FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2005
Contact: Jeffrey Mazzella
703.535.5836
National Ad Campaign Urges FCC to Resist Cost Increase for Pre-paid Calling Cards:The ad campaign comes on the heels of Chairman Powell’s announcement earlier this week that he had circulated an order to his fellow commissioners that, if approved, would result in calling card cost increases of as much as twenty percent. According to an editorial in the Marine Corps Times, the FCC rule change “…could hit military wallets like an armor-piercing bullet.” Many of the brave men and women serving in our armed forces around the world use these calling cards to stay in touch with family, friends and loved ones back home.
“Affordable calls home are critical to keeping morale high among our fighting men and women and providing peace of mind to their loved ones here at home,” said CFIF President Jeffrey Mazzella. “In fact, this was deemed so important that the Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Congress worked together to pass legislation authorizing the DoD to provide pre-paid calling cards and other telecommunications support in the amount of $40 per month to deployed military personnel,” Mazzella continued.
“This would be a slap in the face to our military personnel and their families who have volunteered to sacrifice so much in defense of freedom,” reads a quote by CFIF included in the ad.
The full page ad (attached below) is running this week in The Washington Times, Roll Call, The Hill and CommDaily, and it will run again in the Monday, February 7 edition of Roll Call.
For more information on the ad campaign and the issue, visit www.concernedvets.org and www.cfif.org.
The Center for Individual Freedom is a nonpartisan constitutional advocacy group the fights to protect individual freedom and rights in the legal, legislative and educational arenas. The Concerned Veterans Communications Coalition is a project of the 60 Plus Association.