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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 191 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 191

   Establishing a national goal for the universal deployment of next-
generation broadband networks to access the Internet and for other uses 
   by 2015, and calling upon Congress and the President to develop a 
  strategy, enact legislation, and adopt policies to accomplish this 
                               objective.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 8, 2007

Mr. Rockefeller submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
       to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
   Establishing a national goal for the universal deployment of next-
generation broadband networks to access the Internet and for other uses 
   by 2015, and calling upon Congress and the President to develop a 
  strategy, enact legislation, and adopt policies to accomplish this 
                               objective.

Whereas approximately half of households in the United States subscribe to high-
        speed data service over current-generation broadband networks, and the 
        number of households subscribing to high-speed data service is growing 
        by more than 20 percent annually;
Whereas households in the United States have used these networks to access over 
        the Internet and via direct connections an increasingly broad array of 
        critical information, services, and applications;
Whereas the information, services, and applications households in the United 
        States access through these networks serve important policy priorities 
        of the United States, such as improving health care and education, 
        enhancing access to domestic and international markets, and reducing 
        energy consumption and greenhouse gases;
Whereas, because new information, services, and applications require increasing 
        amounts of bandwidth, and that trend is expected to accelerate 
        dramatically, current-generation broadband networks, with their limited 
        bandwidth capabilities, are proving insufficient to meet the electronic 
        access needs of households in the United States;
Whereas next-generation broadband networks, with transmission speeds of 100 
        megabits per second, bidirectionally, have the capabilities to provide 
        access to important bandwidth-intensive information, services, and 
        applications being developed and can readily increase these capabilities 
        for future developments;
Whereas, recognizing that next-generation broadband networks are essential to 
        the achievement of social objectives, economic competitiveness, and 
        global leadership, other countries have adopted national objectives and 
        strategies to deploy next-generation broadband networks and are already 
        accelerating the construction of such critical infrastructure to 
        households;
Whereas next-generation broadband networks in the United States pass through 
        only approximately 5 percent of households today;
Whereas, at the current pace, next-generation broadband networks will not be 
        universally available in the United States for more than 20 years, and, 
        as a result--

    (1) households in the United States will not have access to critical 
information, services, and applications;

    (2) entrepreneurs and businesses in the United States will be 
constrained in developing new products and services that are accessed over 
the Internet and broadband networks; and

    (3) the overall welfare and economy of the United States will suffer 
substantially; and

Whereas key leaders and organizations in the private sector have called recently 
        for the immediate development of a national next-generation broadband 
        network policy and strategy: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) establishes a national next-generation broadband 
        network goal to bring, by 2015, universal and affordable access 
        to networks with the capability of transmitting data at 100 
        megabits per second, bidirectionally, so that households, 
        businesses, and government offices in the United States can 
        access the Internet and, via direct connections, access other 
        households, businesses, and government offices; and
            (2) directs the relevant congressional committees to work 
        with the President--
                    (A) to develop a strategy to achieve the national 
                next-generation broadband network goal; and
                    (B) to begin, by the end of 2007, to enact specific 
                legislation and adopt policies to implement this 
                strategy.
                                 <all>
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