House Commerce Committee Hearing on Economic Recovery Package

The House Commerce Committee approved portions of the economic stimulus bill moving through Congress including about $3 billion in grants to expand Internet service in rural and hard-to-serve areas over objections from several Republican members.

Open Internet access rules added to the stimulus package threaten the tentative partnership between technology and telecom companies, which have coalesced behind the bill's $6 billion funding for broadband access.

A draft of the proposed $825-billion economic stimulus bill circulating on Capitol Hill Thursday and includes $6 billion to improve the U.S. broadband infrastructure, which is lacking in many rural and mountainous areas, particularly in the West.

House Democrats yesterday presented an $825 billion stimulus package that includes more government spending and less tax relief than President-elect Barack Obama had proposed, potentially weakening support among Republicans for a plan that congressional leaders hope to pass by mid-February.