US Senate

Since Phase I of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) concluded, it has become more expensive to deploy broadband due to rampant increases in construction materials, equipment, and labor costs. Given the challenges, RDOF winners—especially smaller providers—are facing, we appreciate your review of the following options:

We write regarding the Affordable Connectivity Program, an important tool in our efforts to close the digital divide. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided significant funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which has already enabled 18 million Americans to access the high-speed broadband services they need. However, given the current rate of enrollment, projections indicate that the funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program could be exhausted as early as the first quarter of 2024.

Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA)—as well as Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ)—reintroduced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. This bipartisan legislation would restore competition online by establishing common sense rules of the road for dominant digital platforms to prevent them from abusing their market power to hurt competition, online businesses, and consumers. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act will:

Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the No Section 230 Immunity for AI Act. This new bipartisan legislation would clarify that Section 230 immunity will not apply to claims based on generative AI, ensuring consumers have the tools they need to protect themselves from harmful content produced by the latest advancements in AI technology. For example, AI-generated “deepfakes” – lifelike false images of real individuals – are exploding in popular

Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced the bipartisan Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA) alongside Senate colleagues Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mitt Romney (R-UT). The bill would require social media companies to share more data with the public and researchers.

Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) led Sens Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) to introduce the Language-Inclusive Support and Transparency for Online Services (LISTOS) Act to improve multilingual large language models, automated decision-making systems, and content moderation practices online to better protect non-English speaking communities. The LISTOS Act requires online platforms to consistently communicate and enforce their policies across languages and transparently report on the processes used to enforce policies.

US Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) successfully pushed the Federal Communications Commission to update its National Broadband Map to more accurately reflect Nevada’s current broadband needs, which is critical for the allocation of funding for high-speed internet from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's (IIJA) $42 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. A previous, deeply flawed map misrepresented the high-speed internet coverage in Nevada and would have caused the state to lose out on potentially millions of dollars in BEAD funding.

Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Peter Welch (D-VT) and Representative Becca Balint (D-VT) announced that NEK Community Broadband (NEKCB) will receive Vermont’s first-ever United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ReConnect grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network in Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties in Vermont.