Local Task Forces on 21st Century Policing Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 600) to promote Internet access in developing countries and update foreign policy toward the Internet, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous materials in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Today, more than 60 percent of the world's population lacks access to broadband, lacks access to the Internet. That means 3 billion people have been left out of the biggest technological revolution of our time. Three billion people are being denied the benefits of the free flow of information and game-changing innovations in health, education, and commerce; and 3 billion consumers remain out of the reach of American goods and services.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by this digital gap, despite serving as the principal consumers, caregivers, educators, peacemakers, and income earners across the developing world. Bringing women online is going to deepen the benefit of existing investments in governance and global health, and it is going to accelerate economic growth.

So this bill closes that digital gap. It promotes efforts by developing countries to accelerate Internet deployment through the standardization of cost-effective, build-once policies. It partners with the private sector, and it creates a favorable investment climate.

At the same time, it reduces duplication of effort among U.S. Government agencies by demanding improved interagency coordination and collaboration with the private sector. And it calls on the State Department to consolidate the responsibilities held by three separate coordinators for cyber policy, technology, and information under a single Assistant Secretary for Cyberspace.

So let me explain something here, Mr. Speaker, if the U.S. Agency for International Development is helping

to finance the construction of a rural road in Ghana, the private sector should be invited to lay down broadband conduit before the concrete is poured, obviously. Why dig the same road twice? The bottom line is that, as this infrastructure expansion is going on right now, we have the ability to get the private sector in to lay that broadband, and that is what this bill does. It is smart economics, smart development. It advances key U.S. values. And, frankly, it is good for American industry as well.

So I thank my cosponsors--Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Eliot Engel, and Grace Meng--for their efforts on this bill, which, by the way, the predecessor bill passed unanimously last September here.

I strongly urge Members to support the Digital GAP Act here again this year so we can get it to the President's desk without delay.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to reclaim the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say, as the author of this bill, it does take a lot of work, a lot of research, to put together legislation like this. And I did want to thank Joan Condon of the staff, and I wanted to thank Jessica Kelch, certainly Margot Sullivan, and Taylor Clausen for their efforts here.

I think that as you get involved in this legislation and you see some of the lost opportunities in the past--I would just give one example. NetHope, an NGO, made a compelling case for this build-once policy that this puts in place.

It was several years ago, as they explained, and Eliot Engel and I have been out to Liberia. There was a $100 million project for a road where there is no Internet use, and there is very little across Liberia. Had the donors had the foresight to just invite the private sector to lay the fiber-optic cable under that road while it was being constructed--and, as you know, you do that at a fraction of the cost. That is when they want to lay the cable--the cost would have been 1 percent of the total investment. It would have been $1 million.

But what is the consequence of that lack of foresight?

You fast forward to 2014. I will tell you the consequences. Ebola ravaged Liberia, 10,000 people over the course of a single year; it crossed international borders, finally included the United States. There was a reason why the information did not get out, and that reason was because there was not Internet access in this region across Liberia, which was the same region where they would have put the Internet access. That is what physicians tell us.

It is not a surprise that experts agree that the lack of Internet infrastructure hampered Ebola response efforts, according to the physicians, as donors and community health centers struggled to track the disease. They could not even coordinate their efforts, for those of you who remember that struggle.

Now, all of a sudden there is renewed interest in improving the Internet architecture in Liberia, and now we find that the cost is so many, many, many multiples of what it had been had this bill been law, and that we had simply let those know in industry that that opportunity was there to lay that cable back when the road was originally being built.

So we need this build-once strategy. We have got to have smart development. We can do better. We will. And I urge the Members to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5537, the Digital Global Access Policy Act or the Digital GAP Act. I commend Chairman Royce's timely piece of legislation, which aims to facilitate greater coordination between the U.S. and foreign governments, international organizations, regional economic communities, businesses, and civil society regarding the promotion of information technology and cybersecurity in developing economies.

The focus of the critical IT sector, particularly in developing countries, is the goal of not only Chairman Royce's Digital GAP bill but also of a possible companion bill in the Senate sponsored last year by Senator Markey.

I understand that Senator Markey plans to reintroduce his bill in the Senate, and it is my hope that we can work with the Senate in support of this legislation. Both bills address the critical issue of the U.S. working with developing economies on the core issue of information technology and cybersecurity.

In many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the information technology sector has literally taken off and enabled young, innovative, and talented entrepreneurs to develop IT-related solutions to everyday problems.

Last summer, I traveled with Senator Markey and Representative Maloney to Nigeria and Senegal where we met with a number of local IT experts. What was clear from our in-depth discussions is that Internet access has quickly become a critical component of economies and economic growth throughout the developing world.

Many developing economies, which have traditionally had to navigate institutional or infrastructural impediments, are able to utilize information technology to resolve everyday problems. Case in point, telephone land lines in some developing economies are often in need of constant repair and maintenance. As a result, over the years, land lines became the preserve of the middle class and affluent sectors of capital cities.

This is no longer the case because astute entrepreneurs have found a way to circumvent this impediment by buying and/or renting out cell phones for public use. Today, in just about any country you visit in Sub-Saharan Africa, you will see countless men, women, and children using cell phones.

On our codel, our visit to Senegal included a meeting with the CEO of Wari, an 8-year-old company providing an innovative platform offering convenient service and an aggregation of products and services of various partners. Wari has over 220 million users of the platform throughout 40 countries.

We also met with the director of Millennium Connect Africa. Formerly with Hughes Satellite Systems, Mr. Diop was educated at Wharton and UCLA and worked in the U.S. for 20 years. His company is a subsidiary of Wari.

In Kenya, IT entrepreneurs have excelled in the development of a host of innovative apps. For example, a young Kenyan innovator developed an app called iCow to better enable dairy farmers to keep current with market prices.

Throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, there are many examples of IT expertise. The importance of an IT-literate population complements the ongoing push for capability training.

To the degree the U.S. Government can actively participate in this important process is to the mutual benefit of this country and a spectrum of developing countries worldwide.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of this bill.

I want to thank Chairman Ed Royce, and I am pleased to cosponsor this bill that he has introduced to make it easier for people around the world to harness the power of the Internet. This bill passed in the last Congress but didn't make it through the Senate, so I am glad we are taking it up again.

Mr. Speaker, we know the way this incredible tool has shaped the world in the last generation. The Internet can instantaneously connect people across the world from each other who a few years ago would never cross paths in a lifetime. It allows citizens and journalists living under oppressive regimes or in war zones to get information out to the world. It allows entrepreneurs in emerging markets to sell their products in global markets.

To be sure, the power of the Internet can cut both way. ISIS has proved all too adept at using social media to recruit fighters and spread its hateful message. But put to its highest purpose, the Internet can help drive economic growth and spread stability and prosperity.

Unfortunately, too few people around the world have access to this tool. Roughly 60 percent of the world's population is not online, and the growth rate of Internet access is slowing. If you live in a poor community or a rural area, sometimes just because you are a woman, it is harder to take advantage of the Internet.

We know where that lack of access is holding populations back. Three- quarters of those who are offline live in just 20 countries. If we could close that gap, think of what it might mean for all of those people struggling to make ends meet, and that is exactly what this bill aims to do.

Chairman Royce's legislation calls on the administration to ramp up efforts around the world to expand access to the Internet. It encourages the State Department, USAID, and the Peace Corps to focus on Internet access as a diplomatic and development priority. And it states clearly that expanding Internet access, especially in the developing world, is an American foreign policy priority.

So I am glad to support this measure. I thank the chairman for all his hard work.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

In closing, when we talk about the world becoming more interconnected, one of the main drivers of that trend is the Internet. Our enemies have taken advantage of this tool for destructive purposes. As we push back against that threat, our foreign policy should also help as many people as possible to use this tool in a positive way.

So this bill, again, helps move us in the right direction. I want to, again, say I am grateful to Chairman Royce for bringing it forward.

I am glad to support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as the House considers this legislation, I stand in support of expanding Internet access around the globe. In this fast growing and ever changing world, the gap between those who have and have not will be made even more dramatic for those without internet access. Internet access is a valuable commodity that helps millions of lives, and everyone should have access to it.

In the 21st century, one thing is crystal clear: Access to the internet is critical. 4.2 billion people worldwide don't have access to the internet. This includes children starting school, young women starting businesses, and communities looking for ways to compete in the global market.

Women are particularly impacted and left behind, something that shouldn't go unnoticed by this body. UNICEF reports that nearly 90% of the income women bring in is reinvested into their family, more than double what men reinvest. Women build up their communities, and we must do whatever we can to ensure they have the resources necessary to succeed.

Not only will this bill reach those women who live in the dark without web services, it will promote the rights and values that make America exceptional. The freedoms of expression and assembly are fundamental rights, and the Internet can be a critical medium for promoting democracy. A report by the McKinsey Global Institute put it best when it said ``The Internet has fundamentally empowered the consumer [. . .] It saves the consumer time and gives customers access to products.'' In this great body, I hope we continue to stand for democracy, its values, and support those who wish to stand up for their rights.