WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission narrowly voted today to scale back a controversial subsidy for connecting schools and libraries to the Internet, instead of killing the program outright, as some lawmakers had demanded.
Commissioners voted 3-2 to provide US$650 million in subsidies in the second half of the program's first year. That would bring the funding for 1998 to $1.275 billion, a 43 percent cut from the $2.25 billion originally sought by the FCC, and well short of the $2 billion requested this year by more than 30,000 schools and libraries. The FCC has already collected, but not disbursed, $625 million in subsidies for the first half of this year.
The White House has championed the schools and libraries program, created by the 1996 Telecommunications Act, but leading Republican lawmakers and some Democrats argue that consumers will ultimately have to foot the bill through higher long-distance charges.
After the vote, President Clinton, who made the program the centerpiece of his second-term educational goal of wiring the nation's schools to the Internet by 2000, praised the FCC and warned opponents to back down.
"I will steadfastly oppose any effort to pull the plug on the [subsidies] and our children's future, or to thwart the FCC's ability to move forward with this initiative," Clinton said in a statement.
FCC commissioners Michael Powell and Harold Furchtgott-Roth, both Republicans, voted against the plan. All three members who voted for it, including the chairman, William Kennard, are Democrats.
"You're never going to satisfy everyone," Kennard said. "The FCC is clearly caught in the middle right now. What I'm trying to find is a reasonable middle ground so that people can put the politics aside and make sure that the kids don't have to wait any longer."
Some of the lawmakers opposing the program are expected to offer legislation as soon as next week to end or overhaul the program.
Opponents stepped up their criticism a few weeks ago after AT&T and MCI announced plans to add surcharges of at least 5 percent to their bills to pay for the program and other long-standing subsidies that support basic phone service in low-income and rural areas.
