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Political Organizations
plug” on the program. 111 In exchanges with Kennard throughout June,
Dingell stated his support in principle for E-Rate, but objected to FCC’s
stewardship of the program and threatened new legislation to redirect
the agency. 112 In what was likely a reply to the June 4 letters, President
Clinton praised the E-Rate program in a commencement speech the
next day at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Nonetheless, with
members of Congress distancing themselves from a policy that had un-
expectedly transmuted into a tax issue, E-Rate was in jeopardy. Though
the average surcharge would be well under a dollar per month, citi-
zens were reminded of the “tax” every month on their phone bill, and
an industry with substantial resources was working to remind them of
the cost.
In 1994, a group of education lobbyists had formed a coordinating
coalition called EdLiNC, for Education and Library Networks Coalition.
The group included representatives of the American Association of
SchoolAdministrators,theNationalAssociationofIndependentSchools,
the National Catholic Educational Association, the National Educa-
tion Association, the National School Boards Association, and the U.S.
Catholic Conference. Between 1994 and 1996, representatives had met
about twice a month to share information on policy activities. They ope-
rated loosely, without a regular chair, staff, or operating funds. The main
functionoftheEdLiNCmeetings,accordingtoonemember,wastomove
information from the groups to Congress, and from the groups’ leaders
to their members. When the Telecommunications Act passed in 1996,
EdLiNC representatives had stepped up the intensity of their interaction
by advocating for the E-Rate program. Representatives met weekly, and
increasingly relied on electronic mail distribution systems to speed the
flow of information. 113
By spring of 1998, with the new E-Rate program in jeopardy, some
of the organizations represented in the EdLiNC meetings decided to at-
tempt an alternative form of advocacy focused on grassroots strategies.
EdLiNC lobbyists had worked throughout 1997 and 1998, submitting
legal filings to the FCC and meeting with members of Congress and the

111
LetterfromRepresentativeJohnDingelltotheHonorableWilliamE.Kennard,Chair-
man, Federal Communications Commission, June 4, 1998, http://www.house.gov/
commerce democrats/comdem/press/105ltr75.htm.
112
House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Statement of Congressman John
D. Dingell, Ranking Democrat, House Commerce Committee on the Federal
Communications Commission “e-rate,” June 12, 1998, http://www.house.gov/
commerce democrats/comdem/press/105nr24.htm.
113
Hula, Lobbying Together.
156