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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  April  24,  2002  Jordan  Goldstein  at  (202)  418-  2000 
 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 Re:  Request  for  Review  of  the  Decision  of  the  Universal  Service  Administrator  by  Information  Technology  Department,  State  of  North  Dakota,  Bismarck,  North  Dakota,  DA  02-  956 
 Hundreds  of  schools  and  libraries  successfully  filed  electronic  applications  for  E-  Rate  discounts  within  the  filing  window,  but  failed  to  mail  a  signed  certification  until  after  the 
 window  had  closed.  As  a  result,  these  schools  and  libraries  --  including  many  rural  and  poor  schools  in  North  Dakota,  Puerto  Rico,  and  numerous  other  places  –  were  denied  discounts  to 
 connect  their  classrooms  and  libraries  to  the  Internet.  I  am  troubled  when  so  many  deserving  schools  are  denied  funding,  particularly  as  in  this  case,  when  the  rules  were  changed  and  are 
 being  applied  for  the  first  time.  Given  these  facts,  I  would  have  supported  granting  a  one-  time  waiver  to  provide  funding  to  these  schools  and  libraries. 


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