cr> pressure President to veto the bill altogether?

1996-01-23

Richard Moore

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Date: Tue, 23 Jan 1996
Sender: Brennon Martin <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: cr> Congress Straitjackets the Net - AR article

On Tue, 23 Jan 1996, Craig A. Johnson wrote:

>         A "signature sheet" is presently being substituted for open
> discussion and debate.  This assures that so-called "technical" changes
> and at least one "substantive" change to the draft telecom bill, according
> to Senate Commerce Committee staffers, can proceed without conferees
> understanding too much about what the changes really mean.

        Excuse me for being a bit naive and admittedly idealistic about
the way I think a representative democracy should operate, but this makes
me want to puke.

        I think there is consensus that reform is needed in the
Telecommunications Act of 1934, but at what price?  It appears that the
closer this bill comes to a vote, the more abhorrent many of its
provisions and how they have been crafted seem.  My impression of the bill
last year was that it contained mostly reasonable legislation with a few
problem areas such as the CDA.  Now the opposite appears to be the case;
most of the bill is problemmatic.

        Has the time come to focus pressure on the President to veto the
bill altogether?  Is this a viable alternative or merely wishful
thinking?  If what Dole says is true (that no vote will be cast on the
Telecom Bill until after budget negotiations have finished), what is the
likelihood that Congress will be able to generate enough solidarity to
override a veto if it were to happen?

Brennon M. Martin
School of Communications, Box 353740
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-3740
206.543.2660

•••@••.•••

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 Posted by Richard K. Moore (•••@••.•••) Wexford, Ireland
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