The Baby Bells want to get into the video business. Cable wants a shot at local telephone businesses. Software companies and consumer groups are worried that alliances like TCI/Time Warner/Microsoft will limit their markets. Cellular telephone operations are worried about competition from cable and the regional Bells. Not one of these industries is unsophisticated in how it lobbies in Washington. All have, at one time, pleaded their cases before Rep. Edward J. Markey, chair of the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee.
Tall and thin, with only a few strands of gray in his conservative but still (for Congress) longish hair, Markey is the classic definition of youthful good looks. His touch for so-called Populist causes is sure, and it serves him well in finding creative and understandable ways to talk about complex issues. As chair, Markey is a high-tech legislative hall monitor: He decides what gets attention and what languishes.
The 47-year-old Massachusetts Democrat wants very badly to author ground- breaking telecommunications legislation. But his leadership - awarded on the basis of seniority and dependent on what is considered his certain return to Washington after each election - might be lacking the necessary vision and toughness to get this complex job done.
Markey's critics say he is more interested in self-promotion than in doing the quiet spadework that gets legislation passed. "Markey knows very well that what is emerging in this country is a new generation of media monopolies," says Jeff Chester, head of the Center for Media Education. "He'd like to do something about it. But there's not the range of political support." In other words, Markey may want to set a clear direction for telecommunications policy, but the same companies that plead their cases in front of his committees have the financial resources that can save a Congressional campaign. Markey may not need them, but plenty of others in Congress do.
Talk like that enrages Markey. He clearly believes that he possesses the vision and foresight needed to regulate an increasingly complex market. Although he won't talk about the details or the time frame, Markey says he is negotiating with Republicans to craft a telecommunications infrastructure bill that will carry both his name and the name of the Republican leader on his subcommittee, Rep. Jack Fields.
"The bottom-line objective is to have at least two wires going down the street in every community, and to have a small satellite dish that can provide at least a third means," Markey says.
But why has it taken so long? "No legislation before its time," Markey preaches. "I'm trying to establish policies that will last through the years. The fact that the tasks are difficult always leads the skeptics." - Chris Nolan
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