*Omaha World Herald* \-- Sept. 30, 2003

**Lee Terry: Many Nebraskans are telemarketers**

**BY LEE TERRY**

*The writer, a Republican, represents Nebraska\'s 2nd Congressional
District in the House of Representatives.*

Last week, Congress overwhelmingly approved legislation to implement a
national do-not-call registry against unwanted telemarketing. The vote
came just a day after a federal judge in Oklahoma City ruled that
earlier legislation had not authorized the federal government to develop
such a list - which of course generated an excess of sound bites from
Capitol Hill and talking heads around the nation.

So last Thursday, the House of Representatives voted 412-8 in favor of
the do-not-call list. I was one of the eight who voted against the bill.

\"What were you thinking, Congressman?\" is a question I have heard
often since that vote. And it is a fair question.

I understand very well why many Americans would rather not be bothered
by telemarketing calls. With three young sons of my own, and much of my
time spent in Washington, I treasure every free moment I get with my
family. The last thing I want to do at home is answer a sales call. But
I also understand that this minor annoyance puts bread on the tables of
many people in my congressional district.

Consider that at least 40 businesses in Omaha are involved in
telemarketing. About 39,000 people in the metro area are employed by
those firms, with more than 12,000 residents actually making the calls.
These are real jobs, held by decent, hard-working people. As their
representative, it is my responsibility to do what is best for them and
their families.

While voting for the do-not-call list would have been easy politically,
it would have been the wrong vote for my constituents - for several
reasons.

Thanks in part to telemarketing, Omaha has emerged as a national leader
in telecommunications. This has opened the door to tremendous future job
opportunities for the city and has sparked new economic growth.

Combined with our geographic location and solid work ethic, Omaha\'s
flourishing telecommunications sector gives Nebraska a strong advantage
in attracting other businesses to the state. Telecommunications is one
of the most important factors that corporations look for when choosing a
location.

In fact, Omaha\'s telecommunications success has caught the attention of
other communities across North America. Many of these cities are working
hard to attract more telemarketing jobs for themselves.

Of course, Nebraska\'s tie to telemarketing jobs is not limited only to
Omaha. The industry has created thousands of other jobs throughout the
state. For several rural communities, such as Ord, Neb., telemarketing
has provided good jobs with average pay around \$10 an hour, plus
benefits.

As John Allen with the University of Nebraska\'s Center for Applied
Rural Innovation recently told The Kansas City Star, telecommunications
\"is a clean industry. You can use existing buildings and tailor the
hours to fit somebody\'s schedule who might still work on the farm. And
there is available labor.\"

With about 6.5 million telemarketing jobs around the country, industry
experts estimate that about 4 million would be susceptible under the
do-not-call registry. One-quarter to one-half of those jobs could be
lost for good.

At a time when our state needs more job creation, it seems wrong to use
more government dollars to create new federal regulation that threatens
to eliminate more than 12,000 Nebraska jobs. It seems especially wrong
since local governments, private industry and individuals are better
suited to address telemarketing calls.

With call-screening service and caller identification available to most
homes, the private sector can easily resolve this by itself. Instead,
Washington is working to create yet another tool of big government - one
that, if implemented, would kill a private industry and create more
unemployment.

I realize that some people couldn\'t care less about these jobs or the
families who depend on them. That was apparent when an anchor on Fox
News chastised me for voting \"just for the sake of saving a job.\" Such
indifference is unfortunate - because while it may be only telemarketing
jobs at stake today, tomorrow it could be your job in the crosshairs of
government regulation.

As a member of Congress, I am obligated to look thoroughly at every
situation, to examine every angle. Before voting, I must consider who
will be affected, weigh all the factors and decide what is best for
those in the district I represent.

I have a responsibility to put the needs of others before my own wants
and conveniences. Sometimes that means choosing the less-popular
position.

So while my dinner might still be interrupted by an occasional call from
a local telemarketer, I remind myself that it is a small price to pay to
keep bread on the tables of many Nebraska families.