Dear :(Congress person)
The National Grange, the nation's oldest general agricultural and rural public interest organization representing nearly 300,000 Grange members, strongly urges you to vote in favor of the Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001, H.R. 1542. In 1901, the Grange helped win passage of Rural Free Delivery Mail service. That legislation opened vast new opportunities for communication and commerce for millions of Americans living in our nation’s rural communities. Today, the Grange wants to celebrate that victory by supporting passage of H.R. 1542, legislation that will help bring high speed Internet access to rural America.
Rural Americans deserve access to the same basic public and commercial services that urban Americans enjoy. Advanced telecommunications, such as high speed internet access is one of those services. H.R. 1542 would help address this problem by mandating rapid deployment of high speed internet services by local phone companies to large and small communities alike.
Accelerated broadband deployment will serve rural communities through increased economic development and the realization of services such as distance learning and telemedicine, which are not readily available through limited dial-up (narrowband) Internet technologies.
The root of the problem is the lack of deployment of broadband supporting Internet infrastructure and services to rural areas. Although local telephone companies are well positioned to provide broadband access in rural areas by utilizing existing facilities, they are prohibited from doing so by outdated regulations designed to apply to long distance voice transmissions.
H.R. 1542 will address this problem and spur job creating, nationwide investments in broadband services and facilities throughout underserved rural and low-income areas. At the same time, it will encourage competition in broadband services, while maintaining the competitive structure of voice transmissions.
The National Grange considers the vote by the U.S. House of Representatives on H.R. 1542 to be a Key Vote that will be included in our 2002 voting index measuring individual members’ “Support for Rural America”. Please vote in favor of the Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001 and help prevent the Information Superhighway from bypassing our rural communities.
Sincerely,
Leroy Watson, Legislative Director
National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry