National and state school and library organizations are calling on Congress not to repeal a Federal rule that allows schools and libraries to use the government’s E-Rate program to buy discounted Wi-Fi hot spots and related mobile connectivity services for off-premises use.
Eighty-four signees wrote to representatives urging them to vote against a measure issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2014 that would result in harm “to rural and underserved communities around the country.”
“If this resolution becomes law, not only would the FCC have to reject currently pending requests for hotspots from schools and libraries across the nation, the FCC would be barred from ever reinstituting this program,” the organizations’ letter reads.
“In short, this resolution would prevent millions of students and library patrons across the country from obtaining internet access now and in the future,” it continued.
In early May, the U.S. Senate voted to nullify the rule on a party-line vote of 50 to 38. The vote was taken under the Congressional Review Act, which enables Congress to review and overturn final rules issued by Federal agencies before they take final effect.
The same approval process to nullify the measure still requires a vote by the House and a sign-off from President Donald Trump.
Organizations who sent the letter explained to lawmakers that the program is nonpartisan, financially responsible and well-funded, and promotes safe, filtered access for minors in accordance with Federal law.
“If the FCC’s program is overturned, school children will seek other ways to access the internet that do not have these filtering protections,” the letter states.
The organizations’ claims contradict right against those of Sen. Tedd Cruz, R-Texas, who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and filed the resolution of disapproval in January.
Sen. Cruz argued that the FCC rule violated existing law because it would subsidize Wi-Fi hotspots for off-campus use by students and that it was not well-supervised and could expose users to inappropriate content and provide access to social media.
“Since the FCC does not require schools to obtain parental consent before distributing federally-subsidized hotspots, the program risks undermining parents’ ability to control the content their kids can access online,” Sen. Cruz said.