Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3293) to require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to establish an interagency strike force to ensure that certain Federal land management agencies, including the organizational units of such agencies, prioritize the review of requests for communications use authorizations, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3293, Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act. This legislation establishes an interagency strike force to help prioritize permitting reviews for deploying broadband on Federal lands.

Broadband has become an essential part of everyday life. As we have seen, we need broadband for work, to stay connected with loved ones, and even for healthcare and education. Too many Americans still lack access to broadband. Thus, Congress has provided billions of dollars to ensure that every American gets connected.

Deploying on Federal lands is a critical part of closing the digital divide. Many unserved communities are near Federal lands and thus broadband providers must traverse these lands to reach these unserved homes and businesses.

Unfortunately, deploying broadband on Federal lands can be burdensome, particularly when it comes to the permitting process. Providers have testified that this complicated process moves slowly, and they are left in the dark on the status of their applications.

As a result, unserved communities are left without the broadband they need as providers wait for agencies to approve their permits.

We need to reform the broadband permitting process. Not only do we need to streamline how we review permits, we also need to ensure that agencies that manage Federal lands prioritize these reviews. H.R. 3293, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act, will help ensure this happens.

H.R. 3293 directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to create an interagency strike force that includes the head of each Federal land management agency to ensure that they are prioritizing the review of broadband permitting applications.

In addition to holding periodic calls, the strike force will establish goals for the review of the requests and monitor and hold each agency accountable for meeting those goals. This strike force is necessary to expedite the permitting process so that every American has access to broadband.

I thank the gentleman from South Carolina's Third District (Mr. Duncan) and the gentlewoman from Minnesota's Second District (Ms. Craig) for their leadership on this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina's Third District (Mr. Duncan), the bill's sponsor.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Mr. Speaker, that was my last speaker on the bill. I am prepared to close if my friend, the gentleman from Florida, is.

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

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier on the previous bills, the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce has been moving legislation to make sure we get broadband deployed across this country. As the speakers have already mentioned, broadband is not something that is a luxury, but it is a necessity.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the legislation today, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3293, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act which was introduced by Representatives Duncan and Craig.

As this year comes to a close and with an eye towards 2025, I am excited to see real progress in the year ahead on many of the broadband deployment efforts, including in the bipartisan infrastructure law.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Federal Communications Commission laid so much important groundwork over the past 2 years, notably creating accurate and reliable broadband availability maps, so that infrastructure dollars will go to communities where they truly are needed.

In the coming year, many projects funded under the $42 billion BEAD program will begin to break ground and connect for the first time unserved and underserved communities to high-speed internet.

Communication providers are zeroing in on project areas and preparing plans at the most granular level. In the course of this work, providers will find that in many cases the most direct route to lay broadband infrastructure requires traversing lands owned and managed by the Federal Government.

In central Florida, we have a lot of Federal lands around Cape Canaveral and Avon Park Air Force Range. We have a lot of national parks in and around our area as well, so we know this well.

Earlier this Congress, the Energy and Commerce Committee heard about delays and inefficiencies in the handling of permit applications that are pending at various agencies overseeing Federal lands.

While environmental and historic preservation protections will always be of the utmost importance to me, we should strive to ensure our agencies operate as efficiently as possible to dispense with applications to deploy communications infrastructure where no additional environmental or historic preservation due diligence is required.

This bill calls on the administrator of the NTIA to establish an interagency strike force that will improve collaboration between NTIA and the agencies and departments responsible for reviewing and improving communications use authorization applications.

This will help NTIA help bring relevant parties together to identify the obstacles and inefficiencies that have slowed progress in the past and collaborate on solutions to address these barriers, ultimately expediting the deployment of broadband infrastructure to the rural and remote areas most in need.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the leadership of Representatives Duncan and Craig on this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close.

First, I thank Representative Duncan for his leadership on the committee, especially in areas of energy. We worked on a lot of issues relating to nuclear energy, which is going to be a key part of the clean energy future that we all care deeply about, so I wish him well in his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, it is simple. Once the environmental and historic preservation reviews are done, or where they are not required, we have to get these broadband dollars out the door.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3293, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act.

I thank House leadership for allowing this legislation to come to the floor. I thank my colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee on both sides of the aisle for supporting this legislation in committee and supporting it here today.

Mr. Speaker, in the 21st century, broadband internet access is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity. It connects our communities. It drives economic growth and allows our constituents to fully engage with the digital age. Yet, millions of Americans still lack access to reliable high-speed internet.

This digital divide is a barrier to opportunity, holding back businesses, hindering education, and limiting access to essential services. H.R. 3293 takes a crucial step towards bridging this divide and streamlining the process for deploying broadband infrastructure.

Currently, the review process for obtaining permits and authorizations can be lengthy and bureaucratic, causing significant delays in deployment. This bill establishes an interagency strike force to coordinate and expedite these reviews, ensuring that Federal agencies prioritize broadband expansion. Streamlining these Federal processes

will help get broadband deployed in the rural parts of America just like the Third District of South Carolina.

The benefits of H.R. 3293 are clear. Faster broadband deployment will create jobs, stimulate economic development, and improve the quality of life for countless Americans. Students will have access to online learning resources. Telehealth services will become more accessible, and rural communities will be better connected to the global economy.

H.R. 3293 is a commonsense solution that will help us achieve universal broadband access. It is a critical investment in our future, and I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3293, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act.

I thank the bipartisan sponsors for this bill in working to close the digital divide. There are over 7 million American homes and businesses that lack access to high-speed broadband, and it is often lengthy permitting processes that contribute to this digital divide.

In every industry ranging from energy to telecommunications, the permitting process gets in the way of investment and deployment and ends up hurting consumers the most.

There are so many benefits to communities having reliable internet access such as educational and job opportunities, expansion of small business operations, and simply allowing people and services to reach new populations and areas.

Mr. Speaker, this important legislation ensures that broadband deployment on Federal lands gets reviewed and prioritized in a timely manner, while also holding the relevant agencies accountable, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.