On Capitol Hill, Senators John McCain and Frank Lautenberg have introduced the “Community Broadband Act of 2005” — the legislation aims to protect towns and cities that want to offer residents discount or free wireless access to the Internet through a municipal-run broadband system. Lautenberg said “Government should work to open doors to greater technology for the American people, not slam them shut. Our bill will protect the right of communities to offer wireless broadband access to their citizens, creating a powerful tool for education and economic development.” The bill is being introduced at a time when the concept of community wireless is under attack. Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas is pushing a law that would ban towns and cities across the country from wiring themselves for broadband.” The telecom industry has been lobbying Congress to block cities and towns from setting up their own broadband systems. Congressman Sessions is a former telecom executive whoworked at Southwestern Bell Telephone for 16 years. His wife currently works for the telecom company SBC. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, individuals and political action committees associated with SBC were the third-largest donor to Sessions in the 2003-2004 election cycle.