SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TRADE,
AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

SEPTEMBER 27, 2000

Mr. Chairman, I first want to commend you for holding this important hearing today on the future of interactive television, and extend my appreciation to our distinguished witnesses for appearing. I know that Mr. Case of America Online, and Mr. Levin of Time Warner, will provide the Subcommittee with valuable insights, and I thank them for testifying.

I must say, however, that I am deeply troubled that we will not hear from any witnesses today who could describe alternative visions to the one provided by AOL and Time Warner. I appreciate the Chairman’s offer to hold an additional hearing before adjournment that would allow consumer groups and competing enterprises an opportunity to articulate their own visions of the future, and voice any concerns they may have about the perspective we will hear today.

While I appreciate the Chairman’s offer, I find it curious that these witnesses were refused the opportunity to testify at today’s hearing, particularly since we have such little time remaining before adjournment. The planning for this hearing began more than a month ago, and we in the minority trusted that the hearing would be fair and balanced, as is the customary practice of this Subcommittee.

This situation is particularly distressing because the proposed AOL-Time Warner merger will have such a profound effect on the future of all telecommunications and information services, including interactive television. There can be little doubt the combined company will be an extraordinarily powerful player in nearly every line of business that falls within this Subcommittee’s jurisdiction, including cable programming and distribution, broadcast television stations and networks, landline and fixed wireless telephony, and, of course, Internet access and broadband delivery systems. Yet, despite the vast implications of this merger for all American consumers and competing providers, this hearing is the first the Committee has held, and the perspective we will hear could not be more narrow.

I have no doubt that the proposed merger will produce some real benefits to the American public. I am even more certain that the witnesses today will do a splendid job in commending our attention to them. But unless and until we hear about any potential public harms that may result, I believe it would be imprudent to make a judgment about the wisdom of this transaction. Unfortunately, this puts the Committee in the awkward position of having to blindly defer to the FCC, an agency whose judgment on these matters has caused many of us great distress in the past.

I look forward to hearing the testimony of the witnesses before us; and, again, I thank the Chairman for his willingness to explore all sides of this debate in the coming weeks. I am hopeful that today’s witnesses or their representatives will be available to participate in that discussion as well.