An open letter to President Bush and our representatives in Congress.

Congratulations on your recent successes on election day.Your elections and continued backing by the American constituency certifies you are on the right track with our internal security and anti-terrorist proposals.

However, closer to home we the people are looking to retain our dignity in employment as well as to return that self respect to those who may have recently lost their jobs within the telecommunications industries.

Mr. President, as you are well aware, in the ’40s, FDR worked passionately to help get this country out of the depression by beginning the national highway building program. The positive results of that vision remain with us today and, as anyone can attest, the employment and financial benefits of that highway system changed the face of this nation. There is no industry nor occupation that is not affected today directly or indirectly by our coast-to-coast abilities to transport items and people.

However, I ask all of you to timagine a scenario today of areas of this nation that could not realize those same benefits. Imagine an area of the nation that only had access to slow back roads trying to compete with those who do.

This situation exists today, Mr. President and congresspersons, with those of us in areas that do not have equal access to high speed services getting to the Information Superhighway! In this changing world, we all live or work on a planet that now conducts business without ever seeing the other party’s actual face or office facility.

The point, sir and congresspersons, is that the time has come for you, like FDR and the Congress of his time, to begin the massive construction of that means for all of us, especially in smaller cities and rural areas. The time has come to put people back to work digging ditches and laying cables from coast to coast to connect all of us to high speed Internet. The time has come to begin the education all of our welfare recipients in those occupations and industries that would support such a venture.

Would the price of such a project be high? I only would reply to that question with another question: Which costs more, offering the needed education, labor and supplies to all of those who need and can carry out the massive tasks involved or … build more prisons and maintain, at taxpayer expense, more prisoners because of the growing desperation for a better life?

There are many details that would have to be worked out and I pretend no expertise. However, every forest begins with a seed and, with FDR already having set the precedent, I believe the idea bears legitimacy and merits serious consideration. I hope all of you will investigate what I say. I have no doubt you will agree with me.

J. R. “Sonny” Starks

Oak Harbor