Verizon Statement on Universal Service Legislation

WASHINGTON, July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., introduced legislation on Thursday (July 22) to update the Universal Service Fund.  The following is a statement on the legislation by Peter Davidson, Verizon senior vice president of federal government relations:

"We congratulate Chairman Boucher and Representative Terry for their leadership in crafting legislation to update universal service for a broadband era.  They recognize the universal service program was designed for a different time and that with consumers shouldering its ever-increasing costs, reform is overdue.  Consistently adding around 15 percent to consumers' bills is not a sustainable path.  This legislation is the result of Chairman Boucher's painstaking efforts to reach out to all stakeholders and find consensus on a complicated issue.  We endorse this legislation, support its passage and will continue to cooperate as this legislation makes its way through Congress."

SOURCE Verizon