Expanding Rural Broadband Access

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, more than 500,000 Pennsylvanians lack access to fast and reliable internet service at their homes, often adding a layer of difficulty to students who are trying to learn, to businesspeople who are trying to engage in commerce from their homes, or to patients who are trying to connect with their physicians for telehealth visits.

As I travel throughout my district, I hear from farmers who struggle to implement precision farming due to a lack of GPS signal. When I visit schools, I hear from teachers about students who struggle to complete their homework simply because they lack access to high-speed internet in their homes.

These problems are persistent, and each contributes to the larger issue: that rural communities are suffering from a lack of access to broadband internet.

To ensure that our rural communities are not left behind, it is time for Congress to commit to building out rural broadband infrastructure as part of the agriculture and rural development appropriations.

Ensuring high-speed internet connections, whether from fiber-optic cables, wireless towers, or satellite, will ensure that students are able to learn from home, that employees are able to work from home, and that patients are able to heal from home.

We as a Congress must stand committed to rural broadband development. Protecting Our Farmland

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, right now, nearly 400,000 acres of American farmland are owned by Chinese investors.

The increasing reach of the Chinese Communist Party is incredibly alarming, as this land is being purchased near sensitive military installations and other areas critical to our national security.

It is imperative that the Biden administration gain a better understanding of these land purchases and develop programs to halt the purchase of agricultural land by those associated with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

We must ensure that the USDA is able to improve tracking of foreign land ownership and help to ensure that our communities are protected and safe from the actions of the Chinese Communist Party.

This is a national security issue, and it is time for Congress and the Biden administration to take swift and decisive action to protect our American farmland.

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