Remarks of Chairman Pai at Fourth Meeting of Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee

Today happens to be the one-year anniversary of the President appointing me the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. That marker meshes well with today’s proceedings, for a couple of reasons. First, the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee’s (BDAC) work is critical to my top policy priority as FCC Chairman—closing the digital divide. A second reason why this one-year anniversary means something is that the BDAC reflects a core tenet of my policymaking approach: that the decisions we make inside this building must reflect input and fresh ideas from outside these walls. The telecom policy expertise that resides at the Commission is truly world-class. But the FCC doesn’t have a monopoly on good ideas. Far from it. That’s why, ever since I joined the Commission in 2012, I’ve made it a priority to get out of Washington whenever possible to meet with innovators, entrepreneurs, state, local, and Tribal government officials, and consumers to learn first-hand from their experiences.

Working together, we can help close the digital divide and extend digital opportunity to every American. And when we do, that rich legacy will be partly yours to claim.