roundtable: NTIA Funding in Jeopardy
roundtable: NTIA Funding in Jeopardy
NTIA Funding in Jeopardy
DGARDNER@ntia.doc.gov
Fri, 08 Sep 1995 14:46:24 -0400
Message-Id: <s0505756.056@ntia.doc.gov>
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 1995 14:46:24 -0400
From: DGARDNER@ntia.doc.gov
To: roundtable@cni.org
Subject: NTIA Funding in Jeopardy
Dear Colleagues:
In a markup session yesterday morning, the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee proposed spending levels for NTIA that would essentially
eliminate most agency efforts. An attached memo details the
implications of this action.
In addition, the Senate Government Affairs Committee reported out
legislation yesterday that would scatter the functions of the Dept.
of Commerce to three new agencies and eliminate many other important
functions all together. Please see the attached memo for more details.
The full Senate Appropriations Committee will likely consider
NTIA appropriations, which is part of the Commerce, Justice,
State Appropriations bill, this Monday, Sept. 11. The full Senate
is expected to vote on this legislation this Tuesday, Sept. 12.
If you have any questions on this legislation, please contact me at
202/482-5893.
Thank you,
David Gardner
NTIA
<dgardner@ntia.doc.gov>
******************************************************************************
IMPACT OF SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ALLOWANCE
ON THE NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION
ADMINISTRATION (NTIA)
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and
State, and Related Agencies' appropriations mark-up yesterday
effectively eliminates NTIA -- the only Executive Branch agency with
comprehensive legal, technical, engineering and policy expertise in the
burgeoning telecommunications and information marketplace.
Telecommunications and information services are the world's largest
economic sector, generating more than $590 billion in annual revenues
domestically and employing about 3.6 million workers. The sweeping
cuts, reflecting an 82 percent reduction from the President's FY '96
budget request for NTIA, will have a devasting impact on the ability of the
United States to remain a world leader in this growing sector of the
world's economy. The cuts will:
o Delete all but $14 million in funding for NTIA, presumably to handle
spectrum management functions.
o Eliminate funding for the Telecommunications and Information
Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) for FY 1996 and rescind
funding for all TIIAP grants that were to be awarded this fiscal year.
o Provide $10 million for the Public Telecommunications Facilities
Program (PTFP).
Moreover, the Subcommittee's actions will:
o Cripple the Administration's efforts to participate effectively in
domestic telecommunications reform legislation, the most sweeping
reform in 60 years.
o Impair the Executive Branch's ability to participate in high level
international government-to-government negotiations, including the
World Radio Conference, the Asia-Pacific Economic Council Telecom
meetings, and the G-7 Information Society Conference to be held in
Durbin, South Africa next year.
o Prevent the effective and efficient management of the Federal
Government's radio spectrum for such critical public services as air
traffic safety, weather forecasting and national defense.
o Halt important projects in health care, education, economic
development and library services that are designed to bring advanced
telecommunication services to all Americans, particularly those
living in underserved and rural areas.
o Eliminate the only Federal program dedicated exclusively to the
funding of educational programming for children.
*****************************************************************************
IMPACT OF ELIMINATING THE NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION (NTIA)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
I. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee reported out
legislation yesterday on a party-line vote to scatter the functions of the
Department of Commerce to three new agencies and eliminate many
other important functions altogether. With respect to NTIA, the
"Commerce Department Termination and Government Reorganization Act
of 1995" would:
o Establish a United States Trade Administration (USTA) within the
Executive Branch, and transfer, among other things, the Under Secretary
[sic] of NTIA relating to telecommunications policy analysis in support
of international trade policy and negotiation functions to USTA, along
with standard setting functions.
o Transfer NTIA spectrum management functions to GSA
o Transfer telecommunications domestic policy to the White House
o Terminate all other NTIA functions, including its legal functions,
grant programs, research and laboratory activities
II. The Impact:
The proposed legislation will hurt the ability of the United States to
remain a world leader in telecommunications and information services.
o Telecommunications and information services are the world's
largest economic sector, generating more than $590 billion in annual
revenues domestically and employing about 3.6 million U.S. workers.
o The proposal would hinder efforts to promote pro-competitive
policies. By splitting up various NTIA/DOC functions, the proposal
will scatter important domestic policy-making, legal, economic and
technical expertise throughout the government. Worse still, some
important activities would be eliminated.
o NTIA's operations are interrelated. NTIA brings a strong
multi-disciplinary approach to complex telecommunications policy issues.
Spectrum engineers, policy analysts, economists, and lawyers work
together on such diverse issues as negotiating for more global spectrum
for mobile satellite services, hammering out the basic principles for
competition between countries, and establishing U.S. positions on such
issues as privacy and intellectual property rights.
o NTIA's domestic telecommunications policies affect the ability of
U.S. business to compete internationally. By the same token, the
international policies that NTIA pursues affect the success of business
back at home. For example, NTIA's domestic policy office promoted
competition in the provision of wireless services through reports,
testimony and FCC filings. NTIA's international office is currently
promoting such pro-competitive policies in Europe, Latin America and
Asia, with government-run monopolies, in an effort to give U.S. business
greater opportunities in those markets.
o The proposal would eliminate NTIA's laboratory in Boulder,
Colorado, the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS). ITS
provides the technical telecommunications foundation for all of NTIA's
efforts. For example, ITS is involved in long term research to find
ways to use higher frequency spectrum that is not now viable for many
radio services. ITS is also helping to promote U.S. standards for
telecommunications services in international fora and thereby helping
U.S. business gain access to foreign markets.
The proposed legislation will reduce the availability of telecommunications
services to millions of Americans.
o The proposal would eliminate an extremely popular nationwide
grant program, the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure
Assistance Program (TIIAP), that relies on public-private partnerships
to help extend the benefits of advanced telecommunications technologies
to all Americans.
o TIIAP's $24 million in 1994 grants generated $40 million in private
investment to support projects in health care, education, economic
development, infrastructure planning and library services.
Telecommunications and information technology can reduce the cost and
improve the availability of critical services for all Americans,
particularly those living in underserved and rural areas.
o The proposal would eliminate the Public Telecommunications
Facilities Program (PTFP), a 33 year-old program that has helped to
ensure the availability of public television and radio services to
every region of the country. This program offers matching grants to
public broadcasting stations to help purchase necessary
telecommunications equipment.
o It has been estimated that approximately 10 million Americans still
do not receive a reliable public television signal, and approximately
25 million do not receive a reliable public radio signal. Almost all
of the unserved citizens reside in rural areas. Abolishing the PTFP
now would mean that many of these Americans would continue to be
deprived of these services.
o The proposal would eliminate the National Endowment for
Children's Educational Television (NECET), the only Federal program
dedicated exclusively to the funding of educational programming for
children, the National Endowment for Children's Educational Television
(NECET).
o Numerous studies indicate that students in the United States
are lagging considerably behind students in other countries in such
fundamental skills as reading, writing, math, geography, and science.
Such skills are essential for the future economic success of this
nation. Through a very modest grant program, NECET provides funding
for the creation and production of important children's programming
to help children learn.
The proposed legislation would transfer Federal spectrum management
activities to the General Services Administration, an agency with no
expertise in this highly technical area.
o Federal agencies need radio spectrum to provide essential
services to the public including air traffic control, law enforcement,
weather forecasting, and national defense. NTIA processes some 8,000
to 10,000 radio frequency assignments monthly to enable these Federal
agencies to fulfill their public missions.
o NTIA continuously promotes efficient use of the radio
spectrum using advanced technologies and has encouraged the Federal
government to transfer spectrum to the private sector for new and
emerging telecommunications technologies. In fact, NTIA has recently
identified 235 MHz of spectrum to be transferred to the private sector.
NTIA is also meeting the increasing demands for spectrum to support
public safety, federal law enforcement, and interoperability needs
among Federal, state, and local law enforcement.
o GSA procurement functions and NTIA spectrum management functions are
based on quite different disciplines -- administrative versus
engineering and technology. NTIA also has a significant domestic
and international role relative to spectrum and telecommunications
policy, while GSA has no significant role in those areas.
o Placing the control of federal spectrum within GSA would
de-emphasize spectrum policy and management at a critical point in
time. This de-emphasis is contrary to the national and international
focus on the importance of spectrum to new, emerging wireless
technologies and could put the U.S. telecommunications industry at
a severe disadvantage in the marketplace.
![[CNI Home Page]](/Images/home.gif)