Many Tribes, One Family

Commissioner Michael Copps spoke at the Indian Telecommunications Initiative in Rapid City (SD) on July 28. American Indians, he recalled a friend saying, are "many tribes, one family." He said that's a good way to think about our country -- all in it together. Bringing that family together is our challenge. It's not something that can be finished at a two or three day conference. But it is something that can be launched and he offered some principles to guide the work: 1) Public participation in crafting a National Broadband Plan due to Congress in February. 2) Planning isn't enough -- we need implementation: bringing telecommunications to Indian Country and reforming universal service programs. 3) Partnerships are how, coursing back throughout history, we have overcome our greatest challenges and how we built our essential infrastructure. 4) Americans everywhere are much better served if their media is local and diverse and competitive rather than centrally-owned, centrally-managed and centrally-programmed by Madison Avenue advertisers.