[□ | □]
[□ | □ | □]
[!□ | □]
Indeed , a decision is expected any day out of the Fifth Circuit with respect to some of our maneuvers with respect to statutory interpretation , yet we stay resolutely on the accelerator . Today virtually every major market in the country has four or more wireless telephone carriers competing for customers . They want to jeopardize the future of this crucial program by subjecting some of its funding to the uncertainty of Congress ' appropriations process . If we meet this high demand , we will be able to help schools that teach 40 million American children . Chairman Kennard 's letter to Chairman Bliley , Attachment E to this Report , entirely misses this point . Well , I am here today to do just that , to address an unfunded mandate that our constituents pay for every month in their phone bills , the E-rate program , sometimes known as the ` Gore Tax , ' because it has garnered the Vice President 's support . I know him as a man of integrity , who cares about his constituents , and cares about this country . ' Mr. Speaker , this is the ` Gore Tax , ' and what is this ` Gore Tax ' program ? Many parents have felt even more overwhelmed than you have , and as a result of what the Internet service providers and the related companies in the industry are doing today , 95-plus percent of all Internet users will automatically get a pop-up page every time they go to the Internet that will show them in very easy steps how they can provide their children with the maximum protection . Scientists also are trying to clarify serotonin 's role in the brain and its possible involvement in some mental disorders such as depression and anxiety . Clearly , schools and libraries understand this application process and are more than enthusiastic about the program . Hopkins neuroscientist Peter Gillespie , Ph.D ., assistant professor of physiology , says this process is amazingly mechanical . As part of the 1992 Cable Act , I included a provision in the law that permits cable operators to place a line item on consumers ' monthly bills that identifies the portion of the bill that is attributed to ` franchise fees ' that cities and counties typically exact from cable operators as the ` price ' for offering service . Those costs are then compared to a national cost benchmark to determine those areas that have costs in excess of the benchmark and that are therefore in need of support . And all of us have an obligation as Americans to cross party lines , to pull together public , private partnerships , to pass laws where necessary , and to change our lives in order to honor those who died at Columbine High School . Congress recognized that making the transition from monopoly systems to a competitive market would take some time . Tipper , and others who were present , we physically embraced each of the parents and family members of those who lost their lives . Those patients with no abnormal signs in the emergency department but who turned out to be seriously ill were more likely to have a temperature of 103 degrees or more , as well as a higher white blood cell count , higher respiration rate , higher pulse rate and bacterial infections , according to the results . By dubbing the E-rate the Gore Tax , opponents of the E-rate program have put partisan politics ahead of ensuring that every child in America has the access to information technology which is so vital to success in the 21st Century . And according to Forrester Research , Internet access among African-Americans is expected to increase 42 percent , and among Hispanics 20 percent two phenomena that Forrester chalks up to the e-rate program and its ability to bring this technology into every community . I offer the ` rest of the truth ' to point out that a listing of fees and taxes only provides half the story . In fact , it walks parents through the basics about the Internet itself , and how to use some of the tools that , up until today , have been admittedly a little hard for some parents to gain access to . These are the charges which providers are assessing to pay for the expansion of ` universal service ' in the form of the ` schools and libraries ' program . Such a reduction would allow previous access charge reductions and those contemplated for this July to flow to consumers directly , while still providing more than sufficient funds - - $ 675 million for 1998 - - to pay for all of the telecommunications services that have been requested by any school this year .