THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
February 1, 1996
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
I wish to congratulate the Congress for passing the Telecommunications
Reform Act of 1995. As I stated in my State of the Union Address, America
needs this legislation and this kind of bi-partisanship to build our economy
for the 21st century, to bring educational technology into every
classroom and to help families exercise control over how the media influences
their children. For the past three years, my Administration has promoted
the enactment of a telecommunications reform bill to stimulate investment,
promote competition, provide open access for all citizens to the Information
Superhighway, strengthen and improve universal service and provide
families with technologies to help them control what kind of programs come
into their homes over television. As a result of this action today, consumers
will receive the benefits of lower prices, better quality and greater choices
in their telephone and cable services, and they will continue to benefit
from a diversity of voices and viewpoints in radio, television and the print
media. I want to thank the bipartisan leadership of the conference that
produced this landmark legislation -- Senators Pressler and Hollings and
Representatives Bliley, Dingell, Fields and Markey. I also want to thank all
those in my Administration from the Justice Department, the Commerce
Department, and the Education Department for their hard work on this bill
over the past three years. And I want to give a special thanks to Vice
President Gore who began talking about the Information Superhighway nearly
20 years ago and who I know is very proud to see this legislation enacted
today. With this legislation today we are building the information
superhighway that will lead all Americans into a more prosperous future.
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