Press Release

A task force created by President Donald Trump developed recommendations for promoting prosperity in rural America, and one of its key recommendations is to deploy high-speed internet access to this nation’s farms, factories, forests, and small businesses in rural America.

Inexplicably, in many instances, officials under your leadership failed to respond to our last request for 9-1-1 information on fee collection and allocation. At the very least, given the importance of this information, you should have been aware of the impending failure to respond....[S]ince your states and territories have either been a self-admitted diverter of 9-1-1 fees in the past or guilty of failing to respond to a previous inquiry, it can only be assumed that your state or territory diverted 9-1-1 fees for 2016. Neither of these outcomes is appropriate or acceptable.

Each year, approximately 240 million 9-1-1 calls are answered by the calm, reassuring, and professional voices of our Nations public safety communicators. These emergency dispatchers stand ready to respond to crisis, ensuring their fellow citizens receive the life-saving assistance they need. On National 9-1-1 Telecommunicators Day, we honor the invaluable contributions made by the dedicated men and women in emergency call centers throughout our great country.

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Thursday, February 22, 2018.

To bridge America’s digital divide, we’ll have to use innovative technologies. SpaceX’s application—along with those of other satellite companies seeking licenses or access to the US market for non-geostationary satellite orbit systems—involves one such innovation. Satellite technology can help reach Americans who live in rural or hard-to-serve places where fiber optic cables and cell towers do not reach. And it can offer more competition where terrestrial Internet access is already available.

Sens Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced the bipartisan Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Act of 2018 to help close the urban-rural digital divide and expand access to broadband in rural communities.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has asked me to lead the agency’s review of the stringent requirements the FCC imposes on our nation’s broadcasters to air a certain amount of educational and informational children’s programming on a weekly basis, otherwise known as Kid Vid. I am pleased to accept his request. The Commission is currently undergoing a comprehensive proceeding to modernize our media regulations, and Kid Vid is due for such an examination within the bounds of the law.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) announced Mike Bloomquist, currently the committee’s Deputy Staff Director, will be named Staff Director effective immediately.  The committee’s previous Staff Director Ray Baum passed away Feb 9 after a years-long battle with cancer.

President Donald Trump released his legislative goals to rebuild our Nation’s crumbling infrastructure. The six principles include:

Bipartisan legislation to improve rural call completion passed the US House of Representatives and now heads to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature. The Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act will direct the Federal Communications Commission to require providers that transmit voice calls to register with the agency and establish quality standards for transmitting voice calls.