Harris, Rosenworcel Compare Biden Broadband Push to Electrification
Vice President Kamala Harris and acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel compared the push by President Joe Biden’s administration for universal broadband connectivity to the 1936 Rural Electrification Act. Biden tasked Harris Wednesday with leading the push for the $100 billion…
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broadband spending component of the administration’s infrastructure proposal (see 2104290076). White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday “this is something that was important to [Harris], that she wanted to take on specifically.” Rural electrification “was one of the great examples of the role of responsibility of the federal government to meet the needs of the people where they are and to invest in America in a way that we will be competitive,” Harris told reporters after a Friday event in Cincinnati. “Broadband is the next example.” Regardless "of who they vote for, with which party they registered, that's what [people] want,” Harris said. “That's what they want to see their government focus on.” Lawmakers “in the 1930’s decided that instead of waiting for the electricity divide between urban and rural areas to fix itself, they would do something about it, and they passed the Rural Electrification Act,” Rosenworcel wrote Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on April 12 and published Friday. “This history is also a reminder that we can help build infrastructure and make change with the right policies in place. We did this with rural electrification, and we can do it again with bold action to connect all to broadband.” Policymakers “need to consider new policies to get 100 percent of us connected to broadband nationwide,” as the FCC opens up the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit (see 2104290085), Rosenworcel said.