Bob Latta: “Before I begin, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas, the chairman of the committee, for his hard work on the bill.…”

“Before I begin, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas, the chairman of the committee, for his hard work on the bill. I appreciate it. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the precision agriculture connectivity amendment. This bipartisan amendment offered by myself and my friend from Iowa (Mr. Loebsack) recognizes the need for broadband in rural areas, especially on agricultural lands. I represent the largest farm-income-producing district in the State of Ohio. Precision agriculture technologies and practices, like the use of IoT equipment, provide a great opportunity to improve U.S. farm productivity and sustainability. However, the lack of high-speed broadband in rural areas, especially in farmlands and ranchlands, hinder the use of advanced technologies in agriculture operations. My amendment seeks to improve broadband access to farmers and ranchers by establishing a task force for reviewing the connectivity and technology needs of precision agriculture. The task force would be created primarily by the Federal Communications Commission due to their expertise in broadband. However, we also recognize the value of the United States Department of Agriculture in this discussion. Therefore, the FCC would be required to work in collaboration with the USDA on gathering broadband data and for selecting the members of the task force.…”