US Senate

Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mike Braun (R-IN), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Doug Jones (D-AL) introduced the Rural Broadband Acceleration Act, bipartisan legislation that will bolster efforts to expand access to rural broadband nationwide and speed up the distribution of the Federal Communication Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The RDOF will allocate $20.4 billion to building rural broadband in two phases and this legislation will ensure that some of that money is distributed to communities much faster than the original deadline.

After the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) recent report about the Federal Communications Commission’s inadequate strategic planning to deploy 5G mobile communications networks nationwide, Sen Michael Bennet (D-CO) wrote to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai with some concerns. Sen Bennet asked for answers to the following questions by July 31, 2020:

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), co-chair of the Senate Broadband Caucus, introduced comprehensive broadband infrastructure legislation to expand access to affordable high-speed internet for all Americans. The Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act will invest $100 billion to build high-speed broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities to close the digital divide and connect Americans to ensure they have increased access to education, health care, and business opportunities.

Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and 26 Senate Democrats introduced the Emergency Broadband Connections Act to ensure that millions of Americans can access essential broadband connections in the middle of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The legislation would provide a $50/month benefit to workers who have been laid off or furloughed during the pandemic, along with a range of other assistance to ensure families can access critical online services.

Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced a bill to ensure that millions of Americans can access essential broadband access in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Emergency Broadband Connections Act – sponsored by 26 Senate Democrats – would provide a $50/month benefit to workers who have been laid off or furloughed during the pandemic, along with a range of other assistance to ensure families can access critical online services.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and Ranking Member Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the Platform Accountability and Consumer Transparency (PACT) Act, an update to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The PACT Act will strengthen transparency in the process online platforms use to moderate content and hold those companies accountable for content that violates their own policies or is illegal.

The Schatz-Thune PACT Act creates more transparency by:

Sen Tina Smith (D-MN) led her Senate colleagues in calling on the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to speed up spending the resources allocated within COVID-19 relief legislation to expand broadband access for Minnesota families and people across the country. In her letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Sen Smith and her colleagues point out that Congress recognized the urgent need for broadband access in rural communities, and made sure the CARES Act included $100 million for the ReConnect Program. However, much of the allocated funds are still unspent.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune (R-SD)  introduced the Rural Connectivity Advancement Program (RCAP) Act of 2020, legislation that would capture a portion of the proceeds from spectrum auctions conducted by the Federal Communications Commission through September 30, 2022, for the buildout of broadband networks.

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced a bill to empower Americans to sue Big Tech companies who act in bad faith by selectively censoring political speech and hiding content created by their competitors.

Senate Subcommittee on The Constitution Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai raising concerns about Google's latest actions to censor political speech with which it disagrees.