For Immediate Release: April 2, 2004

PRI signs letter to President Bush

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Workers across the nation are worried about the outsourcing of jobs overseas, making it imperative that policy makers do all they can to ensure American competitiveness. This week, the Pacific Research Institute signed a letter to President Bush explaining the link between jobs and telecommunication reform.

“The US ranks 11th in high-speed Internet use per capita, behind countries like Italy and Canada,” said Sonia Arrison, director of Technology Studies at the Pacific Research Institute. “The reason we have fallen behind is poor telecom policies that hamper and distort investment. If we want to compete with workers around the world, we need to ensure our data can travel as fast as theirs.”

Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit handed down a welcome judgment rejecting the FCC’s rules that force telecom companies to share their infrastructure with competitors. “The Court has issued a wise decision,” said Arrison. “If the Bush Administration wants to promote job growth, it should not seek Supreme Court review of the Circuit Court's ruling.”

To create more jobs and spur investment, regulatory barriers need to be permanently removed. Widespread broadband deployment in California alone would create 170,000 new jobs in telecommunications and related fields and spur $90 billion in new economic output.

“It’s time to clean up the nation’s telecom mess,” Arrison said. “I’m optimistic that once America’s leaders focus clearly on the facts, they will make decisions to cut the red tape that’s holding back important broadband rollout.”

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About PRI
For 25 years, the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy (PRI) has championed individual liberty through free markets. PRI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the principles of limited government, individual freedom, and personal responsibility.

About AEI
Founded in 1943, the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is dedicated to preserving and strengthening the foundations of freedoms, limited government, private enterprise, vital cultural and political institutions, and a strong foreign policy and national defense – through scholarly research, open debate, and publications.