Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act

Madam Speaker, today I rise in strong support of my bipartisan bill, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act. This legislation, which I am proud to lead with my colleague from Minnesota, will help streamline broadband permitting to help deliver fast, reliable internet to the communities that need it most by creating a new system for prioritizing broadband deployment requests on or across Federal land.

It is a commonsense piece of legislation that, as we have heard, directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to establish a strike force to support Federal land management agencies' review of requests to deploy broadband across and through Federal land.

My home State of Colorado is the heart of the Rocky Mountain West with more than 24 million acres of Federal land, which is about the size of Indiana. Roughly 36 percent of the total acreage of Colorado is Federal land, and it serves countless roles, from conservation and recreation to other activities. These diverse uses also mean that multiple agencies have jurisdiction over these 24 million acres from the National Park Service to the United States Forest Service to the Bureau of Land Management. These agencies often have duplicative or redundant permitting processes which can delay what should be a simple permit.

In all parts of Colorado, from the Front Range to the Western Slope, rural communities are often surrounded by Federal lands which means they face greater difficulty building out infrastructure, including broadband. These are the communities that are often left behind when it comes to critical service such as internet access and easy communication.

It is 2026. Reliable, high-speed internet should not be considered a luxury. It is a necessity. Families, students, and small businesses need to be able to easily access this important service.

As a cop for 10 years, I also know that law enforcement and public safety rely on broadband access to promptly identify and interdict threats in our communities and respond to natural disasters. Without these reliable services, public safety operations are going to be less coordinated, which causes first responders to face delays and disorganization.

By law, Federal agencies are required to grant or deny broadband applications within 270 days, but these deadlines are often missed. The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently reported that roughly half of the communications use applications submitted to BLM and the United States Forest Service from 2018 to 2022 either exceeded the 270- day deadline or didn't have enough information to reveal whether the deadline had even been met.

As a result, broadband developers report that deploying fiber in rural areas can take an average of 5 to 10 years to complete. This is completely unacceptable, and it is a complete slap in the face to rural communities that are already underserved.

I am proud to serve as a leading voice for permitting reform in this Congress, not just for broadband but for many other types of permits, such as energy generation and distribution, that rely on broadband.

Madam Speaker, this legislation is key to fixing our broken permitting process. I am proud that it is bipartisan. I am proud that it is common sense. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1681) 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.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into 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. 1681, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act, sponsored by Representatives Evans and Craig.

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. We need broadband for work, to stay connected with loved ones, and even for healthcare and education. However, 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 transverse 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 often 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 need to ensure the agencies that manage Federal lands prioritize these reviews. H.R. 1681, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act, will help ensure this happens.

H.R. 1681 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 these goals.

This strike force is necessary to expedite the permitting process so that every American has access to broadband.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Evans) to speak on the bill.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. McClellan) for her support of this important legislation. I, too, urge a ``yes'' vote on this important bill, H.R. 1681, for immediate approval.

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

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1681, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act, which was introduced by Representatives Craig and Evans.

When communications providers deploy broadband infrastructure, efficiency is critical to stretching their capital investments as far and to as many homes and businesses as possible. In the course of developing and comparing different ways to carry out a project, providers may determine that the most direct route to lay broadband infrastructure requires traversing lands owned and managed by the Federal Government.

At the Energy and Commerce Committee, we have heard testimony from witnesses and hearings about delays and inefficiencies handling permit applications that are pending at the various agencies overseeing Federal lands. While environmental and historic preservation protections will always be of paramount importance to me, we should always strive to ensure that our agencies operate as efficiently as possible.

With H.R. 1681, Congress can ensure agencies dispense with applications to deploy communications infrastructure more quickly, where no additional environmental or historic preservation due diligence is required.

This bill requires the administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, to establish an interagency strike force that will improve collaboration between NTIA and the agencies and departments responsible for reviewing and approving communications use applications.

Our intent is for NTIA to bring relevant parties together to identify obstacles and inefficiencies that have slowed progress in the past and collaborate on solutions to address these barriers going forward. This will ultimately expedite the deployment of

broadband infrastructure to the rural and remote areas that are still most in need.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 1681, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, April 20, 2026, I was unable to cast my vote due to family obligations in Indiana. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 125, Passage of H.R. 1681, and YEA on Roll Call No. 126, Passage of H.R. 5200.