Coalition Declares Victory in Battle for Federal Community Technology Program Funding
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 2/20/2003
Calling the result a "quintessential coalition victory," Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), applauded the inclusion of continued funding for two critically important community technology programs?the Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) and the Community Technology Centers (CTC) initiative?in the fiscal year 2003 budget approved by Congress last week. Both programs had been slated for elimination in the Bush Administration's proposed budget.LCCR was at the forefront of a broad based campaign against the Administration's proposal and in support of an increased federal leadership role in bridging the digital divide. The Digital Empowerment Campaign included more than 100 national, state, and local organizations, and enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress, causing Henderson to declare at the campaign's launch, "expanding opportunity in the Digital Age is not a partisan issue, but an American issue."
In urging continued federal leadership in this area, Henderson stressed that "the battle was far from over." The Administration has called for the elimination of both programs in its FY 2004 budget
