September 23, 1994    CONTACT:  Susan Lewis Sallet
                                                       202/418-0500


STATEMENT OF FCC CHAIRMAN REED E. HUNDT

     Chairman Hollings, Senator Danforth, Chairman Inouye, Senators Stevens, Breaux,
Packwood and Lott and, on the House side, Chairman Dingell, Chairman Brooks, Chairman
Markey, Congressman Fields and many, many others have worked tirelessly, on a bipartisan
basis, to design legislation that would open all telecommunications markets to competition and
provide for all Americans the benefits that competition always brings.  These exemplary
public servants deserve our great respect and have earned our deepest thanks.  They are to be
commended for the vision, leadership and extraordinary perseverance they have shown in the
face of an enormous, but critical task. 

     Change is always hard.  But in this instance, as a result of technological and other
developments that could not even have been imagined a decade ago, change is inevitable. 
The question then is not whether there will be change, but whether such change can be
harnessed to improve the quality of life for all Americans and to maximize economic return,
creating more jobs, and more and better services at lower prices.

     The good news is that everyone, regardless of industry affiliation or political party,
agrees that telecommunications markets must be opened to full and fair competition.  Four
hundred and twenty-three members of the House of Representatives demonstrated that fact
when they voted in favor of H.R. 3626 and 3636 on June 28, 1994, as did all eleven
Democrats and seven out of nine Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee when they
reported out S. 1822 on August 11, 1994.  This country needs a legislative commitment to
competition and I am confident that competition will eventually be the law of the land.

 - FCC -