US Senate
Senator Markey Leads Colleagues in Urging New FCC to Use Its Emergency Authority to Connect Students To Online Learning
Sen Ed Markey (D-MA), Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Sens Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) led 31 of their colleagues in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, urging the agency’s new leadership to take long overdue action and utilize the E-Rate Program to help close the “homework gap” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sen Klobuchar Broadband Provisions Signed Into Law as Part of Year-End Package (US Senate)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Mon, 12/28/2020 - 14:50Every Child Connected Act
Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), both members of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced the Every Child Connected Act—legislation that aims to reduce the digital divide between students with and without internet access, known as the Homework Gap. Specifically, the legislation accomplishes this goal by targeting available funding sources from Federal Trade Commission data privacy violations to provide vital connectivity to American students at home. The Every Child Connected Act would:
Sen Graham Introduces Bill to Incentivize Section 230 Reform By Sunsetting Protections on Jan 1, 2023 (US Senate)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Tue, 12/15/2020 - 17:06Emergency Assistance for Education Institutions and Connectivity
A bipartisan group of senators and representatives unveiled highlights of the $748 billion Bipartisan COVID-19 Emergency Relief Act of 2020. Provisions for broadband include:
Senator Capito Cautions FCC on RDOF Funding for Frontier
Sen Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai voicing her concerns about the ability of Frontier Communications to meet the obligations required by the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction program. This letter follows the recent announcement that nine providers won bids to cover West Virginia through the RDOF program.
Senators Urge Funding for Broadband Mapping and Securing Communications Infrastructure
In a letter the leadership of the Senate and the Senate Committee on Appropriations, senators urged full funding for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act and the Broadband DATA Act. The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (“rip and replace”) created a program to help small, rural telecommunications operators remove equipment posing a security threat to domestic networks and replace it with equipment from trusted providers. Fully funding the Broadband DATA Act would ensure more accurate broadband maps and better stewardship over the millions of dollars the federal go