Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the American Broadband Buildout Act. This legislation would help ensure that rural Americans have access to broadband services at the speeds they need to participate fully in the benefits of our modern society and economy. I want to thank my colleague Senator Rosen for joining me in introducing this bill today. Twenty-five years ago, Americans typically accessed the internet using their home phone lines via modems, capable of downloading data at just 56 kilobits per second, too slow even to support MP3-quality streaming music. Today, the Federal Communications Commission defines broadband service as having a threshold download speed nearly 500 times faster. Many areas of our country, particularly our rural communities, simply do not have the infrastructure to achieve these speeds and fully tap into the opportunities that digital connectivity can deliver. According to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, nearly 37 percent of rural Americans lack a broadband connection compared to 25 percent of urban Americans. Similar disparities occur in terms of broadband adoption. That is the rate at which Americans subscribe to broadband service once they have access to it. The survey also found that 15 percent of rural Americans don't use the internet at home compared to just 9 percent of urban Americans.…”