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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  03-  58 
 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS, 
 APPROVING  IN  PART,  DISSENTING  IN  PART 
 Re:  Federal-  State  Joint  Board  on  Universal  Service 
 I  dissent  in  part  from  today’s  decision  to  the  extent  it  grants  a  waiver  of  our  prohibition  on  carriers  marking  up  their  universal  service  line  items.  I  am  troubled  by 
 several  aspects  of  this  interim  waiver  of  our  interim  rules.  First,  I  am  concerned  that,  after  adopting  a  rule  that  prohibits  mark-  ups  of  the  universal  service  line  item  just  this 
 past  December,  the  Commission  right  out  of  the  block  grants  a  waiver  without  any  analysis  of  the  impact,  the  cost,  or  the  precedent  it  creates  for  additional  mark-  ups. 
 Second,  these  mark-  ups  may  affect  small  and  medium  enterprises  and  will  require  these  small  businesses  to  subsidize  large  businesses.  Finally,  although  the  majority  asserts  that 
 it  will  reexamine  the  issue  in  the  near  future,  it  provides  no  specific  timeline  for  this  proceeding.  I  have  seen  too  often  that  interim  policies  can  exist  for  years  before  the 
 Commission  addresses  them.  For  the  foregoing  reasons,  I  respectfully  dissent  in  part. 
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