Letter

On March 9, 2020,  Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Thune (R-SD), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Fischer (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Todd Young (R-IN) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai expressing concern as to having reliable underlying coverage data used to determine funding eligibility for a 5G fund for rural America. They urged the FCC to focus on ensuring that accurate data is available — including updates to the collection of coverage data as outline in the Broadband DATA Act. 

74 senators cosigned a letter to the Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought to support radio and televisions broadcasters and local newspapers during the Coronavirus pandemic. Our radio and television broadcasters and rural newspapers provide local and national news, emergency alerts, educational programs, and more to all corners of the United States.

As the Senate considers additional measures to support small businesses around the country struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and John Boozman (R-AR) sent a letter to Senate leadership urging them to ensure any future legislation make thousands of local newspapers, TV, and radio stations around the country eligible for small business assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

On April 2, House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to reassure broadcasters that the FCC will not revoke licenses for airing legally protected speech.

The pandemic has highlighted the pressing need for high quality fixed and mobile voice and broadband services that are affordable, reliable, and robust. In the near term, there are immediate measures that the Federal Communications Commission can take to provide relief to Americans at this critical time:

In a letter to Congressional leadership, over 80 groups urged Congress to provide a low-income broadband benefit as part of the forthcoming Phase 4 COVID-19 package. The groups are seeking $2 to 3 billion per month for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency to support access to broadband that is adequate to meet the needs of multiple people sheltering-in-place while working and learning via video technology simultaneously. To ensure essential communications service, the proposal includes:

The entire Democratic Michigan delegation urged Congressional Leadership to prioritize and provide funding for essential broadband programs to ensure all Americans, especially those most in need, have access to high-speed internet in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Congress considers priorities in the next COVID-19 relief package, the Members of Congress urged the inclusion of robust funding for the following provisions/programs to ensure Americans across the country have access to high-speed internet:

On March 19, 2020, Reps Darren Soto (D-FL), Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ) wrote Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to urge his full consideration of policies that would protect Americans' access to communications services by ensuring that no one gets their cell phone, landline, or internet access disconnected during the COVID-19 national emergency.

I write to express my sincere appreciation for the extraordinary leadership you have shown on all communications policy matters, especially regarding 5G advanced wireless services, and to seek your direct assistance on an issue of great importance to our nation. I believe that only you personally, with your unique ability to cut through the bureaucratic stonewalling, can free the necessary
spectrum bands to provide our wireless providers the means to succeed.

Regarding Steven Davidoff Solomon’s “Berkeley Schools Leave Every Child Behind” (op-ed, April 3), Solomon should know that under federal law public schools (unlike his first daughter’s private school) cannot just plow ahead with a structure that excludes free access to any student, whatever the special need and without threat of serious legal challenges with financial consequences to the district and the district taxpayers.