WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 -- The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee issued the following news release:
U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released a new investigative report examining the hidden consultant ecosystem that has developed around the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Universal Service Fund (USF) schools and libraries program, commonly known as E-Rate. The report, "The Cost of Connection: E-Rate's Hidden Consultant Ecosystem (https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/CST-Report_The-Cost-of-Connection.pdf)," details how decades of bureaucracy have fueled a lucrative consultant industry that now presents itself as a necessary step for schools and libraries seeking to o...