Excerpted from President Bush’s remarks at the 21st Century High Tech Forum, June 13, 2002:
- “This country must be aggressive about the expansion of broadband.”
- “[The Internet] ought to be a tax-free environment in order to encourage use.”
- “[The FCC] is focusing on policies that will bring high-speed Internet service, will create competition, will keep the consumers in mind, but to understand the — kind of the economic vitality that will occur when broadband is more fully accessible.”
Additional context for these remarks:
“And so, which really leads me to an interesting question that I know is on your mind, and that is broadband technology. This country must be aggressive about the expansion of broadband; we have to. (Applause.) I used to travel around our state of Texas a lot. I saw some really innovative health programs. I remember going to the Texas Tech Medical Center, and seeing a fellow have his ear examined by a nurse practitioner in I think it was Alpine, Texas. And the picture was clear and the specialist was able to diagnose the disease.
We have virtual classrooms in Texas, virtual school districts in Texas, where we’ve hooked up a fairly wealthy school district with rural or poor school districts. It made a huge difference. It would have been a heck of a lot better if there had been broadband technology, however, to make the process move a lot quicker.
I get — when I’m down at Crawford, I’m in constant contact with our administration. We’ve got secure teleconferencing capacity there. And it’s pretty good. It can be better. (Laughter.) It can be more real-time. It’s an important part of life and it’s time for us to be — time for us to move, move with an agenda.
Hopefully, we’re doing a pretty good job of working to eliminate hurdles and barriers to get broadband implemented. I’ve fought off — or worked with Congress, is a better way to put it — (laughter) — to prevent access taxes on the Internet. It ought to be a tax-free environment in order to encourage use. And, of course, a lot of the action is going to come through the FCC. I know that, you know that. And I’m confident that the chairman and the board is focusing on policies that will bring high-speed Internet service, will create competition, will keep the consumers in mind, but to understand the — kind of the economic vitality that will occur when broadband is more fully accessible.”