Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has announced that he will not be seeking re-election in 2014. Serving in the Senate since 1985, Rockefeller was one of the original authors of the E-rate program.
Rockefeller, along with Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Bob Kerrey (D-NE) and James Exon (D-NE), authored the E-Rate program as part of the Telecommunication Act of 1996. E-rate has been instrumental in connecting schools and libraries to the Internet by providing discounts on certain services and products that are essential for classrooms and libraries to receive voice, video, and data communications. Since the program’s inception, over $24 billion has been disbursed to schools and libraries across the nation.
