1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

I am writing in support of E-rate, or the Schools and Libraries Program, is a Universal Service program that provides discounts on telecommunications, Internet access, and internal connections to eligible schools and libraries to make them more affordable for communities. The Universal Service Fund was established by the FCC after Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. To help administer the fund, the FCC created the Universal Service Administrative Company, a private not-for-profit corporation that helps determine the amount larger carriers must contribute to it and disburses money to program beneficiaries. The fund collects nearly $10 billion annually, according to its administrator. More than 120,000 schools and libraries, and more than 9,000 rural health care providers, and more than 8 million low-income and 1.2 million high cost-area households have been served. There is currently a case before the Supreme Court, known as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) v. Consumers’ Research, challenging whether Congress acted within its Constitutional authority in authorizing the FCC to require providers to contribute to the Universal Service Fund. This is an attempt to revive a long-dormant legal concept known as the nondelegation doctrine claiming that Congress cannot delegate its legislative powers to executive branch agencies. This case will test whether Congress and the FCC violated the separation of powers accorded to each of the three branches of the federal government. The Supreme Court has heard the oral arguments and they will make a decision on the constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund by June. The outcome may send the very existence of the E-rate program and the Universal Service fund back to Congress. I am writing to ensure that you understand how critical Universal Service/E-rate is to public schools, libraries and the communities they serve across our country. With the pending outcome of this court decision in the balance, I urge you to support the continued existence and administration of the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund under the direction of the Federal Communications Commission. Thank you.