WHEREAS, the United States ranks behind 15 other industrialized countries in the percentage of residents using broadband Internet connections;

WHEREAS, the availability of broadband service is critical to attracting, growing, and retaining businesses in the highly competitive global marketplace;

WHEREAS, broadband service is proving valuable to the economic transitioning and growth of distressed urban and rural communities;

WHEREAS, broadband service to access information and resources is pivotal to eliminating the digital divide and promoting the economic and personal self-sufficiency of low-income individuals;

WHEREAS, local governments are seeking to meet the needs of their communities for broadband service where such service is unavailable, inadequate, or prohibitively expensive;

WHEREAS, local government can play an important role in achieving President Bush’s goal of universal broadband deployment by 2007;

WHEREAS, local governments are beginning to establish wireless municipal broadband networks for underserved residents, either directly or in partnership with others;

WHEREAS, for example, there has been a ten-fold increase in the number of public power companies offering broadband service over the past decade;

WHEREAS, the permissibility of and conditions under which local governments can offer broadband service will be considered in the upcoming rewrite of the Telecommunications Act of 1996; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the Congress to ensure the continued ability of local governments to offer broadband Internet service access to citizens.