That the national unemployment rate remains at 9.1 percent has caused worry about the health of America's economic recovery. With Missouri's unemployment rate at 8.8 percent, there is little proof that the Show-Me State's economy is improving.

Instead of encouraging businesses to expand and add jobs, the Obama administration continues to create potholes on the road to recovery. A clear example is found in the actions of the Federal Communications Commission.

Just days before Christmas last year, the FCC issued its net neutrality rules that several experts, including the FCC commissioner, claim will harm industry and innovation. The result? A policy that threatens an industry that consistently has added jobs and investment to America's economy.

Even in the recession, the telecommunications industry invested more than half a trillion dollars into wired and wireless infrastructure. One study states that the investment in the broadband sector by the telecommunications industry created more than 434,000 jobs.

Missouri's struggling economy will be hard hit by a loss of telecommunications investment and employment. A recent TechAmerica Cyberstates Report found that more than 96,000 Missourians work in the high-tech and telecommunications industries - the very sectors that net neutrality will threaten.

Net neutrality rules and other burdensome federal regulations have created an uncertain environment that slows the steady stream of capital expenditures and reverses the gains that have been realized in this sector despite economic hardship.

If you want Washington to pursue economic recovery, encourage Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., to vote against funding net neutrality.

Stephen DeMaura * Alexandria, Va.
President, Americans for Job Security