######### REMARKS OF 

####  **MICHAEL J. COPPS**

**COMMISSIONER**

**FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION**

**AT**

**THE 14^th^ BIENNIAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TELECOMMUNICATIONS FOR
THE DEAF, INCORPORATED**

######### SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA

**JULY 10, 2001**

Thank you for that kind introduction and for inviting me to participate
in this conference. This is my very first speech as a Commissioner of
the FCC, and I am pleased that it is with a community that understands
so well the potential of the communications revolution and one that
works so hard to help all of our citizens to realize that potential. I
have been looking forward to our discussion today and to talking with
you about what we can do -- together---to bring the wonders of the
Telecommunications Revolution to every American.

I'm new to my job and I'm excited about it. I think I'll continue to be
excited about it even after it's not so new, because to be an active
participant in the deliberations of the FCC as the telecommunications
revolution transforms our lives and remakes our world is a privilege few
are given. I believe that in telecom, you and I haven't seen anything
yet. I believe that the communications transformations of this new
21^st^ century will make the dramatic changes of the past century pale
by comparison. We will work differently, learn differently, play
differently, and probably even govern ourselves differently, because of
the transformative power of telecommunications.

The sobering part of being a commissioner is that the office is a high
public trust. Communications is the business of us all. Every great
department and agency of government has a traditional group of
constituents or clients -- stakeholders, I call them \-- and their input
and counsel are critically important to the success of that department
or agency. Business is obviously an important stakeholder in this work.
But in communications, [every]{.underline} American is a stakeholder,
because each of us is affected in so many important ways by how the
public spectrum is used. Our freedoms, our diversity and our values all
come into play. So I am convinced that an important part of being a
commissioner is to reach out to non-traditional stakeholders as well as
traditional, to ensure that Commission decisions do indeed reflect the
public interest. I will be talking more fully about this in the weeks
and months ahead, but I want you to know at the outset that the public
interest will be my lodestar for so long as I serve as commissioner.

I came here to emphasize another priority of mine. It is an unswerving
belief that we, as Americans, progress together or we progress not at
all. Our strength is our diversity \-- a diversity of races and cultures
and creeds and talents and interests that will determine our destiny.
Unless we figure out how to harness this amazing wealth of diversity, we
will not \-- we cannot \-- realize our nation's potential.

Many of you in this audience are far ahead of the rest of us in
understanding this basic truth. More than that, you have done something
about it. You have led the way and made the disability community not
only a political force to be reckoned with, but also a social and
economic force contributing as never before to the forward march of our
great country.

You led the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act. You led the way
for Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, opening the way for 54
million Americans with disabilities to access the marvels of the telecom
revolution. You came together to reach out and teach us all, and in the
process you contributed mightily to the nation's progress. Closer to
home, you have helped us at the FCC to create new rules and procedures
and even new offices and structures\-- such as the Disability Rights
Office and the Consumer Advisory Committee \-- so that we can work more
effectively together.

So now we look ahead, pleased with the progress that has been made, but
ever mindful of the long road we have yet to travel. It's a new and, in
many ways an unfamiliar road, because while the old challenges of
education and outreach and traditional obstacles have not disappeared,
new challenges, born of technology and economic change, rise up to
confront us.

First among these challenges is harnessing the power of the new economy
for the benefit of us all. Call it the IT Economy, the Digital Age, the
World Wide Web or whatever you will, it is rocketing us into cyberspace
at the speed of light. It's valuable cyberspace, because what we find
there are the education and information and commerce and jobs of
America's future. Those who get there win; those who don't get there
lose. I want to contribute to making sure we [all]{.underline} get
there, and that in the vanguard, traveling at the speed of light, is
America's disability community.

Epic change brings opportunity \-- but it can also be confusing for
consumers. And worrisome for you in this particular audience, as you
wonder whether the advances in access that you have made over the past
years will continue in the 21^st^ century.

I am an optimist. Advances in technology will bring us more
accessibility tools \-- if we do our jobs right. Advanced products and
services will enable people with disabilities to obtain information and
to communicate with others in ways that were previously unattainable \--
if we do our jobs right. One word of advice: Keep up with this
technology. I'm told that somebody in this very audience has said that
we need to insist not just on the pots, but on the pans, too: not just
the pots of Plain Old Telephone Service, but the Pretty Awesome New
Stuff \-- the pans \-- also. I saw some of the pans right here in your
corporate exhibitor displays yesterday. Don't settle for less!

As a one-time historian, I like to search the past for lessons. As all
of you know, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, as
well as his father, taught those with hearing disabilities. Bell's
invention changed life as we know it. But certain communities, such as
those in rural areas, were very often left behind \-- more isolated than
before and with comparatively fewer economic opportunities. In response,
although not nearly so quickly as could have been hoped, we began to
tackle the problem. With the public and private sectors working
together, we went to work to bring access to basic communications
technology to rural communities.

Access to basic telephone services reduced isolation and brought rural
communities closer together. And access fostered economic development.
President Theodore Roosevelt's Country Life Commission was right on the
mark in designating the telephone as a major problem solver for rural
America.

Today, having access to advanced communications and information is every
bit as important as access to basic telephone services was not so many
years ago. The digital tools of the Information Age are the keys to
unlocking the doors of opportunity. We must make sure that those doors
are open \-- and remain open \-- for all Americans, and not locked shut
for some.

My overriding goal as an FCC Commissioner is to help bring the best,
most accessible, and cost-effective telecommunications system in the
world to our people -- and I mean all of our people. Each and every
citizen of this great country should have access to the wonders of
telecommunications. I don't think it exaggerates much to characterize
access to telecommunications in this modern age as a civil right.

Congress recognized the importance of access over a decade ago in the
Americans with Disabilities Act, and reiterated this directive in the
1996 Communications Act. Our job is to implement Congress' vision of a
world in which those with disabilities have access to functionally
equivalent telecommunications services.

I want to commend the previous FCC for the great strides it made to move
in this direction.

-   That Commission wrote new rules to ensure that communications
    products and services are accessible to those with disabilities, as
    Congress directed in Section 255.

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-   That Commission overhauled and updated our Telecommunications Relay
    Services (TRS) rules to provide for faster, more effective relay
    services.

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-   That Commission established 711 for relay services so that consumers
    will no longer need to remember different TRS numbers and TRS users
    will be able to put one number on their business cards, thereby
    making it easier for people to call them.

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-   That Commission took action on captioning to ensure that everyone
    has access to televised information, including most importantly
    warnings about emergency situations.

That's an impressive record. But our objective in the new Commission is
not to rest on these accomplishments; it is to build on them. The
question is: How do we accomplish this? Here are some things "to do."

First, we must follow through on those items I just mentioned. On
Telecommunications Relay Services, for example, the Commission just
released a Public Notice seeking comment on using the Internet for such
services. And we are encouraging a nationwide TRS awareness campaign so
that all our citizens can understand the importance of relay services.

I am pleased to announce that on October 10, 2001, the FCC will host a
public forum on TRS. This forum will discuss outreach for TRS so that we
can expand the user base, and it will discuss new relay technologies,
such as Internet relay and video relay services. The forum will include
an "open microphone" session so users can share with us their inputs on
what more needs to be done. In conjunction with the public forum, we
will have a TRS Expo, so people can visit vendor booths and learn more
about relay services and new technologies, just as I learned yesterday.
I hope that many of you will be able to attend this forum. I hope you
can bring community opinion-makers with you so that they can better
understand the challenges and the new opportunities that you are
encountering. You may even wish to invite your Congressional
Representatives and Senators to come share in the excitement and see
first-hand what your community is doing to improve not just your lives,
but all of our lives.

We are also following through by working with industry to publicize the
availability of 711 access in order to reach as many Americans as
possible by the October 1 date. So follow-through is obviously key.

Second, as we go about our FCC business, we need to reach out to all the
stakeholders on these issues. I alluded to this earlier. You are
affected by so much of what we do and, as the new guy on the block, I
want to hear from you. You have tremendous advocates in people like
Claude Stout, Pam Holmes, Nancy Bloch, Al Sonnenstrahl, Phil Bravin, Ben
Soukup, Cheryl Heppner, Toni Dunne and so many others. And I want to
hear from you not only on the items immediately important to you, but on
the whole wide range of telecom issues, because you are affected by so
many of those issues.

Helping us with the outreach efforts I have mentioned is the
Commission's Consumer Information Bureau, which houses our Disability
Rights Office. Many of you have worked with Karen Peltz Strauss and Pam
Gregory. They do an outstanding job. And we are especially lucky to have
with us the newest member of the team -- and someone who probably needs
no introduction -- Greg Hlibok.

I am also pleased that we have established a Consumer/Disability
Telecommunications Advisory Committee. From my days at the Commerce
Department, I know first-hand that we benefit greatly from the expertise
of such committees, wherein the experts and outside stakeholders come
together with the government players to share information and formulate
policy recommendations. I do want to thank Judy Harkins, Judy Viera,
Andy Lange, Susan Palmer, Dr. Bob Segalman, Rich Ellis and others for
their participation on this committee. I plan to listen closely to their
input and advice.

Third, we should build public sector -- private sector partnerships to
expand access to communications technology for those with disabilities.
Business plays the critical role in innovation and investment to make
products accessible. History has shown that incorporating accessibility
at the design stage makes good business sense. And industry can only
benefit by making products and services accessible to the broadest range
of users.

A few months ago, over forty chief executives of high-tech and
telecommunications companies pledged to develop and market products and
services that are accessible to those with disabilities. I commend these
companies and urge others to join our efforts to remove barriers to
opportunity.

I spent most of my time at the Commerce Department during the Clinton
Administration putting together public sector-private sector
partnerships. I am a believer, a true believer, in this kind of
cooperative endeavor. In the world of global commerce and competition
that I focused on for those eight years, I quickly realized that neither
the government nor the private sector alone could make much headway in
tackling the challenges we faced. Working together we could, and did,
accomplish much more. I am convinced that there is significant room for
just this kind of cooperative effort in addressing the major challenges
I am finding at the FCC.

Fourth, government must get its own house in order through such actions
as making sure that those with disabilities are able to access
government information through the Internet or via other information
technologies. Unfortunately, as a recent report suggests, many federal
government agency web-sites still are not accessible. We can do more and
we must do more.

I look at all these challenges, and I see a lot of work to be done. But
I believe \-- I really do \-- that we will get it done. Not just because
you care, or the Commission cares, or I care. We'll get it done because
a lot of other people are beginning to care. I've seen it close to home.

Let me tell you about a young woman I know. One day, she may even be my
daughter-in-law \-- if my son plays his cards right. She has been
working with students with hearing disabilities and this fall she will
enter a masters program at the University of Arizona in Tucson to
continue her studies and hone her teaching skills. She is totally
committed to this work and already she is making a difference in her
students' lives. But the other evening she reached beyond even them. My
other son's Boy Scout troop was having a session on career
opportunities, and Katie volunteered to speak about hers. She talked
about communication with the deaf and hard-of-hearing. She absolutely
mesmerized her young audience with her knowledge and her commitment. You
should have seen the rapt attention of these young Scouts and their
desire to learn to sign. You should have seen the lights go on in their
minds. So Katie is not only working directly with people who are deaf
and hard-of-hearing, she is doing the outreach necessary to help all of
us, as citizens, better understand the challenges we face.

Like Katie, we must each do what we can to ensure that Americans with
disabilities are not left behind, as has happened too often in the past.
The good news is that more and more of our people \-- I think especially
our young people \-- are beginning to look at it not just as a
challenge, but really as an opportunity, as a win-win for everyone. I
think, I hope, that there is a new understanding and a new vision taking
hold. For me, I'm going to act like there is and do everything I can to
build it further and to mobilize it for the job ahead. My hope is that
at the end of my time at the FCC, we will be able to say that, together,
we moved the ball forward. I look forward to working with you to make it
happen.

Thank you very much.