward a Grecian-style bankruptcy. And now, President Obama and Chairman Genachowski want to regulate the Internet?

“For many years now, it has been the policy of the United States—clearly laid out in the law—to leave the Internet free to flourish unencumbered by government involvement, meddling, and malfeasance. Guess what? It’s worked! Prior to the so-called stimulus—another much-hated law that my Democrat colleagues foisted on the country—many bemoaned the lack of a national broadband plan. We now have an official plan. At the cost of at least $20 million.

“There’s already a broadband deployment program – it’s called the free enterprise system.

“The government—the Congress and at least three Presidents—explicitly stated that they would stay out of it. And it’s worked out pretty well. People say we’re not first in the world in broadband build-out? I’m sick and tired of being compared to Malta and to Liechtenstein. We can all look at a map. We ain’t Liechtenstein. Bottom line: The FCC has now said that 95 percent of the country has broadband access and two-thirds have signed up. All without our beloved bureaucrats or the beleaguered Congress getting in the way. Chairman Genachowski, and all of us, should stay on that course.

“With all that said however, more people subscribing to broadband service is a laudable goal. Wider use of the Internet could help improve our lives, our economy and our nation. And it’s true that about one in 20 of us isn’t able to log in, and many millions who are able have yet to join the party. Some will never be convinced that the broadband world will benefit them. But to the extent that some have not yet understood how the Internet might enrich their lives, appropriate efforts to facilitate that understanding are admirable. Any government efforts however should be carefully targeted and diligently overseen. Convincing people to buy something they’re not sure they need is a dangerous business, and any government involvement is ripe for mischief, waste, and nonsense. We cannot allow that.

“I’m anxious to hear the opinions of the panel, and I thank them all for taking the time out of their schedules to discuss how even more of the country might change their lives through the same magic that allows us all to read the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from a dais in Washington, D.C.

“Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.”

House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans May 12, 2010 2322A Rayburn House Office Building | Washington, DC 20515 | (202) 225-3641