Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020

Floor Speech

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Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Chair, I rise in support of my amendment to H.R. 3055.

Across the country, insufficient rural broadband access is creating a divide between those who are connected and those who are not. That is why my amendment increases funding for the USDA's ReConnect Program by $55 million, representing a 10 percent increase over last year's funding.

According to the FCC's 2019 Broadband Deployment Report, one in four rural Virginians lacks access to high-speed internet. This digital divide can lead to consequences that impact educational and economic opportunities across our rural communities. This figure is even more stark when you hear from those affected.

Earlier this year, I sent out a survey to learn more about how the lack of reliable broadband internet is directly impacting the people I serve here in the House of Representatives. I received more than 100 responses in a short amount of time from families, students, and business owners across our district. Take, for example:

Regina from Louisa, who says that the lack of consistent, reliable internet services hinders everything her family does, from receiving reliable emergency notifications to paying their bills in a timely fashion;

Jasmine from Spotsylvania takes online classes at home, but the lack of access to broadband internet has barred her from accessing assignments that she needs to complete in order to obtain her degree; and

Robyn from Amelia County, who works on her family's beef and cattle farm, says: ``When the internet is down, I can't do simple things like process payments, send liability payments, or check the radar for our guys out in the fields.''

For every Regina, Jasmine, and Robyn, there are hundreds of thousands of Americans with similar stories. To level the playing field for our rural residents, we need to make sure broadband internet is a component of our national conversation about infrastructure. That is why I believe we need to expand existing programs such as USDA's ReConnect Program.

This program allows communities to apply for Federal funding to strengthen and expand their regional broadband infrastructure, but the current scope of these programs is insufficient to meet the scale of the challenge and the demand. In the first round of ReConnect Program grant applications this year, USDA saw a nearly 3-to-1 ratio in application funding requested versus the actual amount of funding available.

My amendment would increase the funding for the USDA ReConnect Program from $550 to $605 million, and I am proud to lead this bipartisan effort to provide greater connectivity to rural America.

This extra $55 million is not the magic solution, but it demonstrates that one of our priorities here in Congress is to keep our rural communities strong; and when rural America is strong, it makes our country as a whole even stronger.

By helping our rural neighbors close the broadband gap, we are allowing the rural communities to attract new businesses, spur economic growth, and give their kids an equal opportunity to succeed in a global, hyperconnected economy.

Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop).

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Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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