Testimony of Marc C. Reed
Executive Vice President of Human Resources for Verizon Communications
Before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health
“Discussion Draft of Health Information Technology and Privacy Legislation”
June 4, 2008

Click here to read the full testimony.

Statement of Walter B. McCormick, Jr.
President and CEO, U.S. Telecom Association
To The Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
May 6, 2008

Click here to read the full testimony. 

Tom Tauke, Executive Vice President of Verizon, testified yesterday before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. His testimony covered the future of telecommunications competition and encouraged investment in broadband to ensure faster services and increased innovation in product offerings. He outlined his recommended approach for the FCC which puts in place a more market-oriented system to sustain universal service in our competitive marketplace.

To view his testimony, Click HereLink Hoewing, Vice President for Internet and Technology Policy at Verizon recently discussed the progress the United States is making in broadband deployment and what the next steps should be to accelerate and widen broadband access. Mr. Hoewing also discussed the recent OECD rankings and said there is no doubt that US policies are producing tremendous results and that “every market has different needs, producing different polices and different results.”
Click here to view his “International Broadband Policy Briefing”

USTelecom President & CEO Walter McCormick recently keynoted a lunch at the Ohio Telecom Association Annual Meeting held in Cleveland, OH. During his speech he highlighted the importance of broadband deployment, specifically to rural Ohio. To make this point, he outlined how e-Health and e-Learning are improving the quality of life for rural Americans with access to a broadband connection to the Internet.

To view his comments, Click Here

By Jeff Dircksen, Director of Congressional Analysis for the National Taxpayers Union and Foundation.

Well, at least he liked my tie. If you had a chance to catch Wednesday’s Senate Commerce Committee meeting, you would have heard Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and me discussing my taste in neckwear and its potential tax implications. The topic of the hearing was not trends in men’s fashion but instead communications, taxation, and federalism. My full testimony may be viewed here.

As most people who follow telecom issues know, the federal Internet tax moratorium is set to expire Nov. 1st of this year. The moratorium is what keeps most states from imposing fees and taxes on Internet access.

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Today, I testified before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce regarding broadband deployment – particularly to under-served and unserved areas – and the nation’s inventory of existing broadband service.

There is growing bi-partisan consensus on the importance of broadband investment, deployment, access and adoption. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Innovation Agenda and the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force both identify broadband deployment as a key national objective.

I told the House committee that I fully support their initiative to create a map to illustrate where Americans have access to advanced communications services and where they do not. This legislation - the proposed Broadband Census of America Act of 2007 - is aimed at pinpointing those areas. It’s a practical way to identify where resources need to be targeted.

In my testimony, I offered suggestions to the Committee on ways to accomplish this goal. These suggestions include:
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Subcommittee On Telecommunications And The Internet

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Subcommittee On Rural And Urban Entrepreneurship

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• Click here for the testimony (Adobe PDF)

Subcommittee On Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, And Related Agencies

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