Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1343) to require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to submit to Congress a plan for the Assistant Secretary to track the acceptance, processing, and disposal of certain Form 299s, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1343, the Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act, sponsored by Representatives Pfluger and Soto.

This bill requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to develop a plan for tracking the broadband permitting application on Federal lands.

Broadband is essential to participate in everyday activities. Most Americans rely on their broadband connection for their work, healthcare, education, and more.

Congress has provided billions of dollars to close the digital divide. Indeed, NTIA is in the process of administering the BEAD Program to connect every unserved and underserved American.

Too often, broadband deployment is delayed or prevented due to unnecessary red tape in the form of burdensome permitting requirements. Federal agencies are some of the biggest culprits behind this red tape, delaying the deployment of broadband to the communities that most need it.

The process of application and approval for some of these permits has, unfortunately, become duplicative, ineffective, and time- consuming. Worse, there is no transparency in this process.

Opaque Federal permitting review processes leave applicants in the dark on whether their application is complete, where it is in the review process, and when they can expect a final decision. This uncertainty is not good for the planning of projects.

The Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act addresses these concerns by requiring NTIA to develop a plan to improve the tracking of Federal broadband permit applications. This plan would include a process to give applicants transparency into the status of their reviews, which would improve the speed and disposition of applications. This is essential to provide clarity into the Federal permitting process.

This is an important moment in time, and we must do all that we can to ensure that every American can access reliable broadband.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I thank the sponsors for their work on this bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia for her support for H.R. 1343, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1343, the Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act.

It should come as no surprise that many of the communities lacking internet access are rural, remote, and in sparsely populated areas. Bringing this critical infrastructure to them will, in many cases, require crossing large geographic areas. This is especially true in many of our Western States, where significant amounts of territory are owned and managed by the Federal Government.

In recent years, the Energy and Commerce Committee has heard testimony about inefficiencies in Federal permitting. Specifically, witnesses acknowledge difficulty accessing information about the status and progress of applications to deploy communications infrastructure on publicly owned and managed lands.

To help address these issues, H.R. 1343 requires NTIA, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, to develop and implement a plan to assist communication providers in navigating the burdens of deploying communications infrastructure on public lands.

Ultimately, this bill should lead to more robust collaboration between those responsible for reviewing permit applications for Federal lands and the communication providers that are trying to bring high- speed internet to all of our constituents.

I thank Representatives Soto and Pfluger for their leadership on this issue. This bipartisan legislation is a product of regular order, and I am pleased to see it taken up by the full House today.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, H.R. 1343, the Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.