The internet isn’t a luxury

I’m leading 45 of my colleagues in the Senate to fight for at least $4 billion to be delivered through the E-Rate program so students receive the Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers, and internet connected devices they need to learn at home. Excluding this critical aid from a new coronavirus relief package—as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Republican lawmakers recently did—will exacerbate already substantial inequities for decades. Sixteen million of our nation’s most vulnerable children will continue to suffer. They will continue to fall behind. And it will be because Republican lawmakers don’t think their education and well-being are worth it.

An alternative approach sidesteps the Senate GOP’s intransigence. Under existing law, the Federal Communication Commission has clear authority and available funding to begin connecting students to the internet at home through the E-Rate program. The FCC does not need to wait for Congress to act. So far, it has waited. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has let disconnected students languish for months through his overly narrow interpretation of the E-Rate program. I led a group of Senators demanding that he change course. And I’ll continue to fight until Chairman Pai recognizes that internet access isn’t a luxury, but rather an urgent necessity for all students.