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 CONCURRING  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN 
 Re:  Federal-  State  Joint  Board  on  Universal  Service,  Order  on  Reconsideration,  CC  Docket  No.  96-  45. 
 Through  this  Order,  the  Commission  addresses  numerous  petitions  for  reconsideration  of  two  prior  Commission  Orders,  both  released  in  1997,  concerning  universal  service.  This  Order  dismisses 
 many  of  the  issues  raised  as  moot,  particularly  where  the  Commission  subsequently  acted  to  address  an  issue  in  other  proceedings.  Many  of  the  actions  affirmed  here  predate  my  tenure  at  the  Commission.  In 
 other  instances,  the  Order  dismisses  petitions  for  reconsideration  where  the  same  or  similar  issues  have  been  raised  and  are  pending  in  other  proceedings.  Given  the  age  of  the  petitions  for  reconsideration  that 
 we  address  here  and  the  need  for  the  Commission  to  manage  efficiently  its  own  dockets,  I  support  this  Order. 


 While  I  support  efforts  to  reduce  the  Commission’s  backlog,  there  are  numerous  fundamental  universal  service  issues  implicated  here,  including  contribution  methodology,  the  capping  of  the  high  cost 
 fund,  the  sale  of  exchanges,  and  the  sufficiency  of  support  for  carriers  in  insular  areas.  Each  of  these  important  subjects  is  raised  more  broadly  in  other  open  proceedings  before  the  Commission.  I  hope  that 
 we  move  forward  expeditiously  with  our  consideration  of  those  proceedings  and  my  concurrence  to  this  item  does  not  prejudge  my  substantive  policy  position  on  the  issues  raised  there. 
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