Clyburn speaks to Economic Stimulus Summit

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) hosted an Economic Stimulus Summit on March 21. Much of the summit was a question and answer format on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009, of which Rep Clyburn was a co-sponsor. This consisted of Clyburn aides fielding questions and comments from the participants about procedures and access to stimulus funds in local communities. Rep Clyburn said, "We are not going to enter the twenty first century in rural South Carolina without broadband access." In Bamburg County, where he recently visited, just 55 miles from Columbia, "...I might as well throw away my cell phone and my Blackberry," he said. "Our youth won't get the education they need to be fully competitive, if we do not allow them full access to the Internet." "The Senate took out the $6 billion we had put in for broadband for rural communities, and I jumped on top of the table, when I heard that."