UPTON'S MICHIGAN FIRST AGENDA

When considering every project and piece of legislation that comes across my desk, I first ask myself one question: "How will this help the folks at home?" Before taking the Chair of the Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee, I asked myself that same question and realized what a tremendous opportunity this would be to improve the quality of life for people in our state.

The issues under my committee's jurisdiction affect every American and how we communicate whether it be by cell phone or telephone, television or radio broadcast, cable television and Internet. With many important issues before us, I plan to use my new post to make sure Southwest Michigan has the economic opportunities associated with this emerging industry.

PROTECTING OUR FAMILIES

Technology has provided us with unparalleled opportunities and unprecedented dangers. Today, while our kids have innumerable educational resources at their fingertips, they also are face to face with pornography and other dangerous material on the Internet.

Because my committee has jurisdiction over issues related to the Internet, one of my first legislative acts was to move a bill through my committee that would block unwanted "spam" email from flooding our homes. "Spam" essentially is unsolicited junk email - about one third of which is pornographic in nature. I want to empower parents to stop this junk mail - before it ever reaches their computer.

EDUCATING OUR KIDS

As Chairman of the Telecommunications Committee and a member of the Education Committee, I'm in a great position to look at ways to use technology to improve student performance. To do this, when I first became Chairman, I conducted the "No Child Left Offline" tour here in Southwest Michigan.

During the tour, I held a teleconference with over 500 students in Berrien and Cass counties, visited a very successful public/ private partnership in Benton Harbor and met with teachers, librarians and administrators throughout the state.

BETTERING HEALTHCARE

Technology holds tremendous promise for the future of medicine. Through "tele-medicine" technology doctors in rural areas can now consult and bring the expertise of their colleagues in some of our nation's best hospitals right into the smallest community. I plan to work on this issue, so that even the smallest, most remote towns in Michigan can reap the benefits of the best healthcare system in the world.

HIGH SPEED DATA

Recently, you may have heard a lot of talk surrounding a new technology called "Broadband." Essentially, the term "broadband" simply means super-high speed Internet access. But why is this important to us here in Southwest Michigan?

Talking to a local realtor, I learned that, today, in Southwest Michigan, the number one question weighing on the mind of a potential homebuyer is not about schools or city services, but the availability of high-speed Internet access.

In terms of economic prosperity, the Internet is similar to our highway system. The communities along our nations highways largely have prospered, while economic growth in towns away from our freeways has largely remained the same.