ACCESS BROADBAND Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1328) to establish the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1328, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 1328, the Advancing Critical Connectivity Expands Service, Small Business Resources, Opportunities, Access, and Data Based on Assessed Need and Demand Act, or the ACCESS BROADBAND Act.

Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank my good friend, Representative Brooks, for partnering with me on this legislation. I also thank the bipartisan group of Members who have cosponsored and supported this legislation, including the many members of the Energy and Commerce Committee who agree that these simple steps can make a big difference for the local communities that our Federal broadband programs are meant for.

Let me be clear: This bill is about serving the people. While a number of valuable Federal broadband initiatives exist, they are siloed in different agencies and are not often coordinated with one another. As a result, the process for local community and business leaders can be confusing.

H.R. 1328, the ACCESS BROADBAND Act, would establish a coordinating office for Federal broadband resources by creating an Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration at the Department of Commerce.

Helping these constituents gain access to broadband internet in the capital region is one of the reasons I sought to join the Energy and Commerce Committee and why I have worked to advance this legislation.

Access to high-speed broadband internet service is increasingly essential. Today, people rely on baseline internet access for banking, to find a job, to do their homework, to communicate with their doctor or other healthcare provider, to communicate with their loved ones, to petition their government, and so much more. Yet, many Americans still do not have reliable high-speed internet service at home.

While a number of valuable Federal broadband initiatives exist, they are siloed in different agencies and are not often coordinated with one another. As a result, the process for local community and business leaders can be confusing.

H.R. 1328, the Advancing Critical Connectivity Expands Service, Small Business Resources, Opportunities, Access, and Data Based on Assessed Need and Demand Act, or ACCESS BROADBAND Act, would establish a coordinating office.

This new office would hold regional workshops to share best practices and strategies for supporting local business and community leaders interested in expanding broadband access and its adoption.

Our bill would also direct the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth to consult with any agency offering Federal broadband support to streamline the application process and, to the greatest extent practicable, to create one universal application regardless of which Federal agency or office is involved.

Most importantly, this new office, Mr. Speaker, will be charged with coordinating broadband support provided by all of our Federal agencies that are working to solve this problem, including support offered at the Federal Communications Commission and the Rural

Utility Service at the Department of Agriculture.

Furthermore, the bill clarifies that nothing in this act would alter or amend any provision of the section of law that authorizes the FCC's Universal Service Fund.

H.R. 1328 is an important bill that would indeed help speed up broadband deployment to unserved and underserved areas and promote broadband adoption.

There is still much more work to be done on this issue, and I do hope that this can serve as a starting place for us to open doors of opportunity and access to millions of Americans by investing in broadband expansion.

Mr. Speaker, I thank all the Members and staff working together on ACCESS BROADBAND to help ensure that our communities can access the broadband resources that they need to grow and prosper.

The ACCESS BROADBAND Act is a bipartisan, commonsense bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, again, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1328. It underscores the very relevance and importance of broadband in today's society. It speaks to fairness for all communities, certainly for all households, businesses, and the like. It is a way for us to offer a greater partnership with government, more effective governance, with this given phenomenon of technology. I encourage my colleagues to support that.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1328, the ACCESS BROADBAND Act. I would also like to take this time to thank my colleague, Representative Tonko, for asking me to partner on this very important bill. I thank him and his team for this work.

Why is this bill so important? To put it simply, people in every State of our country, including Indiana, need better access to the internet.

This is no surprise to us. Every time I am home, back in the Fifth District, Hoosiers, particularly from rural areas, tell me they are afraid of being left behind in the 21st century economy because we continue to be more and more reliant on technology.

I have spoken to many members of the Indiana Farm Bureau who have voiced their continued concerns with the level of connectivity in Indiana and, as we have learned, throughout the country. They cannot wait and hope for new technology to fix their connectivity problems that have existed for years.

Additionally, today, more and more schools require homework to be submitted electronically, tests are taken online, and class notes are posted on school websites. When students can't access the internet, they often have to travel to a library daily in order to just keep up with their studies, or they risk falling behind in their classes.

We can't forget about the impact the internet has had on businesses of all sizes, especially small businesses. This week is National Small Business Week, so small businesses from across the country are meeting with Members of Congress or their staff about the obstacles they face as they work to grow their businesses.

Each year, these advocates highlight the need for the Federal Government to better support their efforts. A significant part of that equation is working to ensure better and faster access to the internet, no matter where their business is located or no matter how large or small it is.

When small businesses don't have broadband internet access, their communities suffer, and they miss opportunities to create new jobs, drive innovation, and increase our country's global competitiveness.

For all these reasons and more, we must do more to support our communities in an age where internet connectivity is crucial to success.

Indiana has recognized this critical need and has made a commitment to invest $100 million in supporting broadband access across the State for underserved areas. This Next Level Connections program is exactly the kind of idea that the ACCESS BROADBAND Act will help support. By making Federal resources easier to access, Indiana will be better able to support its own internet access efforts.

The ACCESS BROADBAND Act is an important step toward eliminating broadband access difficulties. This bill will require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to create an office to coordinate all the various Federal efforts that support broadband deployment and access. This office will perform outreach to communities in every corner of our country to inform them how they can best support internet access development. It will also require the office to standardize applications for financial assistance or grants and work to create a single application for all Federal broadband support programs.

This bill is about bringing the benefits of broadband communications into the lives of our constituents. I am glad Congress is acting on a solution to help address this problem faced not only by Hoosiers but Americans all across the country.

I thank the gentleman from New York, Representative Tonko, once again for allowing me to partner with him on this important legislation. I look forward to working with him in the future on similar issues to ensure that our country and our constituents are wired and ready to compete.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues in the House to support this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on Wednesday, I voted against H.R. 1644 because it could open Internet Service Providers (ISP's) in rural areas to burdensome regulations that stifle innovation and slow the deployment of efficient and reliable broadband internet service. I would like to take this opportunity to discuss my vote.

A free and open internet is critically important, but heavy-handed regulation is not the only way to achieve net neutrality. I support the important concepts of no blocking, no throttling, and no paid prioritization and have cosponsored legislation to support this including: The Promoting Internet Freedom and Innovation Act of 2019 (H.R. 1096), the Open Internet Act of 2019 (H.R. 1006), and ACCESS BROADBAND Act (H.R. 1328.)

Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, designating broadband as a Title I Information Service and subjecting it to a ``light touch'' regulatory system. As a result, the internet transformed into one of the most important drivers of economic growth and job creation.

In 2015, the Obama Administration's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reclassified the internet as a Title II Telecommunications Service, implementing heavy regulations and reporting requirements originally intended for rotary landline phones. This action led to a $3.6 billion decline in broadband investment; the first period of declining investment in the internet era. In 2017, the Trump FCC reversed the order to return the internet to its original light touch framework.

H.R. 1644 would bring back the heavy-handed regulation and government control of the internet. The measure would lock in approximately 700 unpublished rules that have not been shared with Members of Congress, some of which would allow the FCC to set rates, impose new taxes, approve the deployment of new technologies, and dictate how internet companies interact with their customers. The internet has thrived without government intervention and should continue to do so.

Most importantly, I have heard from many small internet service providers in West Virginia that the reclassification forced them to comply with extensive rules. These rules require them to write new policies, take money, and employee time to complete verifications on prioritization that they were not capable of engaging in to begin with. This bureaucracy is not only incredibly burdensome to small businesses, but it drives vital resources away from the deployment of broadband internet service in rural areas that need it most.

Lacking broadband service is more than an inconvenience, it is a barrier to education, connectivity, and economic growth. It is my hope that we can arrive at a permanent bipartisan solution that protects consumers, encourages innovation, and preserves an open internet. Unfortunately, this bill does not accomplish that.

I am hopeful that we can come to a bipartisan solution in good faith. The state of West Virginia is blessed with beautiful mountains and heavily forested land. However, the geography that makes our state so special also poses unique challenges in deploying internet technology.