[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
BUILDING OPPORTUNITY IN RURAL AMERICA THROUGH AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE, AND
HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMODITY EXCHANGES, ENERGY, AND CREDIT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JULY 11, 2019
__________
Serial No. 116-15
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Printed for the use of the Committee on Agriculture
agriculture.house.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
37-193 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019
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COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota, Chairman
DAVID SCOTT, Georgia K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas, Ranking
JIM COSTA, California Minority Member
MARCIA L. FUDGE, Ohio GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
JAMES P. McGOVERN, Massachusetts AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia
FILEMON VELA, Texas ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD,
STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands Arkansas
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
Vice Chair VICKY HARTZLER, Missouri
ABIGAIL DAVIS SPANBERGER, Virginia DOUG LaMALFA, California
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois
ANTONIO DELGADO, New York TED S. YOHO, Florida
TJ COX, California RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota MIKE BOST, Illinois
ANTHONY BRINDISI, New York DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina
JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana
JOSH HARDER, California TRENT KELLY, Mississippi
KIM SCHRIER, Washington JAMES COMER, Kentucky
CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas
CHERI BUSTOS, Illinois DON BACON, Nebraska
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California DUSTY JOHNSON, South Dakota
AL LAWSON, Jr., Florida JAMES R. BAIRD, Indiana
TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona JIM HAGEDORN, Minnesota
JIMMY PANETTA, California
ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona
CYNTHIA AXNE, Iowa
______
Anne Simmons, Staff Director
Matthew S. Schertz, Minority Staff Director
______
Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit
DAVID SCOTT, Georgia, Chairman
JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia, Ranking
FILEMON VELA, Texas Minority Member
STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD,
ABIGAIL DAVIS SPANBERGER, Virginia Arkansas
ANTONIO DELGADO, New York MIKE BOST, Illinois
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas
ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
CYNTHIA AXNE, Iowa DUSTY JOHNSON, South Dakota
JAMES R. BAIRD, Indiana
Ashley Smith, Subcommittee Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Conaway, Hon. K. Michael, a Representative in Congress from
Texas, opening statement....................................... 5
Kirkpatrick, Hon. Ann, a Representative in Congress from Arizona,
submitted letter; on behalf of James D. Ogsbury, Executive
Director, Western Governors' Association....................... 63
Scott, Hon. Austin, a Representative in Congress from Georgia,
opening statement.............................................. 3
Scott, Hon. David, a Representative in Congress from Georgia,
opening statement.............................................. 1
Prepared statement........................................... 3
Witnesses
Hengel, David, Executive Director, Greater Bemidji, Inc.,
Bemidji, MN.................................................... 8
Prepared statement........................................... 10
Mollgaard, Neela, Executive Director, Red Wing Ignite, Red Wing,
MN............................................................. 14
Prepared statement........................................... 16
Submitted question........................................... 70
Hess, M.D., David C., Dean, Executive Vice President of Medical
Affairs and Integration, Presidential Distinguished Chair, and
Professor of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta
University, Augusta, GA........................................ 19
Prepared statement........................................... 21
Watahomigie-Corliss, Hon. Ophelia, Councilwoman, Havasupai Tribe,
Supai, AZ...................................................... 27
Prepared statement........................................... 29
Hurst, C. Blake, President, Missouri Farm Bureau Federation;
Board Member, American Farm Bureau Federation, Tarkio, MO...... 33
Prepared statement........................................... 34
Submitted questions.......................................... 71
BUILDING OPPORTUNITY IN RURAL AMERICA THROUGH AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE, AND
HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND
----------
THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2019
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit,
Committee on Agriculture,
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m., in
Room 1300 of the Longworth House Office Building, Hon. David
Scott of Georgia [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Members present: Representatives David Scott of Georgia,
Van Drew, Vela, Spanberger, Delgado, Craig, Kirkpatrick, Axne,
O'Halleran, Austin Scott of Georgia, Crawford, Rouzer,
Marshall, Johnson, Baird, Hartzler, Allen, and Conaway (ex
officio).
Staff present: Carlton Bridgeforth, Emily German, Matt
MacKenzie, Isabel Rosa, Ashley Smith, Paul Balzano, Patricia
Straughn, Dana Sandman, and Jennifer Yezak.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID SCOTT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM GEORGIA
The Chairman. This hearing of the Subcommittee on Commodity
Exchanges, Energy, and Credit entitled, Building Opportunities
in Rural America through Affordable, Reliable, and High-Speed
Broadband, will come to order.
Good morning, and welcome to today's hearing on broadband
Internet connectivity and the great opportunities it presents
for our rural communities. This is an extraordinarily important
and very timely and very necessary hearing, and this issue is
an important one because it lets us shine light on those rural
areas that have seen what broadband investment can do, and are
thriving because of their access to broadband. Rural broadband
is a prime example of how government investments, coupled with
private innovation, can create a ripple of success and increase
the quality of life for Americans in our rural communities.
We are going to hear today from a cross-section of very
knowledgeable people who have worked hard to increase access to
and success in healthcare, agriculture, local communities,
education, and small businesses. We are going to hear from them
on their successes in leveraging broadband connectivity to
enhance the services they provide to our communities. And it is
my hope that through these stories, their reports to us this
morning, that we can have a conversation, a meaningful,
productive, beneficial conversation for our rural communities
about those steps that we still need to take, because there are
many, many rural communities that are crying out for our help
and for broadband.
In my home State of Georgia, for instance, we have lost
seven rural hospitals since 2010. I want to repeat that so you
see it: 2010, just 9 years ago, and we have lost seven rural
hospitals. And this is third most in our nation. There are so
many of our states who are suffering an impact with the loss of
hospitals and the absence of those hospitals and broadband
access, in many cases, means this. It means the ability to
access telehealth, which \1/4\ of rural adults say that they
have used.
Let's go to the field of education. The gap between rural
and urban adults with a college degree continues to widen.
Broadband connectivity opens up a range of possibilities for
online continuing education and degree completion at an
increasing range of schools, including comprehensive state
universities, and our land-grant colleges and universities, as
well as regional schools with more specialized programs.
Our farmers, for example, continue to use broadband to
expand their toolbox and their knowledge base to make the most
of their precision agricultural applications. And small
businesses, they can leverage broadband to access a world's
worth of consumers outside their own communities. But, not if
we do not make and expand this investment. Our Subcommittee
Members here are committed to making sure that we expand this
investment.
Now, I wanted to have this hearing so that we can see what
is being done well. What of those successes can be done in
other communities and also, what work remains for us to do? And
I also know that the Federal Communications Commission Chairman
Pai plans on releasing an order, very soon, for requiring
increased reporting in an effort to improve the current failing
broadband map system.
It is very important that rural America weigh in on these
policy changes at the FCC, and here in the halls of Congress,
as we continue to talk about proposals to rebuild our crumbling
infrastructure. This is the key that will open the door when
Congress moves and puts forward the rebuilding of our crumbling
infrastructure program. And we can't wait for that to start.
I know that all of us on this Subcommittee agree, both
Democrats and Republicans, that it is essential that rural
broadband is an integral part of any infrastructure package,
and we are going to make sure that rural broadband is a major
centerpiece of our rebuilding of our infrastructure package.
I am eager, as all of us are, to hear from our witnesses
and how they tackled the challenges in rural America to give
communities the access and tools they need to thrive through
our broadband technology. We have to work together to make sure
that our policies encourage growth and success in our rural
communities nationwide.
[The prepared statement of Mr. David Scott of Georgia
follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. David Scott, a Representative in Congress
from Georgia
Good morning, and welcome to today's hearing of the Subcommittee on
Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit on broadband Internet
connectivity and the opportunities it presents for our rural
communities.
This issue is an important and timely one because it lets us shine
light on those rural areas that have seen what broadband investment can
do and are thriving because of their access to broadband.
Rural broadband is a prime example of how government investments
coupled with private innovation can create a ripple of success and
increase the quality of life for Americans in rural communities.
We're going to hear today from a cross-section of people who have
worked to increase access to and success in healthcare, agriculture,
local communities, education, and small business, on their successes in
leveraging broadband connectivity to enhance the services they provide
to their communities.
And it's my hope that through those stories we can have a
conversation about those steps we still need to take, because there are
many.
In my home State of Georgia, we've lost seven rural hospitals since
2010, which is third most in the nation. In the absence of those
hospitals, broadband access in many cases means the ability to access
telehealth, which \1/4\ of rural adults say they've used.
Within the field of education, the gap between rural and urban
adults with a college degree continues to widen. Broadband connectivity
opens up a range of possibilities for online continuing education and
degree completion at an increasing range of schools including
comprehensive state universities and our land-grant colleges and
universities, as well as regional schools with more specialized
programs.
Our farmers continue to use broadband to expand their toolbox and
knowledge base to make the most of their precision agriculture
applications, and small businesses can leverage broadband to access a
world's worth of consumers outside their own communities, but not if we
do not make and expand this investment.
I wanted to have this hearing so that we can see what's being done
well, what of those successes can be done in other communities and what
work remains. I also know that Federal Communications Commission
Chairman Pai plans on releasing an order very soon requiring increased
reporting in an effort to improve the current failing broadband map
system. It is very important that rural America weigh in on these
policy changes at the FCC and here in the halls of Congress as we
continue to talk about proposals to rebuild our crumbling
infrastructure. I know that all of us on this Subcommittee agree, both
Democrats and Republicans that it is essential that rural broadband is
an integral part of any infrastructure package.
I am eager to hear from our witnesses and how they tackled
challenges in rural America to give communities the access and tools
they need to thrive through broadband technology. We have to work
together to make sure our policies encourage growth and success in our
rural communities nationwide.
Now I'd like to recognize the Ranking Member Austin Scott of
Georgia for any opening comments he would like to make.
The Chairman. And now, in the consultation with our Ranking
Member and pursuant to Rule XI(e), I want to make Members of
the Subcommittee aware that other Members of the full Committee
may join us today.
And now, it gives me great pleasure to recognize my
distinguished Ranking Member, Mr. Austin Scott, whom I refer to
affectionately as my cousin Scott, for his opening statement.
Mr. Scott?
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. AUSTIN SCOTT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM GEORGIA
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. Thank you, Chairman Scott. We
have been good friends for a long time, 23, 24 years, somewhere
in there.
This is an important hearing on a subject that resonates
with all Americans, specifically it resonates with me and my
wife and my children. We live 15 miles north of high-speed
Internet access, and we live 15 miles south of high-speed
Internet access. And there are many times in our life where the
fastest access that we have is through connecting to our
iPhone. It is extremely important to us and to the industries
that try to operate in areas like those that I live in with my
family.
I want to thank our distinguished witnesses that are here
today to discuss how affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband
can bring our communities into the 21st century.
For more than 24 million Americans who live in rural
communities, as I do, that do not have broadband Internet
access and lack the infrastructure for reliable and affordable
connection, as we will hear from our witnesses today, having
reliable, affordable broadband is not about having modern
conveniences. That is certainly important for us, but for most
Americans, broadband access is about access to information,
options, choices, and quite honestly, it is virtually
impossible to run a business without it today.
Whole conversations happen entirely online, and the only
participants are those who have broadband access. Information
of all forms is created, shared, and consumed entirely through
a broadband Internet connection, and much of the machinery
today is dependent upon these Internet connections to function.
It enables new tools that can't be replicated in any other way,
shape, or form. Big data and artificial intelligence, cloud
storage and computing, the Internet of Things and data
analytics, telemedicine--something else that is extremely
important to those of us in the rural parts of the country--and
other modern tools simply cannot be replicated without
broadband access.
Broadband access has become a dividing line between those
24 million rural Americans and the modern broadband-dependent
information services most urban and suburban Americans take for
granted. It is not just rural Americans who suffer from this
divide, though. Suburban and urban Americans are equally cut
off from the voices and talents and ideas of their rural
neighbors.
So, for me, all options are on the table when it comes to
providing our rural communities with the technological
resources they need to grow and thrive. This includes
strengthening effective programs that are already in place at
the USDA and FCC, advocating for robust broadband support in an
infrastructure package, and even encouraging innovative
technologies like TV white spaces.
This Committee did great work last Congress in the 2018
Farm Bill to ensure that the USDA has the tools it needs to
bridge the digital divide in rural America. Included were two
amendments which originated in our office that I am very happy
to have the support of this Committee that addressed the
accountability measures and expanded our U.S. loans and grants
to the middle mile infrastructure projects.
Now, some might say quality broadband infrastructure
investments will connect rural America to the rest of the
world. I would suggest that it connects the rest of the world
to the benefits of rural America. By bridging this digital
divide, it will enable access to a wealth of economic
opportunities for all parts of America, and it is in
everybody's best interest.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Scott.
And now, I recognize our distinguished Ranking Member of
the full Committee, Mike Conaway, for any opening statements he
would like to make.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM TEXAS
Mr. Conaway. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate
your kindness and forbearance. Thank you for scheduling this
hearing. It is an important topic, one that has been on the top
of the minds of most Members for a long, long time. As the
Ranking Member noted in his opening statement, broadband access
is not about convenience. It is about being able to participate
in modern life and the economy, which is rapidly moving onto
the Internet.
For those who lack access, their lives are fundamentally
different than those who do have access. As Ms. Mollgaard noted
in her written testimony, broadband is a platform, a generic
technology that is powerful because it enables the creation of
other tools and technologies.
The importance of broadband is one of the many reasons that
I am so proud of the farm bill we passed last December. We
worked together across the aisle and across the Capitol to take
the best ideas for how to build broadband infrastructure into
our rural communities. We not only provided a new grant program
to build broadband where it is needed, but also new
requirements to build what is needed for the long haul. The
forward-looking standards that we passed will make sure that
new broadband projects provide high quality Internet service
for long into the future.
Because of the 2018 Farm Bill, USDA has the ability to
better target its limited resources to the rural communities
most in need. By prioritizing projects, incentivizing
investments in more rural territories, and requiring better
assessments for proposed service territories, we will be able
to help our most rural and least equipped communities while
protecting taxpayers.
And finally, we also worked closely with the Energy and
Commerce Committee to strengthen the cooperation between the
USDA, FCC, and the Department of Commerce. One important
product of this cooperation will be a comprehensive report on
the long-term connectivity needs of rural communities, and the
technology available to meet those needs.
The 2018 Farm Bill broadband provisions represent a real
success story that the Members of this Committee should be
rightly proud of, but that success will be for naught if our
appropriators--folks with the money--don't actually appropriate
the funds that we authorized under our bill. I am hopeful that
before the ink is dry on the 2020 appropriations package that
it includes robust funding for the programs we worked so hard
on.
Let me also add my thanks to our witnesses for their
diligence, preparation, and travel to be with us today. I look
forward to your testimony.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this hearing and
building out a record of how important broadband is for our
constituents. I look forward to working with you and Chairman
Peterson, Ranking Member Scott, and the rest of the Committee
in advancing this good work.
With that, I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you, Ranking Member Conaway.
Now the chair would request that other Members submit their
opening statements for the record so the witnesses may begin
their testimony, and to ensure that there is ample time for
questions.
Now, I know that Chairman Peterson wanted to introduce our
first witness, but as he is stuck in the Veterans' Committee's
markup, I am happy to introduce our first witness for him, and
that would be Mr. David Hengel. Mr. Hengel is Executive
Director of the Greater Bemidji an economic development
organization in Bemidji, Minnesota. Good to have you, sir.
Thank you for coming.
And now, I would like to turn to Ms. Craig? Is Ms. Craig
here?
Ms. Craig. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Oh, I thought so.
Now I would like to recognize the gentlewoman from
Minnesota, Ms. Craig, to make an introduction of our second
witness.
Ms. Craig. Excellent. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
It is my great pleasure to introduce Neela Mollgaard from
Red Wing, Minnesota, here with us this morning. She is the
Executive Director of Red Wing Ignite, which is an incubator
for students, tech entrepreneurs, and local businesses.
As the Executive Director of Red Wing Ignite, Neela
harnesses the power of broadband connectivity and new
technologies to create educational opportunities and foster
innovation in our region. Prior to joining Red Wing Ignite,
Neela led and helped create Red Wing's Care Clinic, a free
medical clinic serving uninsured and low-income residents of
Goodhue County, Minnesota. Neela has a long track record of
leadership, serving our community on numerous charitable
organization boards and committees. She played a pivotal role
in forming Minnesota's broadband infrastructure priorities as a
member of the Governor's Broadband Task Force. She is a
graduate of the University of West Virginia's School of
Medicine where she received a Master of Science in Community
Health, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she
received a Bachelor of Science in Consumer Affairs in Business.
Neela, it is an honor to have you here with us today.
The Chairman. Our third witness hails from my beloved State
of Georgia, and now I recognize the gentleman from Georgia, Mr.
Allen, for the introduction.
Mr. Allen. Thank you, Chairman Scott, for this opportunity
to introduce Dr. David Hess here today. I congratulate this
Committee on having this hearing, which is critical to
survival, really, of rural America.
Dr. Hess serves as the Dean and Executive Vice President of
Medical Affairs Integration as well as the Presidential
Distinguished Chair of Neurology at the Medical College for
Georgia at Augusta University, located in my hometown of
Augusta, and the 12th District of Georgia.
A graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the University
of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Hess is board-certified in
internal medicine, neurology, and vascular neurology. Along
with his passion for teaching, Dr. Hess's major area of
interest is stroke and treatment for stroke and dementia. With
over 185 reviewed publications, Dr. Hess has been involved in
basic, pre-clinical, and clinical stroke research. He played a
major role in developing the REACH Telestroke Network at
Augusta University, which you will hear more about in his
testimony today. This well-recognized telemedicine service now
serves over 30 hospitals in rural Georgia. Additionally, Dr.
Hess cofounded a telestroke company known as the REACH Health
Incorporated, and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors
from 2008 to 2018. Throughout his career, Dr. Hess has won many
distinguished teaching awards and has been named to America's
Top Doctors and Best Doctors in America every year since 2000.
As my colleagues know, Augusta is well-known for his
contribution to the great game of golf, and as you will see
witnessed by the ties that Dr. Hess and I are wearing today,
that we honor that tradition. But I will tell you this. Augusta
is known through the efforts of Dr. Hess and his colleagues as
the cutting-edge, high-tech medical center of this nation.
Dr. Hess, thank you for being here today to share your
testimony with my colleagues and for all the work you do for
Augusta University in Georgia and this nation.
And with that, sir, I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Allen.
And now, I recognize the gentleman from Arizona, Mr.
O'Halleran, to introduce our fourth witness.
Mr. O'Halleran. Thank you, Chairman Scott and Ranking
Member Scott, for having this meeting today.
It is my great pleasure to introduce Councilwoman Ophelia
Watahomigie-Corliss of the Havasupai Tribe.
Just a brief little thing, if you ever want to go someplace
beautiful, go down to the Havasupai Tribe. You can't get down
there by car. You have to take a helicopter or hike down, but
it is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
It is my honor to represent the Havasupai Tribe and to work
in partnership with the Tribe to bring access to what I believe
is the most remote community in the lower 48 states.
I have been working with the Tribe to improve Internet
access by assisting the Tribe to obtain a permanent educational
broadband service license from the FCC, which has improved
access to the Internet. I look forward to hearing more about
how Internet access has improved access to information for
members of the Tribe.
I also want to follow up on Ranking Member Scott's comment
about introducing the rest of the world to rural America. They
better get introduced, because without rural America and the
people in rural America that we have to have there, urban areas
wouldn't exist.
I welcome the Councilwoman here today. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. O'Halleran.
Next, I will recognize the gentlewoman from Missouri, Mrs.
Hartzler.
Mrs. Hartzler. Yes.
The Chairman. Sorry, excuse me. Please introduce our final
witness, please.
Mrs. Hartzler. Thank you, Chairman Scott and Ranking Member
Scott, for holding this hearing and allowing me to be part of
this Subcommittee hearing today. I am not a part of this
Subcommittee normally, but what an important topic. It is so
important to Missouri, and I am so proud to introduce our next
guest.
We have Mr. Blake Hurst that I have known for many years,
but he is certainly a champion of agriculture in Missouri. He
is President of the Missouri Farm Bureau, where he has been a
leader for years, as well as other agricultural organizations
in the state. But Blake knows what he speaks. He is a lifelong
farmer. He and his family raise corn, soybeans, and they also
have a greenhouse operation where they raise flowers.
Besides being involved in organizations, he is also a very
talented and prolific writer, which takes the message of rural
America to such publications as The Wall Street Journal,
Reader's Digest, Today's Farmer, among others, and he has been
very involved in leading efforts in Missouri, dealing with
broadband development, as well as in the nation. He was part of
a working group on a nationwide basis a few years ago, one of
only two members from the American Farm Bureau representatives
to help look at connectivity and data, and other issues that
are important to precision farming.
We are very proud that you are here today, and have the
opportunity to share your expertise with us, and we appreciate
all that you do for agriculture and look forward to hearing
your testimony. Welcome to our Subcommittee, and thank you, Mr.
Chairman and Ranking Member, for allowing me the privilege of
introducing such a fine individual to you today.
The Chairman. Well, thank you very much. And certainly, I
want to say, Mr. Hurst, to please give this Committee's warmest
regards to your President, Mr. Zippy Duvall. Please do that. He
is a good friend of ours.
Thank you all for those introductions. We will now proceed
to hearing from our witnesses. Each of you will have 5 minutes.
When 1 minute is left, the light will turn yellow signaling
time is close to expiring.
Mr. Hengel, please begin when you are ready.
STATEMENT OF DAVID HENGEL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GREATER BEMIDJI,
INC., BEMIDJI, MN
Mr. Hengel. Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Scott, and
Subcommittee Members, it is a great honor to be testifying
today. I am Dave Hengel, Executive Director of Greater Bemidji
in Bemidji, Minnesota, a public-private partnership formed to
drive development and promote prosperity in our region. We have
three staff people and an operating budget of $300,000, a
majority of which is provided by private businesses. I recently
completed my 30th year in economic development.
Bemidji is a rural regional center located 200 miles north
of Minneapolis. With 65,000 residents, it is one of Minnesota's
fastest growing areas, but it is also one of Minnesota's
poorest. Over the past 7 years, we have created 1,700 jobs and
wages have grown 26 percent, yet one in five of our residents
still live in poverty. Despite a historic low, our unemployment
rate remains higher than the national average.
The economic development world has changed dramatically in
recent years, the primary driver of which has been broadband.
Broadband can level the playing field between urban and rural
as never before.
In the past, our nation has made bold decisions to ensure
our rural areas are competitive: from ensuring access to
telephone services, to building the interstate highway system.
I believe broadband is the interstate highway system of our
generation. Without strong broadband, rural communities will be
left behind.
National policy has called for telecom services in rural
areas to be comparable in both price and quality to urban
areas. If rural America is to play a role in the global
economy, it is essential that national commitment remain.
Bemidji has been blessed. Our rural telephone cooperative,
Paul Bunyan Communications, took a visionary approach of laying
one of the nation's largest all-fiber networks. As a result,
nearly every home, every farm, and every business in our region
has access to gigabyte broadband. Moreover, MidCo, a private
regional provider serving the upper Midwest, also provides
high-speed broadband services to the Bemidji area. With these
two leading-edge companies serving our community, our broadband
services rival any in the nation.
Drawing on my experience in economic development, I believe
broadband's economic impact is especially significant in the
following areas; first, in corporate recruitment efforts. For a
majority of my career, when companies considered our region,
they would focus on three things: access to cheap land, cheap
capital, and cheap labor. Now they look to access talent,
quality of life, and availability of high-speed broadband.
Delta Dental is our most recent example. They are
constructing a new $15 million operation center in Bemidji,
creating 165 very good paying jobs. They chose Bemidji in large
part due to the broadband services offered by Paul Bunyan
Communications. Their leadership shared: ``The broadband
services we can get in Bemidji are far superior to what we can
get in our corporate headquarters in downtown Minneapolis''
They are just one example of broadband playing a central role
in our corporate recruitment and expansion efforts.
Second, high-speed broadband is essential to winning the
race to talent. In today's labor market, companies are looking
to locations that have a quality of life to entice the best
employees. As baby boomers retire, companies are investing in
locations that appeal to the younger generation, for which
high-speed broadband is a must-have. They simply will not live
in a community that does not allow them to be connected.
Finally, high-speed broadband is central to our efforts to
support emerging entrepreneurs. Three years ago, Greater
Bemidji opened the LaunchPad, a one-stop shop for
entrepreneurs. We provide co-working space, business
assistance, finance, training, peer-to-peer networking, and
mentoring. The most important resource we provide our
entrepreneurs is gigabit broadband, which allows them to be
connected to the world. Our LaunchPad has successfully launched
51 new startups.
I am not an expert in broadband policy or deployment, but I
can testify to the impact high-speed broadband can have on the
economy. For rural communities to be competitive, they must
have the infrastructure to support the transforming economy.
Historically, the infrastructure we focused on was great roads
and highways, waters and sewer systems, and industrial parks.
Those are equally important today, but they simply are not
enough. High-speed broadband is now essential for rural America
to compete.
Because of bold decisions made by broadband leaders in my
region, my community has a gold standard of high-speed
broadband services. The impact has been clear. Companies are
choosing our area over other potential locations; young,
talented people are moving to our region; and businesses are
starting up at an unprecedented rate.
I encourage you to do all you can to help other parts of
rural America reap the same benefits we have felt in Bemidji.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hengel follows:]
Prepared Statement of David Hengel, Executive Director, Greater
Bemidji, Inc., Bemidji, MN
Introduction and Background
Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Scott, and Members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to testify today on the
essential role of high-speed broadband in fostering rural economic
development. I am David Hengel, Executive Director of Greater Bemidji
in Bemidji, MN--a public-private partnership created to drive
development and promote prosperity in the greater Bemidji region.
Greater Bemidji has three staff and an annual operating budget of
$300,000--a majority of which is provided by 70+ businesses in our
region. I just completed my 30th year in economic development--first at
a regional level at the Headwaters Regional Development Commission, and
now as the Executive Director of Greater Bemidji.
Bemidji is the regional center for the lakes and pines country of
north-central Minnesota. Surrounded by three Native American
reservations, our economy is dominated by health care, retail sales and
services, and tourism--with a very modest manufacturing base. With an
area population of 65,000 residents, it is Minnesota's fifth fastest-
growing community and yet also one of its poorest. Over the past 7
years, our population has increased by 2,000 people with over 1,700 new
jobs, wage levels are up 26.5 percent, and overall economic activity
has increased over 25 percent. Despite the growth, incomes typically
range from 65-70 percent of the state and national averages and over 20
percent of Bemidji area residents live in poverty. Despite currently
being at a historic low, our unemployment rates still exceed both the
state and national averages.
Greater Bemidji's mission is to help drive the positive economic
numbers even higher, and high-speed broadband is intricately woven into
our economic initiatives. Greater Bemidji has earned a reputation in
Minnesota as an innovator in economic development through the success
of our industry-led training center--the Minnesota Innovation
Initiative--that provides timely, relevant, cost-effective
manufacturing training to job seekers. In only 4 years, the initiative
has trained well over 1,000 job seekers, 80% of whom have been placed
in good jobs in our region. Another successful economic development
innovation was the creation of Greater Bemidji's LaunchPad. The
LaunchPad is a one-stop-shop for entrepreneurs, providing the co-
working space, technical support, financial support, business planning,
peer-to-peer mentoring and one-on-one mentoring they need to start
their businesses. In its 3 year existence, the LaunchPad has spun off
51 new companies.
Broadband Has Been a Critical Component of Our Economic Development
The world of economic development has changed dramatically in the
last 5 years. Technology, and more specifically broadband, has been an
essential part of our strategy and our success. Broadband has the
potential to level the playing field between urban and rural as never
before in history. One could even say that there are two kinds of rural
regions in the U.S.--those that have the broadband infrastructure to
compete in our new information and innovation economy, and those that
do not.
In the past, our nation has made bold decisions to ensure our
nation's rural areas are competitive--from ensuring everyone has access
to telephone services to building the interstate highway system. Based
on my experience, broadband is the ``interstate highway system'' of our
generation. Without a strong, fiber backbone, rural communities will no
doubt be left behind.
Thankfully, national policy calls for telecom service in rural
areas to be reasonably comparable in quality and price to what is
available in urban areas. Based upon this policy, the Federal
Government has recognized that broadband is an essential service by
providing support for the construction and ongoing operation of rural
networks through programs overseen by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). If
rural America is to have any hope of playing a role in the global
economy, it will be essential to ensure that these programs are
positioned for the future to provide predictable, reliable support to
operators committed to providing high-speed broadband in sparsely
populated areas where there is no business case for telecom service
otherwise.
Moreover, Minnesota has a state broadband office called the Office
of Broadband Development that is the envy of other states. The
Minnesota Office of Broadband works in concert with the Federal
programs to support robust broadband deployment in rural areas and
develops reliable broadband availability maps to ensure that the
government resources are distributed efficiently and with maximum
effectiveness. Even with the available Federal and state resources, a
rural area still needs a broadband provider that is committed to
serving the area with reliable, robust broadband.
Bemidji has been blessed. Our rural telecommunications cooperative,
Paul Bunyan Communications, took the bold and visionary approach of
laying one of the nation's largest all-fiber broadband networks in the
nation. As a result, nearly every home, farm or business in our region
has access to gigabit upload and download broadband speeds. The
broadband services we have in Bemidji and surrounding rural areas rival
any in the nation, and they come at affordable prices. Why? Because
Paul Bunyan Communications understands the impact broadband will have
on the economic development of its region.
Paul Bunyan Communications is not alone in providing exceptional
broadband services in our region. MidCo, a regional broadband provider,
serves the upper Midwest and provides high-speed broadband services in
parts of the Bemidji area. Having two leading-edge companies serving
our rural community is certain not typical.
Drawing on my experience in rural economic development, I've
observed that broadband's economic impact in rural areas is especially
significant in the following three areas:
Corporate Recruitment and Business Expansion
Recruiting companies and corporate expansions to an area is an
ongoing mission for any economic development office. For the first
twenty years of my career, when a company was considering our region,
they would focus on three things: access to cheap capital, cheap labor
and cheap land. Today, when I'm recruiting companies to Bemidji, I'm
asked different questions: (1) Can I find the talent I need?; (2) Is
Bemidji a great community to live in?; and (3) Does the region provide
the broadband infrastructure to support my company?
Delta Dental is our most recent success story. Delta Dental is
currently developing a new, $15 million operations center in Bemidji
that will employ 165 residents at wages significantly higher than the
average wage in the region. Delta Dental chose Bemidji in large part
due to the fiber broadband infrastructure offered by Paul Bunyan
Communications. When announcing their decision to expand in Bemidji,
Delta Dental's head of technology said, ``the broadband services we can
get in Bemidji are far superior to what we can get in our corporate
headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.'' Delta Dental is not alone, as
our area's broadband infrastructure has been central to several
corporate recruitment and expansions in our region.
Winning the Race for Talent
Increasingly, economic development is a race for talent, not a race
for companies. In a tightening labor market, companies are expanding in
places that have the quality of life and amenities that provide them
the ability to recruit the best employees. As we baby boomers look
toward retirement, companies are investing in communities that appeal
to the younger generations for whom high-speed broadband is a ``must
have''--they simply will not move to or stay in a community that does
not allow them to be connected to the rest of the world.
Bemidji's recent growth is certainly due in part to our natural
amenities, Bemidji State University, our vibrant downtown, and our
expanding arts and cultural scene. But there can be no doubt that we
would not have grown at the rate we have without our broadband
infrastructure.
Start-up Communities
Finally, economic developers are increasingly focused on creating
what we call ``start-up communities.'' Great start-up communities focus
on ensuring their area has the foundational resources to help
entrepreneurs start and prosper. Typically, anywhere from 50-70 percent
of new jobs are created by local entrepreneurs.
Greater Bemidji dove into start-up community work 3 years ago with
the opening of our LaunchPad, a one-stop-shop for entrepreneurs that
includes access to technical and business assistance, financial
support, training and peer-to-peer networking. To date, 51 new
companies have been supported by the LaunchPad. My personal favorite
service at the LaunchPad is what we call ``Office Hours'', where
retired CEOs from throughout the region provide free, one-on-one
mentoring to aspiring entrepreneurs. The LaunchPad also provides co-
working space, where at any one time 50 young businesses are operating
their companies.
The single most important service the LaunchPad offers its
entrepreneurs is access to gigabit broadband service. Every
entrepreneur using the LaunchPad today--as well as the 51 companies
that spun off from the LaunchPad--required access to robust broadband
services. Unfortunately, during the start-up stage, that broadband can
be financially out of reach. The LaunchPad connects our rural
entrepreneurs to the world, but we can only do this because of the
fiber infrastructure in our region provided by Paul Bunyan
Communications.
NTCA--The Rural Broadband Association--the national trade
association for small, rural broadband providers like Paul Bunyan
Communications--has its own program designed to highlight innovation
called Smart Rural Communities that recognizes broadband providers and
communities that deploy and use robust fiber networks to jumpstart
economic growth and improve access to first-rate education, healthcare,
and government services. Paul Bunyan Communications received NTCA's
Smart Rural Community Showcase award in 2015 for its work in Bemidji.
Rural Economic Development Successes
In rural areas, as discussed earlier, broadband connectivity
presents a unique challenge due to geographical barriers--barriers that
broadband can help break down and overcome. Indeed, in rural and urban
areas alike, broadband availability and adoption strongly correlates
with increased economic opportunity and prosperity. A 2016 government
study found that just 41 percent of adults with household incomes less
than $20,000 had home broadband access, while 90 percent of adults with
household income higher than $100,000 had access.\1\ Other studies
reveal that the availability of broadband services, regardless of
adoption, added as much as 1.4 percent to the U.S. employment growth
rate.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Digital Inequality and Low-Income Households (https://
www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/em/fall16/highlight2.html), HUD
Office of Policy Development and Research (2016).
\2\ Galperin and Viecens, Connected for Development? Theory and
evidence about the impact of Internet technologies on poverty
alleviation (https://annenberg.usc.edu/sites/default/files/2017/03/12/
Galperin_et_al-2017-Development_Policy_Review.pdf), Development Policy
Review (2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Investing in rural broadband has far-reaching effects for both
urban and rural America, creating efficiencies in healthcare,
education, agriculture, energy, and commerce, and enhancing the quality
of life for citizens across the country. A report released in 2016 by
the Hudson Institute in conjunction with the Foundation for Rural
Service underscores the nationwide benefits that arise from rural
broadband; this study found that investment by rural broadband
companies contributed $24.2 billion to the economies of the states in
which they operated in 2015.\3\ Of this amount, $8.3 billion accrued to
the benefit of rural areas, while nearly $16 billion accrued to the
benefit of urban areas. In addition, better broadband access in rural
America is helping to drive growth in online transactions--a recent
survey found, for example, that rural consumers account for more than
10.8 billion Internet-driven transactions annually, representing
approximately 15% of the national total.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The Economic Impact of Rural Broadband (https://
s3.amazonaws.com/media.hudson.org/files/publications/
20160419KuttnerTheEconomicImpactofRuralBroadband.pdf), The Hudson
Institute, Washington, D.C. (2016).
\4\ A Cyber Economy: The Transactional Value of the Internet in
Rural America (https://www.frs.org/sites/default/files/documents/2018-
03/A-Cyber-Economy_The-Transactional-Value-of-the-Internet-in-Rural-
America.pdf), White Paper, iGR (2018).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The benefits of rural broadband, however, go beyond sheer numbers--
it is helpful as well to understand the productive uses of broadband
and what they mean to those communities that get and stay connected.
Rural America needs broadband not only to help farmers efficiently
produce the crops that are sold around the world, but to help rural
small businesses participate in the global economy and help all rural
citizens experience the potentially life-changing healthcare,
educational, and employment benefits of broadband.
A major benefit of rural broadband, for example, comes in the form
of distance learning. With a shortage of teachers in many areas of
rural America, many schools must rely on high-speed connectivity to
deliver interactive-video instruction for foreign language, science,
and music classes. For example, one rural South Dakotan teaches Level 1
and 2 Spanish to over 100 students in over a dozen high schools from a
small office located on her farm. Her broadband connection enables her
to instruct hundreds of students who otherwise would not have the
opportunity to learn Spanish. In Minnesota, Fergus Falls Public Schools
use a high-capacity connection between the various school buildings
located throughout the city. This broadband connection enables staff to
access and share files seamlessly across the network, and supports iQ
Academy Minnesota, an accredited public-school program offering
Minnesota students in grades K-12 an innovative, high-quality
alternative to the traditional learning experience.
Access to healthcare is a critical issue for rural areas, where the
lack of physicians, specialists, and diagnostic tools normally found in
urban medical centers creates challenges for both patients and medical
staff. Telemedicine applications help bridge the divide in rural
America, enabling real-time patient consultations and remote
monitoring, as well as specialized services such as telepsychiatry. A
small broadband provider in Georgia partnered with the county public
school system to deploy telehealth equipment to connect the school
nurses' offices with physicians at a regional hospital. Through this
partnership, the hospital, the school system, and the rural broadband
provider facilitate better healthcare for students who might not
otherwise see a physician in an area where parents can ill afford to
miss a half or full day of work for a doctor visit.
High-speed broadband helps first responders foster safer
communities. The Perham Fire Department in Minnesota serves 164\2\
miles and five townships. Relying on broadband and LTE, each volunteer
firefighter's smartphone includes a mobile app that allows the
firefighter to view reported fires, use GPS to find the fire's
location, and confirm the availability of each team member. The app
also identifies the location of nearby fire hydrants. And in Melrose,
MN all police department vehicles are equipped with WiFi and GPS,
providing officers immediate access to data and improving overall
community safety. The broadband network provided by a small, rural
carrier also assists local ambulance services with a traffic-signal-
prioritization system to manipulate traffic signals for emergency
vehicles in transit.
Finally--in part by improving access to quality healthcare,
education, and public safety--fast, high-capacity broadband in rural
areas also creates jobs. In Sioux Center, Iowa, a major window
manufacturer built a 260,000\2\ plant to employ 200 people. The
company considered more locations throughout the Midwest, but selected
Sioux Center in part because the rural broadband provider enabled this
plant to connect with its other locations throughout the U.S.
Similarly, in Cloverdale, Indiana, a rural broadband provider met with
developers and helped bring an industrial park to its service area.
Powered by this provider's broadband, the facility created more than
800 jobs in the area. These stories are repeated throughout those rural
areas with access to robust broadband.
Conclusion
The title of this hearing is ``Building Opportunity in Rural
America through Affordable, Reliable, High-Speed Broadband.'' I am not
an expert in broadband policy or deployment, but I can testify to the
impact high-speed broadband can have on our nation's economy,
particularly in rural America.
For our nation's rural communities to be competitive, they must
have the foundational infrastructure to support a transforming economy
that is increasingly driven by technology. Historically, great roads
and highways, water and sewer systems, and industrial parks were the
foundational infrastructure for communities. Today, these are as
necessary as ever before, but they are not sufficient. High-speed
broadband is now required for rural America to compete.
As I said earlier, I have been blessed. Because of bold decisions
made by broadband leaders in our community and surrounding rural areas
several years ago, my community of Bemidji, Minnesota has the gold
standard of high-speed broadband service. Since then, the impact has
been clear and observable. Because Bemidji has gigabit broadband
service, companies are choosing our area over other potential
locations. Young, talented people are moving to our region in part due
to the available high-speed broadband. Finally, we are churning our new
business start-ups at an unprecedented rate due to the broadband-
focused Greater Bemidji LaunchPad. I would encourage the Congress to do
all it can to help other parts of rural America reap the benefits we
have in Bemidji. Thank you.
Attachment
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Hengel.
Now, Ms. Mollgaard, we will now hear from you.
STATEMENT OF NEELA MOLLGAARD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, RED WING
IGNITE, RED WING, MN
Ms. Mollgaard. Chairman David Scott, Ranking Member Austin
Scott, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for allowing
me to testify today. I am Neela Mollgaard, the Executive
Director of Red Wing Ignite, located in the small town of Red
Wing, Minnesota, nestled along the bluffs of the Mississippi,
only 50 miles south of St. Paul. We have a diverse economy of
advanced manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism.
Red Wing Ignite is a hub and a facilitator of community
innovation, advancing students, entrepreneurs, and businesses
to compete in the 21st century economy. That entails a co-
working space, startup support, maker space, and programs to
prepare our youth for the future workforce.
We have cold winters, lots of eagles, people who work hard
and want the best for their kids. And through Ignite, I get to
help our community stay competitive.
The City of Red Wing formed a partnership with Hiawatha
Broadband Communications to invest in broadband infrastructure
with fiber. That investment has made it possible for the
stories I will share with you today.
Red Wing Ignite launched in 2013, leveraging our gig
network and our partnership with U.S. Ignite, initially
supported by the White House and the National Science
Foundation. We are the only rural city in U.S. Ignite's network
of 28 smart gigabit communities, a program providing tools to
build smart communities, driving new services, startups, and
technologies.
For us, broadband is like electricity. We turn it on and it
works. Yet, you need more than the gig to grow an economy.
Rural communities require a different strategy, one that builds
density of talent, expertise, and resources.
Ignite is both a physical and virtual hub for innovation.
Broadband was the essential first step, but so is an
organization like Ignite, bringing opportunity, exposure, and
access to students, entrepreneurs, and businesses.
I would like to share stories highlighting our three focus
areas. First, growing our talent pipeline. We plant the seeds
to grow future innovators, the employers of tomorrow. We
provide leadership to create STEM learning inside and outside
the classroom, college tech internships, and worksite learning
by convening schools and manufacturers.
Tony was a high school senior participating in a tech
entrepreneur class where students solved problems using
technology, culminating in the opportunity to pitch to
investors. Tony said ``I was exposed to people and curriculum
that heightened my knowledge of coding and entrepreneurism. Now
I am launching my own startup!''
Second, advancing entrepreneurs. With U.S. Ignite and
regional partners, we convened a statewide Ag Tech Challenge to
solve problems facing agriculture. The winner was Jack Kilian
with Poultry Patrol, a robot for turkey farms. It collects data
and may increase the weight, decrease mortality, and Salmonella
rates amongst turkeys. Kilian said, ``This opportunity gave me
a reason to explore an idea. With Red Wing Ignite's help, I was
quickly able to get in contact with investors, customers, and
mentors. Now I feel confident I can make Poultry Patrol a
reality.''
Currently, though, finding turkey farms with broadband has
been challenging. It is costly for farmers to implement this on
their own.
Third, supporting rural innovation. People want to choose
where they live and bring their careers with them. We have seen
this locally with people leaving urban areas for the benefits
of small-town living. In response, Ignite has created a co-
working space, maker space, start-up support, and other
resources. The strongest network we have, even in the world of
fiber, is the human network.
How did we get here? I have one word, collaboration. Red
Wing Ignite forges partnerships with government, academia,
corporate partners, and individuals to grow our innovative
ecosystem. As a result of our work, we were recently one of
nine communities nationwide selected by the Center on Rural
Innovation to receive technical assistance funded by the
Economic Development Administration to support our efforts to
create an innovation-based economy.
Through perseverance, we have learned these lessons.
Communities without broadband are in jeopardy. Broadband access
alone is not enough for economic vitality. Economic success
should be evaluated by talent attraction, retention, and
development, not only the number of new jobs. Public-private
partnerships are critical for success and sustainability, and
local champions are needed, because it doesn't happen quickly.
In closing, the African proverb says it best. ``If you want
to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.''
This work can't happen in isolation. We want to thank our
local, state, and national partners.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I look
forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Mollgaard follows:]
Prepared Statement of Neela Mollgaard, Executive Director, Red Wing
Ignite, Red Wing, MN
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman David Scott, Ranking Member Austin Scott, and Members of
the Subcommittee, thank you for allowing me to testify today.
Introduction
I am Neela Mollgaard, the Executive Director of Red Wing Ignite, a
hub and facilitator of community innovation located in the small town
of Red Wing, Minnesota.
Red Wing is nestled along the Bluffs of the Mississippi River only
50 miles from Minneapolis/St. Paul. Red Wing supports a diverse economy
of advanced manufacturing, agriculture and tourism. Downtown
preservation efforts have resulted in Red Wing being identified as one
of the top 25 historic towns to visit in the U.S.A.
We have cold winters, lots of eagles, people who work hard and want
the best for their kids. Through Ignite, I get to help keep our
community competitive.
We have built partnerships and initiatives with schools,
government, businesses and nonprofits. We have more than 18 businesses
and organizations at our co-working space. Last year, we hosted more
than 150 community and business meetings enhanced with high-definition
video conferencing facilities. We created and launched a Makerspace in
partnership with Minnesota State College Southeast. We have also
recruited and supported almost 40 startups in 2019 alone.
Broadband Infrastructure
The City of Red Wing was forward thinking and formed a partnership
with a local provider, Hiawatha Broadband Communication (HBC) to invest
in broadband infrastructure as an economic growth strategy. That
investment has made it possible for the stories I will share today.
To leverage the gigabit network, and our partnership with U.S.
Ignite (initially supported by the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy and National Science Foundation), Red Wing Ignite was
launched in 2013. We are the only rural city in U.S. Ignite's network
of 28 Smart Gigabit Communities. U.S. Ignite helps communities expedite
adoption of services, develop innovative practices that stimulate job
growth, the startup environment, and real estate investment.
Broadband is like electricity for us--we turn it on and it works.
Unlike colleagues still struggling to secure broadband, we can spend
time maximizing it.
But you need more than just the Gig to grow an economy. To be
competitive in a global economy, rural communities require a different
strategy--one that builds density of talent, people and resources to
drive innovation.
Since then, the Red Wing area received two Minnesota Border to
Border Grants, funds provided by the state legislature, to deploy
better broadband. These grants are awarded on a competitive basis to
unserved or under-served communities to help all of Minnesota reach the
statutory speed goals of 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up by 2026. I served
on the Governor's Task Force on Broadband at this time and had to
compromise with speed goals, I feel they should have been faster.
Red Wing Ignite also received a grant from the Blandin Foundation
to focus on broadband adoption. Blandin supports Red Wing with
strategic consulting and seed money for broadband-fueled programs. The
Blandin Foundation introduced us to the Intelligent Community Forum
(ICF) model. The model measures community competitiveness in the
broadband economy based on four indicators: ensuring broadband
infrastructure, developing a knowledge-based workforce, supporting
innovation, redressing the digital divide, and effectively using
marketing and advocacy to tell the community's technology story.
Two years ago, Blandin released a report on five Minnesota
broadband success stories--including Red Wing and Goodhue County. They
found that broadband had increased residents' economic benefit more
than $32 million per year (Or $1,850 annual benefit per household with
broadband.) Real Estate values had also increased by more than $100
million.
Recent Accomplishments
It has taken Red Wing Ignite more than 5 years to build the
foundation needed for an innovative ecosystem working to advance
students, entrepreneurs and our business community. Broadband is
essential but so is an organization like Ignite--bringing opportunity,
access and exposure to the skills required in the 21st Century economy.
Growing the Talent Pipeline
We plant the seed to grow future innovators--the employers of
tomorrow. We provide:
Leadership to create a K-12 career pathways on STEM learning
with aligned curriculum and worksite learning to be prepared
for future careers. The flight paths focus on four areas:
advanced manufacturing, health sciences, business/
entrepreneurship and human services.
College tech internships, that matches college students from
the region with businesses needed technology help to advance
their business.
A coder dojo site, is a free, volunteer-led, community-based
computer programming clubs for students.
A collaboration with school districts, our college and
manufacturers to provide work site learning and a certification
through our local college.
Tony, a high school senior, participated in our tech entrepreneur
class where students solve problems using technology culminating with
the opportunity to pitch to investors. Tony said, ``It's cool Ignite
has brought so many opportunities. I was exposed to people and
curriculum that heightened my knowledge of coding and entrepreneurism.
Now I'm actually launching my own startup!''
Advancing Entrepreneurs
With assistance from U.S. Ignite and regional partners, we convened
a statewide Ag Tech Challenge seeking new hardware or software to
improve agriculture. The winner was Jack Kilian, with the Poultry
Patrol, a robot for turkey farms. The robot collects data and is
projected to possibly increase weight, decrease mortality and
Salmonella among turkeys.
Kilian received $15K in awards and said, ``This opportunity gave me
a reason to explore an idea. With Red Wing Ignite's help, I was quickly
able to get in contact with investors, customers, and mentors. Now I
feel confident I can make Poultry Patrol a reality.''
Jack Buendor a cofounder also shares, ``Poultry Patrol is focused
on Giving farmers access to the data collection technologies will
increase the efficiency of the U.S. agricultural industry and help make
farming more reliable, sustainable and safe. Everything from watershed
monitoring, yield estimation, crop health, row alignment, and livestock
monitoring will need data analysis, and the best ways to reliably
collect, process, and present that data require through stable
broadband.''
Currently, finding turkey farms with broadband has been
challenging; it's costly for farmers to implement on their own.
Supporting Rural Innovation
Now and in the future individuals will choose where they want to
live and bring their careers with them. We have seen this locally with
people choosing to leave urban areas for the benefits of small town
living. In response Ignite has created a co-working space, makerspace,
business incubator and other resources to meet this need.
The strongest network we have--even in the world of fiber is that
human network.
How We Got Here
People ask--how did we get here. I have one word, collaboration.
Red Wing Ignite forges partnerships with government, academia,
corporate partners and individuals to grow our innovative ecosystem to
advance entrepreneurs, businesses and students.
I'd like to highlight partners that believe in this work: U.S.
Ignite, Blandin Foundation, City of Red Wing, Goodhue County, MN DEED,
MN State College SE, Xcel Energy, Red Wing Shoes, Jones Family
Foundation, and Southern MN Initiative Foundation.
As a result of our work, we were recently one of nine communities
nationwide selected by the Center on Rural Innovation to participate in
the Rural Innovation Initiative, an effort funded by the U.S. Economic
Development Administration to provide technical assistance and support
to rural communities working to create digital economy jobs and
businesses.
Our strength as an organization is the ability to connect our
students, entrepreneurs and/or businesses with the needed resources in
Red Wing, Minnesota or national opportunities. We are continuously
learning and bringing best practices back to the region, for a lasting
and sustainable impact.
Looking Forward
We believe our model will catalyze a regional innovation cluster
that will strengthen and elevate our region and Minnesota's global
competitiveness by focusing on three key areas:
1. Advance Innovators and Entrepreneurs by creating a hybrid
incubator using virtual and in-person education, mentoring
with top talent, technical assistance funds, access to
investors and individual coaching.
2. Enhance Regional Connectivity by convening ecosystem builders and
stakeholders in southern MN to implement the Entrepreneur
First (E1) Collaborative. Creating a concentration of
talent, people and resources to directly benefit
entrepreneurs and the organizations serving them by
simplifying the way individuals navigate the
entrepreneurial ecosystem.
3. Cultivate the Workforce of the Future by convening industry,
education and workforce development to attract, retain, and
develop the talent needed to meet employer demand. RWI will
advance students through worksite learning and hybrid
courses in high demand, high growth fields.
Broadband establishes a platform for success that communities must
have to be able to provide opportunities, access and exposure of
virtual and physical networks to advance future innovators,
entrepreneurs and their business.
Through perseverance we have learned these lessons:
1. Communities without broadband are in jeopardy.
2. Broadband access alone is not enough for economic vitality. It is
critical to grow a knowledgeable workforce, increase
digital literacy, foster innovation and market the efforts.
3. Measurement of economic success should evaluate talent
attraction, retention and development not number of new
jobs.
4. Trusted partnerships with government, corporate, academic and
community partners are critical for success and
sustainability.
5. Cities and organizations need to look beyond their geopolitical
boundaries and proprietary tendencies in support of
collaborative, regional economies.
6. Perseverance by local champions because it doesn't happen
quickly.
In closing, the African Proverbs say it best, ``If you want to go
fast, go alone, if you want to go far go together.'' This work can't
happen in isolation, we thank our local, state and national partners.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to your
questions.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
Now, Dr. Hess, please begin your testimony.
STATEMENT OF DAVID C. HESS, M.D., DEAN, EXECUTIVE VICE
PRESIDENT OF MEDICAL AFFAIRS AND INTEGRATION,
PRESIDENTIAL DISTINGUISHED CHAIR, AND PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY,
MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GEORGIA, AUGUSTA UNIVERSITY, AUGUSTA, GA
Dr. Hess. Thank you. Good morning. First, I would like to
thank the Chairman, the Ranking Member, Congressman Rick Allen,
and the Members of this Subcommittee for the opportunity to
testify today. I am David C. Hess, Dean of the Medical College
at Georgia. I am here to recount my experiences as a physician
providing telestroke services in rural Georgia.
Back in 2004, the early days of telestroke, I was coaching
a Little League baseball team and I was called about a 45 year
old man with a stroke at Emmanuel County Hospital in
Swainsboro, Georgia, a 25 bed hospital in Congressman Rick
Allen's district. There were only two of us covering our
telestroke network in those days. The baseball field was 25
minutes to my home, but only 5 minutes to Taco Bell. I handed
the scorebook to another dad, jumped in my car, and sped to
Taco Bell and used their hotspot. I logged in with my password,
but the camera repeatedly froze when I zoomed in to watch the
patient move their eyes. The consult was dropped twice, and I
was starting to sweat, as every second counts in stroke. I was
finally able to make the decision to administer the drug TPA,
and fortunately, the patient did well. But it was stressful for
me, even more stressful than coaching my last place Little
League team.
Now, fast forward to April of 2019, where I delivered 12
telestroke consults in 24 hours to a number of rural hospitals
in both Congressman Allen's and Congressman Austin Scott's
district. The cameras never froze and there were no major
technical issues.
Three things have changed in the last 15 years. First, the
bandwidth and technology have vastly improved, and I no longer
have to drive to Taco Bell, except to eat their tacos. Second,
demand for telestroke services has increased. Third, I don't
take calls often, as there are nine others who share the call
burden.
Georgia is situated in the Stroke Belt, and there is a
slide in your handout, a region of high stroke incidents in the
Southeast United States. In 1996, a drug called tissue
plasminogen activator, or TPA, was approved for the treatment
of ischemic stroke by the FDA. The drug works by breaking up
blood clots that could cause stroke.
There are two types of stroke. The most common one is
ischemic, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain. The
other type, hemorrhagic, is caused by bleeding into the brain.
TPA is effective for ischemic strokes, but can be harmful or
fatal if given for hemorrhagic strokes. This caused many
emergency medicine physicians to be very reluctant to use TPA,
and they require neurologists like myself to assist them in the
treatment decisions.
One of the problems is a lack of neurologists in smaller
hospitals. During a stroke, 32,000 brain cells die every
second, so every moment matters when administering TPA. To
address this problem, back in 2002, we in the Department of
Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia began to developed
a web-based telestroke system to help treat stroke patients in
rural hospitals. There was no system available, so we built our
own. This involved three components: two-way audio video so we
could see the patient. We could communicate with the family. We
could read the CT scan, and we had decision support software
that helped us make the correct treatment decision. It was a
web-based system, so we didn't have to sit and wait for calls
in a specific wired room in the hospital. We could be at home
or anywhere that we could have access to the Internet. We
called this program REACH. We have now performed over 13,000
acute stroke consultations in Georgia, and have treated more
than 1,800 with TPA, many of whom have never been treated with
TPA. Telestroke has now become the standard of care with the
American Stroke Association endorsing its use. Studies show
that telestroke has expanded and improved stroke care in rural
and super rural areas.
When we first started REACH back in 2003, we had a lot of
problems with Internet connections to our rural hospitals. The
video would often freeze and the consults would be delayed, and
occasionally dropped. Bandwidth in rural Georgia is certainly
much better today than it was 10 to 15 years ago, but
requirements of at least 1.2 megabits will usually be needed
for seamless operation. We also have improved technologies that
allow us to operate in low bandwidth environments. We still
experience problems with the video freezing and downloading
imaging files. This problem is related to the people and
resources necessary to adequately manage the bandwidth within
the hospital.
Even if rural hospitals have access to broadband, they do
not have the technology or IT budget. Congressman Scott
recounted all the rural hospitals closing in Georgia--to
support the infrastructure inside a facility, much less support
a full-time IT person. The common example is the hospital guest
network being allowed to use the same Internet connection as
the clinical applications. A better-informed professional IT
manager can set up restrictions on network use to prioritize
clinical applications.
Now, current connectivity in rural America is not adequate
to provide telehealth consults to patients in homes and small
clinics. Lack of access to physicians is a problem. There are
eight Georgia counties without any physicians, 11 without
family physicians, 75 without an OB/GYN, and 78 without a
general surgeon. This is only likely to worsen as the shortage
of physicians is getting worse in rural Georgia. Much of this
monitoring will be done by nurses and advanced practice
providers, such as nurse practitioners, using tablets, but
bandwidth is still a limiting factor.
We have proved this model works with stroke, but
telemedicine could be used to address many other health needs
in rural Georgia.
Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Hess follows:]
Prepared Statement of David C. Hess, M.D., Dean, Executive Vice
President of Medical Affairs and Integration, Presidential
Distinguished Chair, and Professor of Neurology, Medical College of
Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA
Good morning. First, I would like to thank the Chairman, the
Ranking Member, and all the Members of the Subcommittee for the
opportunity to testify today. I am Dr. David C. Hess, Dean of the
Medical College of Georgia and Presidential Distinguished Chair of
Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. I am
here to recount my experiences as a physician providing telestroke
services, a form of telemedicine, to stroke patients presenting at
hospitals in the rural Southeastern United States.
Georgia is situated in the ``Stroke Belt'', a region of high stroke
incidence in the southeastern U.S. I work at the Medical College of
Georgia, the only public medical school in the state of Georgia. We are
the Joint Commission certified Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center
that serves patients in rural southeastern Georgia and South Carolina,
areas that are in the ``buckle of the Stroke Belt''. In 1996, a drug
called tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) was approved for the
treatment of ischemic stroke by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).
For background, there are two types of stroke--ischemic stroke is
caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain and hemorrhagic stroke
caused by bleeding into the brain. TPA is effective for ischemic
strokes but can be harmful if given for hemorrhagic strokes. The only
way for a physician to tell the difference is to perform and review a
CT scan of the brain. While TPA is very effective for ischemic stroke,
in about 3% of patients it can cause bleeding into the brain which can
be fatal. This complication caused many Emergency Medicine physicians
to be reluctant to use TPA and they required stroke specialists
(Neurologists) to assist them in making the decision.
After TPA was approved by the FDA, only about 2% of stroke patients
were receiving TPA. Nationwide, 64% of U.S. hospitals were not using
TPA and most of them were small hospitals in the rural South.\1\ There
was a geographic penalty for stroke care--rural patients in small
hospitals in the South that were not receiving TPA, the only drug that
could reduce their chance of being disabled from a stroke.
One of the problems that led to low usage of TPA was the lack of
neurologists and stroke specialists in the smaller hospitals to consult
and help with the treatment decisions. Neurologists and stroke
specialists tend to work in larger cities like Augusta and Atlanta and
there were none in rural Georgia. Moreover, the time to treatment with
TPA is a major determinant of how well the patient does; shorter time
to treatment equates to better outcomes. Stroke is a ``time sensitive
disease'' and it is estimated that during a stroke, 32,000 brain cells
die per second so every second and minute delay matters when
administering TPA. There is no time for the physician to get in their
car and drive to a rural hospital. To make a decision to use TPA, the
stroke specialist needs to see the patient and examine them and also
review the CT scan of the brain. We would often get phone calls from
our rural hospitals with questions about treating stroke patients with
TPA. However, we could not see the patient or review their CT scan of
the head, thus could not make safe decisions. The problem is that we
had a very effective drug for stroke, but we did not have a healthcare
system with the organization and tools to administer it.
To address this problem, back in 2002, we in the Department of
Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia began to develop a web-
based telestroke system to help treat stroke patients at rural
hospitals in Georgia. There was no system available, so we developed
our own. This involved three components--two-way video (we can see the
patient and the patient can see us), ability to read the CT scan of the
brain, and decision-support software that helped us make the correct
treatment decision and allowed us to complete a note to provide a
consultation to the physicians at the site.2-4 (Fig. 1) The
other important feature was that the system was ``site independent.''
We did not have to sit and wait for calls in a specific ``wired'' room
in the hospital. We could be at home or anywhere that we had access to
the Internet. We called this program REACH (Remote Evaluation of Acute
isCHemic stroke). After building a prototype and testing it within our
own hospital, we began a pilot program in 2003 with McDuffie Regional
Hospital in Thomson, Georgia and Emanuel County Hospital in Swainsboro,
Georgia. Both these hospitals had administrators, nurses, and
physicians supportive of the telestroke program. Internet connectivity
was poor on both ends--the hospital and on our end. For example, if I
was coaching a Little League game, I would have to drive to the Taco
Bell and ``use'' their hotspot as that was closer than my home.
Fig 1. REACH Telestroke System
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Patient presents in rural hospital (lower left) Consultation
done at home by Stroke specialist (lower right) and patient
transferred to Comprehensive Stroke Center (top) after TPA
given or if complex care needed.
We demonstrated that that we could accurately examine the patient
and measure the severity of the stroke and that we could safely and
effectively guide treatment with TPA. Once we demonstrated (in the
medical literature and to our peers) that we could do this, we expanded
our network to nine rural hospitals over the next few years and now
serve over 30 hospitals today throughout Georgia and one in South
Carolina.3-4 (Fig. 2) We have performed over 13,000 acute
stroke consultations and have treated more than 1800 stroke patients
with TPA. Most of these patients would have never been treated with TPA
without a telestroke system.
Fig 2. MCG-AU Health REACH Network
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Red dot is AU Health, Comprehensive Stroke Center. Small
yellow dots are small rural hospitals (<50 beds); purple dots
are hospitals >100 beds. Large yellow dots are larger hospitals
>200 [] beds.
Telestroke is now used almost everywhere in the nation and almost
every large health system has a telestroke program. Telestroke has
become the ``standard of care'' with position statements written by
expert panels from the American Stroke Association endorsing its
use.5-8 Telestroke became a disruptive technology that
changed how we manage stroke patients. Studies show that telestroke has
expanded and improved stroke care in rural and ``super-rural''
areas.\9\
We have expanded the use of telestroke to include acute
teleneurology (other neurological conditions beyond stroke) and to
triage and select stroke patients for mechanical thrombectomy (MT). MT
uses catheters and clot retrieval devices to mechanically remove blood
clots from vessels in the brain and this is a life-saving treatment for
patients with large strokes (blockage of large arteries such as the
middle cerebral artery.) We currently use telestroke to triage patients
from all over Georgia and fly them by helicopter to the few
Comprehensive Stroke Centers (there are four in Georgia) where this
procedure can be performed.
In 2006, a group of us licensed the REACH technology through our
University and in 2006 we founded a company called REACH Health in
Augusta Georgia. The company later moved to Alpharetta, Georgia, and it
provided telestroke services to over 150 hospitals in the United
States, including hospitals in South Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania,
Louisiana, Massachusetts and Alaska. I was Chairman of the Board from
2006 to 2018 when the company was sold to InTouch. REACH health is now
a division of InTouch Health, the leading developer of telestroke
systems in the U.S. and around the world.
When we first started REACH back in 2003 to 2004, we had a lot of
problems with Internet connections to our rural hospitals. The video
would often ``freeze'' and the consults would be delayed and
occasionally dropped, and we would have to resort to using the
telephone. Fortunately, this improved over the years. Access to
bandwidth in rural Georgia is certainly much better than it was 10-15
years ago. There are also improved technologies that allow us to
operate in a low bandwidth environment. This is stated in our
Scientific Statement on ``Telemedicine Quality and Outcomes in Stroke''
from the American Stroke Association and endorsed by the American
Telemedicine Association \7\ ``The Scalable Video Coding extension of
the H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding standard (H.264/AVC) is the
latest development for this successful specification, enabling high-
resolution performance at the relatively low-bandwidth environments
often available at more rural hospital sites. New communication (Web
Real-Time Communication) and compression and decompression standards
(VP8) are also emerging that promote the use of a Web browser as the
primary audio/video platform while maintaining equal or better quality
at half the bandwidth cost. Accordingly, technological advances on the
horizon coupled with increasing access to high-speed bandwidth continue
to accelerate the implementation of telemedicine services. Depending on
the technology used, bandwidth requirements can range from as little as
64 103 bits per second to in excess of 1.2 106 bits per second.
However, bandwidth >512 103 bits per second or closer to 1.2 106 bits
per second will usually be needed for seamless operation. The quality
of the connection is affected by many factors, including bandwidth
(connection capacity and speed), distance (which introduces latency),
network throttling (introduced by network configuration), and
congestion (hospital systems will be `saturated' at peak times,
limiting the available bandwidth). The cell structure of mobile
telecommunications may lead to low bandwidths during peak times of
mobile Internet use. This becomes an issue in hospitals and busy
emergency departments where competing for limited bandwidth leads to
degradation of quality. Other variables affecting the conferencing
experience include the number of participants in a videoconference,
video resolution, and video size. Recently developed technologies, such
as Scalable Video Coding1, provide better performance in low-bandwidth
environments by making adjustments to frame rate, the area of the image
to be refreshed, and video quality based on network environment.'' \7\
However, we do still experience problems with the video freezing
and downloading imaging files. The problem is related to the people and
resources necessary to adequately manage that bandwidth within the
hospital. While most of these hospitals have access to broadband, they
do not have the technology/IT budget to support much infrastructure
inside the facility, much less support a full time IT person. The
common example is the hospital guest network being allowed to use the
same Internet connection (un-throttled) as the clinical applications. A
better informed, professional IT manager can set-up restrictions on
network use to prioritize clinical applications.
While Internet connectivity is adequate for most of the rural
hospitals, it is not adequate to provide telehealth consults to
patients in homes and at small clinic sites in rural areas. Telehealth
is able to reinvent ``doctor house calls'' and is moving to monitoring
and consulting with the patient in their home. In addition to
physicians, much of this monitoring will be done by nurses and advanced
practice providers. Lack of access to physicians is a problem in many
parts of rural Georgia. According to the Georgia Board for Physician
Workforce (https://gbpw.georgia.gov/), there are eight Georgia counties
without any physicians, 11 counties without a Family Medicine
Physician, 63 counties without a Pediatrician, 75 counties without an
Obstetrician-Gynecologist and 78 counties without a general surgeon.
Just as there are few stroke specialists in rural areas, there is a
dearth of all types of medical specialists such as cardiologists,
nephrologists, etc. This is likely to worsen as there is a looming
shortage of physicians in the U.S. and major shortages in rural areas.
One of the best ways to address these geographic disparities is through
the use of telemedicine--to the patient's home and to health clinics.
There is also another need for stroke care where there is
insufficient broadband--that is the poor connectivity to ambulances in
rural areas. There is increasing interest in providing telestroke
services in the ambulances transporting patients to the hospitals. This
is presently not feasible in many rural areas.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify before the
Committee. I am available to answer any questions you may have.
[Endnotes]
1. Kleindorfer D., Xu Y., Moomaw C.J., Khatri P., Adeoye O.,
Hornung R. US geographic distribution of rt-PA utilization by hospital
for acute ischemic stroke. Stroke 2009; 40: 3580-4.
2. Hess D.C., Wang S., Gross H., Nichols F.T., Hall C.E., Adams
R.J. Telestroke: extending stroke expertise into underserved areas.
Lancet Neurol. 2006; 5: 275-8.
3. Wang S., Gross H., Lee S.B., et al. Remote evaluation of acute
ischemic stroke in rural community hospitals in Georgia. Stroke 2004;
35: 1763-8.
4. Wang S., Lee S.B., Pardue C., et al. Remote evaluation of acute
ischemic stroke: reliability of National Institutes of Health Stroke
Scale via telestroke. Stroke 2003; 34: e188-91.
5. Schwamm L.H., Audebert H.J., Amarenco P., et al. Recommendations
for the implementation of telemedicine within stroke systems of care: a
policy statement from the American Heart Association. Stroke 2009; 40:
2635-60.
6. Schwamm L.H., Holloway R.G., Amarenco P., et al. A review of the
evidence for the use of telemedicine within stroke systems of care: a
scientific statement from the American Heart Association/American
Stroke Association. Stroke 2009; 40: 2616-34.
7. Wechsler L.R., Demaerschalk B.M., Schwamm L.H., et al.
Telemedicine Quality and Outcomes in Stroke: A Scientific Statement for
Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association/American
Stroke Association. Stroke 2017; 48: e3-e25.
8. Wechsler L.R., Tsao J.W., Levine S.R., et al. Teleneurology
applications: Report of the Telemedicine Work Group of the American
Academy of Neurology. Neurology 2013; 80: 670-6.
9. Zhang D., Wang G., Zhu W., et al. Expansion Of Telestroke
Services Improves Quality Of Care Provided In Super Rural Areas. Health
Aff. (Millwood) 2018; 37: 2005-13.
Attachment
REACH Network
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REACH Hub & Spoke Telestroke Model
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Hess D.C., et al. Lancet Neurol. 2006; 36: 5:275-8.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Two Georgias: Rural Health Care
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Hess.
And now we will hear from Councilwoman Watahomigie-Corliss.
Please proceed.
STATEMENT OF HON. OPHELIA WATAHOMIGIE-CORLISS, COUNCILWOMAN,
HAVASUPAI TRIBE, SUPAI, AZ
Ms. Watahomigie-Corliss. Good morning. Thank you, Chairman
Scott and Ranking Member Scott, for the invitation to speak
today. My name is Ophelia Watahomigie-Corliss. I am a member of
the Havasupai Tribe. I am here in my official capacity as an
elected leader. During my first term, I established a working
relationship with MuralNet to help the community bridge the
digital divide.
The Havasupai Reservation is the most isolated American
Indian Tribe in the lower 48 states. The Village of Supai is
located on the floor of the Grand Canyon, where the only way in
or out is an 8 mile hike by foot, horse, or helicopter.
Currently, the village receives Internet access by microwave
point-to-point radio link providing 10 megabits for Tribal
administration. Using an email browser and submitting grant
reports have been the most successful use of that SM system.
The current health clinic, run by the Indian Health Services,
has obtained 1.5 megabits for its electronic medical records.
Doctors lose the connection and file, refusing to use the
electronic system, choosing paper charts instead.
In 2015, Coconino Community College partnered with the
Tribe to establish the first GED program. The only available
Internet was in the village center. Many of the students had
jobs, and lacking home Internet access that year, the program
had no graduates. To help bridge the homework gap the GED
students experienced, the Council gave permission in 2017 to
pursue high-speed Internet through private LTE network.
MuralNet and the Tribe filed a request with the Federal
Communications Commission for a special temporary authorization
permit to use educational broadband service spectrum over the
Village of Supai under its educational burden of proof
guidelines. Within 5 days of the license approval, we received
customer premises equipment for homes and established our first
high-speed Internet connection. Things changed with the newly
approved STA permit. CPEs could connect to Internet at home.
Our Head Start teachers came into compliance with new OHS
standards, and teachers at our local Bureau of Indian Education
School could lesson plan, research, and do continuing education
from their homes.
In September 2018, our GED students signed onto their first
live math class taught 168 miles away. This was a historical
moment in 2018, because it marked the Tribe's first
opportunities in online education.
While we have had successes, we have more needs. The
Tribe's BIE school only goes to 8th grade. To receive a high
school diploma, students must leave their families at 14 years
old to attend a boarding school out of state. A percentage of
these children are unable to adjust to leaving their families
and return to the village, never going back to their studies. A
Credit Recovery Program and online education school are needed.
Over the years, agencies have supplied us with failed
telemedicine equipment. Telemedicine is important because of
our isolation, and we are still living without this capability.
Our community is suffering from a suicide cluster, and we are
left with no in-person professional services for up to 3 weeks
every month. The reservation sees 35,000 tourists a year. We
need better emergency communications to the furthest gorge.
Their safety is our responsibility. Navigating the canyon can
sometimes be a life or death situation, and for these reasons,
the Havasupai Tribe must move forward with upgrading this new
pilot network. Seven homes in the village center with direct
line of sight have broadband speeds. The planned network
expansion will bring broadband coverage to the whole village.
To make our network financially sustainable, Internet access
can be sold to tourists in the campgrounds. The Tribe has
decided its people deserve the opportunities afforded by
broadband. The ruralness and population size of our community
means there is no return-on-investment from outside Internet
service providers or major telecoms to consider building the
infrastructure. The benefits we have seen from this project are
like none we have ever seen before. There is renewed hope in
the community and among Tribal council that online education
opportunities can become reality. Telemedicine can work to help
improve the community's health.
These services ordinary Americans have been using for the
past 20 years are still not a reality for my community. These
disparities may be among the most extreme, but the disparities
of the digital divide are felt across Indian Country. I support
monies specifically allocated to rural American Indian Nations
within the funds being negotiated. I can only speak to what my
expertise is, which is my community, the most isolated and
rural Tribe in the lower 48 states, which is the story of
American Indian Country. If my story and expertise can also
expand into other parts of rural America to help your decision-
making to support build-out for all rural America, then I am
honored. Now you have the ability to help communities like us,
and I know that you will.
I will be honored to address any questions the Committee
might have of me. Thank you for your time.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Watahomigie-Corliss
follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Ophelia Watahomigie-Corliss, Councilwoman,
Havasupai Tribe, Supai, AZ
Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Scott:
Good morning. It is very exciting to be asked to come speak about
the topic of Broadband Opportunity in Rural America through Affordable,
Reliable, and High-Speed Broadband. My name is Ophelia Watahomigie-
Corliss, I am a member of the Havasupai Tribe, and I am currently
serving my second term as a Tribal councilwoman. I am here in my
official capacity as an elected leader of the sovereign Havasupai
Nation. I also serve as the telecommunications lead among my Tribal
Council colleagues. Within this testimony I will tell you about my
Tribes' inability to participate in online education opportunities
until 2018 and how our children must leave their families and canyon
home in order to obtain a high school diploma at age fourteen. My
community had been promised working telemedicine for the past fifteen
years and yet agencies have failed every time to execute their
promises. Finally, in partnership with MuralNet, we built our own
Havasupai pilot network that was successful in bringing high-speed
Internet to homes for students and teachers, which has pushed the Tribe
to find ways to provide broadband to the rest of our community.
The Havasupai Reservation is the most isolated American Indian
Tribe in the lower 48 states. The village of Supai is located on the
floor of the Grand Canyon where it supports a population of 398
residents, and when the children return home from boarding school the
number increases to 423. Our home is surrounded by mile high red rock
cliffs and mesa tops that surround Supai Village. This scene is very
similar to what you see at the Grand Canyon National Park, which was
our ancestral home. Our village and canyon are important links to our
traditional way of life. The only way in or out of our canyon home is
an 8 mile hike by foot, by horse, or our public transportation via
helicopter which runs two to four times a week, depending on what time
of year it is. All packages sent through the United States Postal
Service are still delivered by mule trail mail to area code 86435. Even
after you make it up and out of the canyon, the nearest two towns are
67 miles away by car. My home, I am sure, qualifies under the
definition of rural.
Within the first 100 days of my first elected term, I responded to
a letter from Northern Arizona University, and soon established a
working relationship with the nonprofit organization MuralNet. This was
the first project I ever presented to Tribal Council and it was not
easy. MuralNet had promised to help the community bridge the Digital
Divide. My fellow colleagues were somewhat apprehensive and proceeded
to inform me of the many agencies that had already promised to bring
telemedicine into the community, and failed. I seemed enthusiastic
enough that they were eventually willing to give the project a chance.
Initially, around 2008/2009, the village received Internet access
from Niles Radio Communications by microwave point-to-point radio links
producing 3 Mbps connection speeds at our access point in the village.
In 2010 the access point was upgraded to receive up to 5 Mbps, and
lastly upgraded in 2013 to receive a total of twenty Mbps. Using a
Subscriber Module (SM) system the twenty Mbps were available and were
split down the middle to provide 10 Mbps for Tribal administration, and
10 Mbps for a public network. The Tribe runs twenty-four departments
year-round, which means at least thirty-two computers were signed onto
a 10 Mbps system at all times, constantly competing for bandwidth. Our
capabilities were far from high-speed usage. Using an email browser and
submitting our grant reports online were the most successful use of our
SM system but our Tribal departments were still unable to sign onto and
interact with webinars, which were becoming the expected norm.
The 10 Mbps that are allocated for public use was available for
portable devices such as phones and tablets. It catered to the
community and the 35,000 tourists that come down to visit our world-
famous waterfalls annually. The public network was only available
within a 30 yard radius from the computer room that housed our network
equipment and access point.
The current health clinic in Havasupai is run by the Indian Health
Service, which is a Federal agency who tried to establish their own
Internet connection, but has only been successful thus far in obtaining
1.5 Mbps for the use of its electronic medical records system. I have
reports from many contracted doctors who, after waiting forty-five
minutes to get into a patient profile, will lose the connection and the
file. They refuse to use the electronic system and many choose to stick
with paper charts. There was not enough Internet speed to support an
electronic medical records system, let alone have the ability to
establish telemedicine in the canyon. Many organizations have donated
telemedicine equipment, but the equipment is useless due to low
Internet speeds.
Fast forward to 2015 when a local community college tried to
partner with the Tribe to establish its first GED classes so that
students could complete their work online and earn their diploma. The
Tribe did not have the ability to get Internet to the homes of the GED
students, so they would have to use the Internet in the village center.
It was a very ambitious project, and many of the students already had
jobs and wanted to work on their schooling at home, before or after
work. The program had no graduates that year because it was nearly
impossible to get their school work done in the allotted time when they
had no access to the Internet at home.
MuralNet had promised to help the Tribe bridge the homework gap the
GED students were experiencing. It was 2017 when the project was given
permission with a Tribal resolution to move forward to bring in high-
speed Internet via a private LTE network for the entire village.
MuralNet and the Tribe filed a request with the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) for a special temporary authorization (STA) permit to
use Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum over the village of
Supai under its educational burden of proof guidelines. We were ready
to deploy the network by November of 2017, but it took the FCC until
February 2018 to approve our request. Within 5 days of the license
approval we received the plug-in customer premises equipment (CPEs) for
homes and established our first end-to-end high-speed Internet
connection in the village with thirty Mbps of backhaul. There was
Internet signal throughout Supai and homes in the center of town with
direct line-of-site to the antenna tower had broadband speeds.
During this time, the Tribe was working with its Early Head Start
and Head Start programs to begin implementing new regulations that had
been set by the Office of Head Start (OHS) in 2016. OHS was requiring
all employees to have early childhood learning certificates,
associate's, or bachelor's degrees depending on their job position, and
our program had to prove their employees were enrolled in classes and
on their way to receiving these certificates. This was proving
troublesome for the Tribe. Although the OHS grants we had funded the
classes, we did not have enough to pay for the employee's living
expenses. The closest college to take the required classes would mean a
hike, saddle ride, or helicopter ride out of the canyon and a 168 mile
drive on top of that. If we sent them out of the canyon to attend
school, we would also lose the employee at the Head Start. There are
online classes, but the old network didn't have the capability to
stream the videos, and the OHS deadline was getting close.
Within 10 days of receiving the STA from the FCC, I had developed a
check out program for the MuralNet CPEs for online educational use.
Anyone in the community could present to me a printed approval letter
of any type of online educational classes they would be taking, and I
would check them out a CPE to connect them to Internet at home.
Immediately twelve CPEs were checkout out to Early Head Start and Head
Start teachers who began enrolling in GED classes, and community
college classes. By the summer semesters, students were able to enroll
into classes towards their bachelor's degrees. This put both of our
Head Start programs in compliance with new OHS standards! The teachers
at our local Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) school were next on the
list to be provided CPEs for use in their apartments. The teachers used
the MuralNet CPEs for lesson planning, research for instructional
activities, continuing education classes, news and email access. These
first groups of students and teachers were able to confirm how our
pilot LTE network enabled them to complete their tasks online. They no
longer needed to stay at the office until 8 p.m. to use the Internet at
the school to get their work done. They could now work from home.
The initial 6 month STA license was so successful that the FCC
granted us an extension in May 2018. The second group to receive the
CPEs were a group of seven students who were trying to complete the
second round of GED courses provided by Coconino Community College
located in Flagstaff, Arizona. The College had developed an interactive
online class that students had to sign into twice a week and complete
forty hours of work through online courses in order to earn their
diploma. Although the CPEs were distributed in the middle of their GED
course year, we made every effort to accommodate these students so
could take these classes at home. The first time a class of our
students was able to sign into the live class was August/September
2018. Julie Baumgartner from Coconino Community College was teaching a
math class in Flagstaff Arizona, 168 miles from the GED students. Once
we successfully signed on, we could see Julie on our computer screens,
we could hear her asking questions, and she even introduced her
students in Flagstaff to us. Our Supai students watched her working out
the problems on the board, and they could interact with the teacher.
Some of the students were giving her answers to the solved problem on
the board in real time. This was a historical moment for Supai because
it was the first online, live, interactive class that had happened in
the village.
While we have had successes, we also have more needs. The Tribe's
current BIE school only goes to the 8th grade, and for our children to
receive a high school diploma they are expected to up root from their
families at fourteen years old and attend a boarding school out of
state. A significant percentage of these children are unable to adjust
to living life with a family of strangers or in a dorm, and return to
the village, never going back to their studies. A credit recovery
program needs to be initiated for these children and a type of online
high school programming needs to be investigated and initiated to keep
educational progress sustained.
There are also health and emergency service needs. For over fifteen
years, the Tribe has been promised telemedicine services. This means
over those years many agencies had supplied us with telemedicine
equipment, all of which has been collecting dust because we lacked the
high-speed Internet capabilities to run fluid programming. Telemedicine
is so important because our community members have to stay out of the
canyon and pay for hotel costs that can sometimes be over $1,000 a week
when the helicopter only flies on Sunday and Friday in the winter. Our
community is also suffering from a suicide cluster and sometimes we are
left with no in person professional services for up to 3 weeks a month.
The Havasupai Reservation is also home to world famous waterfalls,
and 35,000 tourists visit the Reservation each year. We do not have
good emergency communication capabilities to the furthest gorge that
tourists like to visit, and their safety is our responsibility.
Navigating the canyon can sometimes be a life or death situation if
someone gets lost. During July 2017 the Tribe had to evacuate around
200 people because of flash flooding, which kept the campground closed
for months. These are some of the reasons the Havasupai Tribe must move
forward with upgrading the network.
The Havasupai submitted an application for a permanent license of
the EBS spectrum A channels in May 2018. However, the FCC had frozen
all EBS spectrum permanent license applications since 1995. But now the
FCC is rewriting the rules. After all our initial successes, Tribal
Council fully supported the MuralNet pilot project and I was sent to
Washington, D.C. to get the Havasupai Tribe the needed spectrum for our
future network expansion. With Mariel Triggs, the CEO of MuralNet, I
met with Members of Congress, their representatives and all of the FCC
Commissioners' offices, advocating for the need of a permanent license
for the Havasupai Tribe and for other Tribal nations to be able to
claim unused and unlicensed EBS spectrum over their lands.
The success of our pilot project with MuralNet has motivated the
Tribe to devote a part of its energy to upgrading the LTE Internet
network. Currently only seven homes in the center of the village with
direct line of site to the tower have had broadband speeds and homes on
the outskirts have some connection issues. More and faster Internet
connections means our network needs more bandwidth, equipment and
backhaul. The initial investment for MuralNet to complete the pilot
program was $15,000 in equipment costs and over $20,000 in lawyer fees,
which is a very low cost to start a network. The planned network
expansion would bring broadband coverage to the whole village, increase
backhaul from fifty Mbps to 1 Gbps, provide emergency communications
throughout the Canyon, connect an online charter high school, and allow
for telemedicine in the new clinic, which will be beginning
construction next year. To make our community network financially
sustainable, high-speed Internet access can be sold to tourists in the
campgrounds. The capital and network operator training costs are around
$250,000-$300,000. These actions are being initiated because the Tribe
has decided its people deserve the opportunities that are afforded by
broadband. And we will have to do it for ourselves. The ruralness and
population size of our community means there is no return on investment
for outside Internet service providers or major telecoms to consider
building the infrastructure.
The benefits we have seen from this project are benefits we have
not been able to realize in the canyon before. There is renewed hope in
the community and among Tribal Council that online educational
opportunities can become a reality on the canyon floor. Community
members can better their lives and their education through future
broadband expansion in Supai Village. The telemedicine that has been
promised to the community can finally work and begin to help the
community's spiritual, mental, and physical health at the new clinic.
These services that ordinary Americans have been using for the past 20
years are still not a reality for my entire community, but this is the
first glimmer of hope we have seen for decades.
The disparities felt by my community may be of the most extreme
examples felt by rural Tribal nations, but the disparities of the
Digital Divide are being felt all across Indian country. It is
extremely important to allocate funding to rural America, and Tribal
rural America, to build reliable broadband. If my community has had its
first opportunities to participate in online education in 2018, then
there are other communities out there who don't have the capabilities.
Extremely isolated areas are in desperate need of telemedicine services
and we still don't have those capabilities. That is an opportunity with
the monies you allocate to provide us that ability. The Havasupai would
use the funds to establish the community's first charter school and
credit recovery programs, which are desperately needed to increase the
morale of families to earn a better living and give them the
opportunity to live their best life.
I support monies allocated specifically to rural American Indian
Nations within the funds being negotiated to support Building
opportunity in rural America through affordable, reliable and high-
speed broadband. I can only speak to what is my expertise and that is
my community, the most isolated and rural Tribe in the lower 48 states,
which is the story of American Indian Country. If my story and
expertise can also expand into other parts of rural America and help
your decision making to support building opportunity for all rural
America, well then, I am also honored. I ask you to never to forget
about us again, living at the bottom of the canyon, having had no
access to online education or telemedicine services. We have felt left
out and forgotten for decades. Now you have the ability to help
communities like us, and I know that you will.
I will be honored to address any questions the Committee might have
of me. Thank you for your time.
Attachment
June 25, 2018
Hon. Ophelia Watahomigie-Corliss,
Havasupai Tribal Council,
Supai, AZ
Dear Council Member Watahomigie-Corliss,
This letter serves as an assurance for the use of WiFi routers
provided by the Havasupai Tribe. First, Havasupai Elementary School
administration and staff thank the Tribe for the use of the WiFi
routers located in some of the staff apartments. Second, school staff
members, including teachers, are able to connect to the WiFi Internet
for professional and personal access. Staff members use the Internet
connectivity for the following:
Lesson planning (i.e., Persons, NWEA, NASIS, etc.)
Research for instructional activities
On-line classes for professional development
Personal entertainment (i.e., Netflix, Hulu, news, email,
etc.)
We appreciate the Havasupai Tribe's support in helping make
Internet access available to our staff. In addition, the access helps
make living in teacher housing more enjoyable. If you have any
questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Dr. Maxine Roanhorse-Dineyazhe,
Acting Principal,
Havasupai Elementary School.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
Mr. Hurst, welcome. Please begin.
STATEMENT OF C. BLAKE HURST, PRESIDENT, MISSOURI FARM BUREAU
FEDERATION; BOARD MEMBER, AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION,
TARKIO, MO
Mr. Hurst. Good morning, Chairman Scott, Ranking Member
Scott, and Members of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on
Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit. My name is Blake Hurst
and I am from Atchison County, Missouri. I serve as President
of the Missouri Farm Bureau and sit on the Board of Directors
of American Farm Bureau Federation, whom I am representing here
today.
Broadband is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity. Rural
broadband is essential to modern agriculture, the farmers and
ranchers who grow our food, and for the quality of life in
rural America.
I am driving my combine and the phone rings. It is my 84
year old father who is driving another combine. The
conversation goes like this. Dad says, ``I just got a call from
John Deere.'' I said, ``Uh-huh.'' Dad says, ``They said I was
running out of DEF!'', which is a fuel additive we use. I said,
``Uh-huh.'' Days says, ``They are watching us!''
Farming has changed. We used to think that we just grew
corn and soybeans. Now we generate data, trillions of bits, all
containing information that can make us more efficient,
economical, and can reduce our environmental impact. On our
farm, that data allows us to supply more fertilizer on our most
productive land, cut fertilizer rates where yield potential is
less, vary seed populations in real-time across the field, and
yes, Dad, allows our equipment supplier to monitor our
machinery, alerting us to potential problems.
After we collect this data, we must transfer it from our
machines to the company who writes our prescriptions for
fertilizer and seed, share it with our partners, who supply our
seed, and eventually utilize it when making crop insurance and
other business decisions. Transferring this data, which is
essential to the future success of every farmer, requires
access to fast and reliable and affordable broadband.
My friends in the livestock industry use broadband-based
programs to monitor the development of each animal, analyze
markets, make data-driven management decisions, and from
monitoring feed usage and rations to scheduling delivery of
animals, livestock farmers use broadband daily to improve the
efficiency of their operations, and ensure the health of their
herds.
While broadband connectivity is critical on croplands and
ranchlands, rural communities also need broadband for
healthcare, government services, and educational and business
opportunities. We still have members who have to travel to the
nearest fast food restaurant in order to use a hotspot so their
children can finish their homework. That really is not
acceptable.
Broadband is important to rural Americans because we
deserve the ability to be a part of the larger society as well.
Current and future generations of rural Americans will be left
behind without adequate broadband service.
While most Americans take broadband for granted, 26 percent
of rural Americans lack access to broadband, compared to only
about two percent of urban Americans. And we have to use an
asterisk with even these figures, because the current data and
maps used to collect broadband coverage are inadequate.
The ability of the FCC and all other relevant agencies to
utilize accurate coverage is the highest priority. With limited
funding and an overabundance of need, more granular and
accurate maps are critical to successfully target and
distribute Federal broadband programs. That is why Farm Bureau
supports the, bipartisan, H.R. 3162, the Broadband Data
Improvement Act, that would improve the accuracy of broadband
coverage maps and better direct Federal funds for broadband
built-out. We say a special thanks to Representatives
O'Halleran, Kirkpatrick, and Marshall for their support and
sponsorship of this fine legislation.
Many of our state Farm Bureaus have engaged with their
state legislators to improve rural broadband development. We
helped organize the Missouri Broadband Initiative Working
Group, which brought together providers, local, state, and
Federal officials, and end-users of broadband. Many of the
challenged we identified in Missouri are addressed by the
changes made in the 2018 Farm Bill, including the high
deployment costs, delivering technology that will be adequate
for the future, accountability, mapping, and data collection,
and meeting technology needs of agriculture.
Thank you for your leadership in making the necessary
strides and providing the technology of the future, while
safeguarding taxpayer dollars. Farm Bureau appreciates the
Subcommittee's interest in rural broadband, and I am grateful
for the opportunity to share our perspective with your today.
We look forward to continuing to work with the Subcommittee in
advancing the shared goals which I have highlighted here today,
and I look forward to answering any questions you might have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hurst follows:]
Prepared Statement of C. Blake Hurst, President, Missouri Farm Bureau
Federation; Board Member, American Farm Bureau Federation, Tarkio, MO
Good morning, Chairman Scott (D-Ga.), Ranking Member Scott (R-Ga.),
and Members of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity
Exchanges, Energy, and Credit. My name is Blake Hurst, and I am a corn,
soybean, and greenhouse farmer from Atchison County, Missouri. I serve
as President of Missouri Farm Bureau and sit on the Board of Directors
for the American Farm Bureau Federation, whom I am representing here
today. Farm Bureau appreciates the opportunity to provide input on the
necessity of broadband technology on America's farms, ranches, and in
our agribusinesses.
A. Introduction
The American Farm Bureau Federation (Farm Bureau) is the nation's
largest general farm organization, with nearly six million-member
families, representing agricultural producers of nearly every type of
crop and livestock across all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
Broadband is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. Rural broadband
(fixed and mobile) is essential to modern agriculture, the farmers and
ranchers who grow our food and the quality of life for rural Americans.
I'm driving my combine, and the phone rings. It's my 84 year old
father, who is in our other combine. The conversation goes like this:
Dad. ``I just got a call from John Deere.''
Me. ``Uh huh.''
Dad. ``They said I was running out of DEF!'' (A diesel fuel
additive)
Me. ``Uh huh.''
Dad. ``They're watching us!''
Farming has changed. We used to think that we just grew corn and
soybeans. Now we also generate data. Trillions of bits, all containing
information that can make us more efficient, economical and reduce our
environmental impact. On our farm, that data allows us to apply more
fertilizer on our most productive land, cut rates where yield potential
is less, vary seed populations in real time as we travel across the
field, and yes, allows our equipment supplier to monitor our machinery,
alerting us to potential problems. After we collect this data, we must
transfer it from our machines to the company who writes our
``prescriptions,'' share it with our partners who supply our seed, and
eventually utilize it when making crop insurance and other business
decisions. Transferring this data, which is essential to the future
success of every farmer, requires access to fast reliable and
affordable broadband.
My friends in the livestock industry use broadband-based programs
to monitor the development of each animal they raise, analyze markets,
and make data-driven management decisions for their animals. From
monitoring feed usage and rations to scheduling delivery of animals,
livestock farmers use broadband daily to improve the efficiency of
their operations and ensure the health of their herds. Many
veterinarians communicate lab results through e-mail with livestock
farmers to get them information on animal health as quickly as
possible. All the data collected can be compiled into production
reports which help farmers make more informed decisions about their
farm and ranch.
While most Americans take broadband for granted, 26.4 percent of
rural Americans lack access to broadband.\1\ This is alarming,
particularly when compared to the only 1.7 percent of urban Americans
who lack such access.\2\ However, an asterisk must be used alongside
these figures because the current data and maps used to collect
broadband coverage is flawed and fails to accurately determine
broadband access. Farmers and ranchers, who already have seen a drastic
50 percent decline in net farm income in the last 4 years, must have
access to fixed and mobile broadband to be more efficient, economical
and responsive to environmental needs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ FCC Broadband Progress Report, https://docs.fcc.gov/public/
attachments/FCC-19-44A1.pdf, 2019.
\2\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Improvements to Rural Prosperity
Precision Agriculture and Farming Business
Farmers and ranchers depend on broadband (fixed and mobile) just as
they rely on highways, railways and waterways to ship food, fuel and
fiber across the country and around the world. Many of the latest yield
maximizing farming techniques require broadband connections for data
collection and analysis performed both on the farm and in remote data
centers. However, 29 percent of U.S. farms have no access to the
Internet according to the USDA report, ``Farm Computer Usage and
Ownership, 2017.''
America's farmers and ranchers embrace technology that allows their
farming businesses to be more efficient, economical and environmentally
sensitive. Today's farmers and ranchers are using precision
agricultural techniques to make decisions that impact the amount of
fertilizer a farmer needs to purchase and apply to the field, the
amount of water needed to sustain the crop, and the amount and type of
herbicides or pesticides the farmer may need to apply. These are only a
few examples of the reasons farmers use broadband connectivity to
achieve optimal yield, lower environmental impact and maximize profits.
According to USDA's ``A Case for Rural Broadband,'' if access to
broadband and adoption of digital agricultural technologies matched
producer demand, U.S. agriculture would realize benefits amounting to
nearly 18 percent of total U.S. market production, or $64.5 billion
annually, based on 2017 levels. Farm Bureau's economic team analyzed
the USDA report and wrote a Market Intel story, ``Unleashing Broadband
on Rural America Leads to Nearly $65 Billion in Economic Benefits
Annually.'' The entire Market Intel story is attached as Appendix A to
this testimony. Some highlights from this analysis include:
Row Crops--The highest rate of adoption for precision
technology used to improve yields and reduce costs is in the
already highly mechanized row crop sector. USDA estimates
connected technologies in row crops could result in a $13.1
billion gross benefit annually from next generation precision
agriculture.
Livestock and Dairy--According to the USDA's estimates, the
livestock and dairy sectors are poised to benefit the most from
next generation precision agriculture, with annual potential
gross benefits totaling $20.6 billion. The majority of
estimated benefits come from the production side and are
focused on increased efficiency of animal care.
Specialty Crops--Like row crop growers, specialty crop
farmers could also see major gains with the adoption of new
production and planning technology. Total annual benefits for
next generation precision ag for specialty crops is estimated
at $13.3 billion.
Broadband is important to our businesses in more prosaic ways.
Farmers and ranchers rely on broadband access to manage and operate
successful businesses, the same as small businesses do in urban and
suburban America. Access to broadband is essential for farmers and
ranchers to follow commodity markets, communicate with their customers,
gain access to new markets around the world and, increasingly, for
regulatory compliance. Additionally, our accounting program requires us
to download the latest tax data to do payroll and prepare our taxes. We
use broadband to place orders for our greenhouse business and can check
availability and pricing in real time. We would not be in business
without access to broadband, and we cannot compete with businesses in
more urban areas if we don't have connectivity.
Quality of Life
Rural communities need access to health care, government services,
and educational and business opportunities. For many rural communities,
access can only be gained by using broadband services and sophisticated
technologies that require high-speed connections. There are Farm Bureau
members who need to take their kids to the parking lot of the nearest
fast food restaurant to do research papers and complete their homework
because their house does not have access to broadband. This is
unacceptable. As more and more primary care physicians and specialists
leave rural communities, telemedicine has become a necessity to provide
critical healthcare to our parents and kids. I'm concerned for the
well-being of my 84 year old father, who still is a full-time farmer.
I've listed business, health, and educational reasons for
broadband's importance, but it's also important to rural Americans
because we deserve the ability to be part of the larger society as
well. Many families live across town, in another state or possibly
another country and broadband allow families to connect, even when they
are miles apart. Broadband allows grandparents to connect with their
grandchildren through FaceTime and Skype. Streaming videos, using
social media and participating in popular culture is important for
social interactions. Rural Americans should have access to the same
media as our urban neighbors.
Current and future generations of rural Americans will be left
behind their fellow citizens if they are without affordable high-speed
broadband service that enables them to tap into health care and
education services, government agencies, and create new business
opportunities.
C. 2018 Farm Bill Modifications
In the last few years, Farm Bureau members have elevated the
priority of broadband access and affordability because of its impact on
their daily lives. Farm Bureau has included rural broadband deployment
as one of its strategic action issues for 2019 because many of our farm
families are frustrated with the lack of services available in rural
America.
Many of our state Farm Bureaus have engaged with their state
legislatures to expand rural broadband deployment and have been
conducting research on the impact of broadband deployment for rural
communities. Let me walk you through some of the research that the
Missouri Farm Bureau conducted concerning the deficits in current
broadband programs provided at the state and Federal level. We helped
organize the Missouri Broadband Initiative Working Group, which brought
together broadband providers, local, state, and Federal officials, and
end-users of broadband. Together, this group identified multiple
opportunities and challenges to broadband deployment in our state and
around the country. We now have a state broadband grant program and
will soon roll out a comprehensive state broadband plan.
The recent changes in the 2018 Farm Bill made necessary strides in
providing the technology of the future while safeguarding taxpayer
dollars. Many of the challenges that we identified in Missouri are
addressed by these changes, including:
High Deployment Costs: Time and time again we have heard
about the high cost of deploying broadband to rural areas. The
2018 Farm Bill increased the authorization for broadband
deployment from $25 million to $350 million to help facilitate
more broadband development nationwide. In addition, the farm
bill established a grant program to help providers who are
reaching the most rural citizens. It is crucial that these
programs are fully funded at the authorized level to help
ensure that rural communities can benefit from broadband
services.
Delivering Technology of the Future: Prior to the passage of
the 2018 Farm Bill, some rural broadband programs did not
deliver service that is adequate and scalable into the future.
The 2018 Farm Bill focused on ``future-proof'' technology and
established benchmarks for broadband services. By giving USDA
the authority to set minimum acceptable standards based on the
life of the loan or grant awarded, we are ensuring that our tax
dollars are not being spent on technology that will be outdated
by the time projects are complete.
Accountability: Ensuring judicious use of taxpayer dollars
was a priority in the 2018 Farm Bill. Thanks to the work of the
House and Senate Agriculture Committees, more safeguards are in
place to make sure that the services promised are the services
delivered by loan and grant recipients. Prior to this
legislation, very few safeguards existed in this regard. It is
vital that when Federal programs come into an area to address
the lack of access that they do it right the first time.
Mapping and Data Collection: Knowing where adequate
broadband services do and do not exist is crucial to crafting
sound public policies related to broadband deployment. The 2018
Farm Bill made significant progress in streamlining applicant
processes and took steps to drill down to more granular data
sets in determining where services are being provided. Missouri
is fortunate to have been selected for a mapping pilot program,
but more work remains on ensuring that the data collected
nationwide is accurate and adequately reflects the current
needs of our rural communities.
Meeting the Technology Needs of Agriculture: In response to
the growing needs of agriculture, the 2018 Farm Bill
established the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Task Force.
This legislation directs the FCC and U.S. Department of
Agriculture to work together to identify gaps in mobile
broadband coverage to farmland and ranchland. Then, policies
will be recommended to fill 90 percent of those identified gaps
by 2025. The legislation is an important step in changing the
way the FCC and other agencies think about rural broadband as
we strive to build the information infrastructure that modern
production agriculture increasingly needs to be successful.
Farm Bureau looks forward to participating in the nomination
process.
D. Importance of Broadband Mapping to Agriculture
As efforts to improve access to broadband in rural areas continue,
the ability of the FCC and all other relevant agencies to utilize
accurate coverage maps is the highest priority. With limited funding to
address an estimated $45-$65 billion issue and an overabundance of
need, more granular and accurate maps are critical to successfully
target and distribute Federal broadband programs. Currently, the FCC's
National Broadband Map relies on Census block data to determine which
areas are served, underserved, and unserved across the country. Census
blocks are too large in rural and remote areas to accurately target
broadband investments. If even one household in a given Census block is
reported by a provider as being served, then the entire block is
considered served and is therefore likely excluded from eligibility to
receive Federal funds for rural broadband buildout. There are more than
3,200 Census blocks across the country that are larger than the
District of Columbia, and five that are larger than the state of
Connecticut. In fact, Census blocks larger than 2\2\ miles comprise
more than 64 percent of the U.S. land area, which means that every
rural area is impacted by this problem in some way.
Farm Bureau recommends that more granular data be used to determine
areas of coverage. Gathering and, equally as important, verifying the
data to accurately target and distribute the funding is critical to the
success of broadband deployment for rural America. Adjustments in the
data collection matrix to develop the mapping will assist in
identifying areas in rural America where the digital divide is the
greatest.
Farm Bureau supports H.R. 3162, the Broadband Data Improvement Act,
that would improve the accuracy of broadband coverage maps and better
direct Federal funds for broadband buildout. This bipartisan bill would
require broadband providers to report data to create an improved
National Broadband Map that is significantly more accurate and
granular, an outcome that Farm Bureau policy supports. To improve
accuracy and granularity, H.R. 3162 includes a three-pronged data
validation process that focuses on: public feedback, third-party
commercial datasets and on-the-ground field validation.
E. Broadband Coverage for Croplands and Ranchlands
We strongly advocate for the inclusion of cropland and ranchland as
a metric of broadband access. Precision agricultural equipment requires
reliable, high capacity fixed and mobile broadband connections for data
collection and analysis performed both on the farm and in remote data
centers. As more precision equipment becomes available, farmers cannot
take full advantage of that equipment if they do not have access to
reliable, high capacity broadband in the field or on the farm.
F. Conclusion
Farm Bureau appreciates the Subcommittee's interest in rural
broadband and I am grateful for the opportunity to share our
perspective with you today. Rural broadband (fixed and mobile) is
essential to modern agriculture, the farmers and ranchers who grow our
food and the quality of life for rural Americans. Broadband is no
longer a luxury, it's a necessity.
We look forward to continuing to work with the Subcommittee in
advancing the shared goals, which I have highlighted here today.
Appendix A
Unleashing Broadband on Rural American Leads to Nearly $65 Billion in
Economic Benefits Annually
https://www.fb.org/market-intel/unleashing-broadband-on-rural-america-
leads-to-nearly-65-billion-in-econom
Market Intel
June 17, 2019
By: Megan Nelson, Economic Analyst
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Credit: Mauricio Lima/CC BY 2.0.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Editor's note: the video is retained in Committee file; it
can be accessed at: https://youtu.be/6FDl-XjuDro.
According to USDA's ``A Case for Rural Broadband, (https://
www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/case-for-rural-
broadband.pdf)'' if access to broadband and adoption of digital
agricultural technologies matched producer demand, U.S. agriculture
would realize benefits amounting to nearly 18% of total U.S. market
production, or $64.5 billion annually, based on 2017 levels. The
report, published by the American Broadband Initiative, analyzes the
possible economic benefits of bringing e-connectivity to the heartland
and, more importantly, what needs to be done to make it happen.
From the way producers store and ship commodities to the way
consumers purchase their food, the introduction and widespread usage of
the household refrigerator has irrevocably changed the food supply
chain system. A similar shift is upon us with the advent of digital
technology and next generation precision agriculture, resulting in
ever-increasing productivity with fewer inputs, better market access
and healthier rural communities. Just as electricity allowed for
refrigeration, to realize the benefits of this new digital technology,
high-speed broadband service must be available everywhere.
Figure 1. Annual Potential Gross Economic Benefit of Precision
Agriculture Technologies Derived from Broadband
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Source: USDA.
Benefits
Row Crops
The highest rate of adoption for precision technology used to
improve yields and reduce costs is in the already highly mechanized row
crop sector. USDA estimates connected technologies in row crops could
result in a $13.1 billion gross benefit annually from next generation
precision ag. Technology for improved planning, such as microclimate
modeling, yield monitoring and precision seeding, is estimated to have
a combined potential annual gross benefit of $4.2 billion, with $1.1
billion attributable to access to broadband services. On the production
side of new technologies, the potential is even greater at $6.7 billion
in possible benefits derived from precision agriculture, with $2.5
billion attributable to broadband. With an average dependence of 34% on
broadband services to utilize these new technologies, the key to
unlocking these significant gains is full deployment and adoption of
broadband infrastructure. Figure 1 outlines the potential benefits for
row crop production and planning technology compared to the potential
attributable to broadband with the percent of technology dependent on
broadband.
Figure 2. Potential Benefits for Row Crops By Digital Technology Type
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Source: USDA, Farm Bureau calculations.
Specialty Crops
Like row crop growers, specialty crop farmers could also see major
gains with the adoption of new production and planning technology.
Total annual benefits for next generation precision ag for specialty
crops is estimated at $13.3 billion. With a possible increase of $8.5
billion, market coordination efforts will likely get the biggest boost
from the adoption of digital technologies. Of the new opportunities in
market coordination, direct-to-consumer sales are estimated to post a
potential annual gross benefit of $6.4 billion, with $3.2 billion in
potential attributable to broadband. Specialty crop producers can
shorten the supply chain by utilizing digital platforms. USDA estimates
a revenue increase of 50% per unit of apples, 649% per unit of salad
mix and 183% per unit of blueberries. Figure 2 illustrates the
breakdown of potential financial benefits from next generation
precision ag and the amount attributable to access to broadband
services.
Figure 3. Potential Benefits in Specialty Crops from Digital Technology
By Business Function
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Source: USDA, Farm Bureau calculations.
Livestock and Dairy
According to the USDA's estimates, the livestock and dairy sectors
are poised to benefit the most from next generation precision ag, with
annual potential gross benefits totaling $20.6 billion. The majority of
estimated benefits come from the production side and are focused on
increased efficiency of animal care. Utilizing Bluetooth technology,
animal wearables transmit general health data directly to the producer,
resulting in a 15% reduction in medication per animal, as well as a
shortening of the cattle finishing process by 4 to 6 weeks.
Technological advances in general health monitoring alone are estimated
to generate $8.8 billion in annual gross benefits. Unsurprisingly, as
poised as producers in the livestock and dairy sectors are to reap
enormous benefits from next generation precision ag, they are also the
most dependent on reliable high-speed broadband to enable new
technological advancements. Figure 3 outlines the potential benefits
for livestock and dairy compared to the potential attributable to
broadband along with the percent of technology dependent on broadband.
Figure 4. Potential Benefits for Livestock and Dairy By Digital
Technology Type
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Source: USDA, Farm Bureau calculations.
Strategies for Action
As with electricity, the dawn of digital technology has brought an
unimaginable amount of change to every aspect of our lives. Precision
agriculture has led to 7.5% fewer people at risk of going hungry in
developing countries and an up to 80% reduction in the application of
crop protection tools. However, while new technology is able to inform
and improve business decision making, without widespread adoption of
next generation precision agriculture tools and access to broadband
infrastructure, these benefits cannot be realized.
USDA has outlined key priorities for strategic action planning
involving improved broadband deployment, incentivizing innovative
technologies and creating environments for innovation, strategic
funding and communication. To bring broadband services to even the most
remote areas, public and private entities must work closely with
communities to determine specific needs and challenges. Reducing
barriers in Federal processes to access government assets is one of the
cornerstones of the American Broadband Initiative and continues to be a
focus at the Federal level. The task of actualizing broadband
infrastructure relies on funding for deployment as well as for new
innovations that can lead to long-term successes for the entire sector.
Summary
USDA's report puts the hypothesized potential benefits that
broadband technology and infrastructure could bring to rural areas at
$64.5 billion annually. Increasing the availability of broadband to all
of rural America, coupled with increased precision agriculture adoption
are estimated to increase the gross economic benefits to row crop
agriculture by 4%, adding up to $5.9 billion, increasing 19% for
specialty crops, or up to $8.6 billion, and 7%, or up to $23 billion,
for livestock.
One limitation of the report is it does not incorporate the
implementation costs, which will inevitably be incurred by rural
residents, service providers and/or state and Federal Governments. As
such, this report should be seen as a tool to illustrate the potential
of broadband technology, rather than the only source for future
investment-related decision-making.
USDA leaves us with this call to action--spread the word. For the
full economic benefits of high-speed broadband to be realized
throughout rural areas, adoption rates of precision agriculture tools
and next generation technology must be much higher. All potential
benefits are estimations based on rigorous research; however, producers
must perform their own cost-benefit analysis to see where these
emerging technologies fit in their operations.
Contact: Megan Nelson, Economic Analyst, (202) 406-3629,
megann@fb.org, twitter.com/@MeganRNelson1
The Chairman. Thank you very much, and thank each of you
for your testimonies. They were very informative and it gave us
much, much information that some of us were not really aware
of. And so, we thank you for that.
Now we go to questions for the Members. Members will be
recognized for questioning in order of seniority for Members
who were here at the start of the hearing. After that, Members
will be recognized in order of arrival.
And I will start things off. I recognize myself for 5
minutes.
Dr. Hess, may I please start with you, because in your
testimony, you talked about the Stroke Belt, and Georgia is
right there in the heart of that.
Let me share with you some of the latest statistics. In
Georgia, 3.5 percent of adults in Georgia had a stroke in 2018.
In rural areas, the statistic for Georgia was 6.1, nearly twice
that average. And it was 8.2 percent in 2017. This is one of
the reasons I give a health fair every single year in my
district for each of the 17 years we got here, and we address
that dearly. We have the doctors and the physicians and all the
great hospitals, as you may be aware. We have great recognition
for this health fair, and that is what we address so much.
Can you explain the increases and decreases of these
statistics, and also, can you tell us the answer to: are we
doing something differently year to year, or are stroke numbers
normally this varied?
Dr. Hess. Yes, Chairman Scott, those are very good points.
So, not only is Georgia in the Stroke Belt, but most of the
coastal plain of the Southeast, so South Carolina, North
Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama. And it is usually in the
coastal plain, but it is. There are racial disparities, too.
African American men have a very high rate compared to whites.
African American men are the highest, and African American
women, and then it drops down to white women and men.
The Chairman. Yes. What would be a rate racially on that?
That is a very good point. What is the magnitude or the
differentiation?
Dr. Hess. Well, it is a ratio of probably between 1.5 and 2
times as high, but you have to look at age. You have to adjust
it for age, and the tragedy is, like the patient I talked
about, 45 years old. In Georgia, in the Stroke Belt, we have
strokes occurring a decade earlier than other parts of the
country. Not only are there more strokes, but they are
occurring in the prime of life. It is not unusual to see a 45
or a 50 year old person. It is not just elderly people who are
having strokes.
And the other thing is the strokes were only the tip of the
iceberg. I don't want to get too off broadband here, but there
are a lot of silent strokes that occur that people don't even
know about. For every stroke you have, there are five silent
strokes, and that is a big contributor to dementia. A lot of
this could be--I would rather actually focus on prevention than
just treating the stroke would be better. It is treatment of
hypertension is by far and away the biggest bang for your buck.
We don't have as many programs as we used to have to treat
hypertension, and a lot of rural patients don't have good
access to healthcare, and so their blood pressure isn't as well
treated.
African Americans have a higher prevalence of hypertension.
They have more difficult to treat hypertension, and for any
given level of blood pressure, they have more end organ damage
like stroke. There are these definite racial differences and
they tend to be accentuated in rural areas where there is less
access to healthcare.
The Chairman. Right. Well, thank you very much for that.
Ms. Mollgaard, you gave a very interesting saying. You
said--if I can remember correctly, you said ``If you want to go
fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.'' What did
you mean by that? Give us an example of what you meant.
Ms. Mollgaard. Yes, it is an African proverb that I have
heard and it really resonates with the work that we do on our
local community level. To do the work that all of us here are
doing, you need to forge these partnerships with a variety of
sectors. You have to work with your government. You have to
work with your schools. You have to work with your local
businesses to really drive sustainable change in your
community.
That quote I like because it might take more time. This
work is heavy lifting, but when you bring the right people
together and everyone is at the table, you can make a lasting
impact for your communities, your regions, your states, and the
nation.
The Chairman. Well, thank you very much. I hope you won't
mind if I use that. I am going to be on television promoting my
health fair, and I will use that. But I will give you credit.
That is a great saying.
Ms. Mollgaard. It was not from me. I just resaid----
The Chairman. Oh, it is from Africa. Good.
I now recognize the gentleman from Georgia, Ranking Member
Scott.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was
waiting on the good doctor down there to give us a lecture
about the fact that we go so far as to fry our vegetables,
fried okra, fried tomatoes, we haven't figured out how to fry
lettuce yet, but we pretty much fry everything before we eat it
down there. Certainly, the way we eat, and it is good eating.
Dr. Hess. Yes.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. It has an impact on the
strokes we have.
I want to focus first, Mr. Hurst, on you. I remember the
old days of my granddad's 4430, and you pull a broadcast
spreader, and when you turn the irrigation on, you put just as
much water on the wet area as you did on the dry area.
Can you talk a little further--and you mentioned this
briefly. Can you talk further about how you and your
colleagues, and the ag industry as a whole, is able to utilize
broadband on the farm to help reduce the inputs, fertilizer,
pesticides, water, the way that they help production
agriculture be more profitable and have less impact on the
environment, while at the same time having greater yields?
Mr. Hurst. Well, we keep pretty accurate yield maps as we
go across the field, and basically we can check the yield for
down to a few square feet. And it is counterintuitive, but what
you learn when you do that is to put a little more fertilizer
on the parts that are green on the map that are of higher
yields, a little less fertilizer where it is less productive.
Before, we would use the same amount of fertilizer across the
field, and it was wasted on places where the soil was thinner,
was poor. We also do the same thing with seed, higher
population where we have better capacity for yield. The less
runoff obviously saves us money, but maybe more important for
society, it saves the application of chemicals that can cause
problems when they end up in the wrong place.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. I would add to the fact that
the machinery today is much more complicated than it was in the
past, and if you have a problem, my tractor's instruction
manual is literally on my iPhone. But if I don't have access to
the Internet, I can't get the information I need.
Mr. Hurst. Yes, we absolutely use--just Google a problem,
and if they can't fix it and we have to have a tech come out
from our dealership, the first thing he does is hook up to the
Internet to start tracing the codes.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. I beg to differ. The first
thing he does is he starts that timer when he leaves the shop
and they get a pretty penny, as my granddad would say.
Mr. Hurst. Absolutely.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. Doctor, you have a
relationship with Tift Regional Hospital where my father is a
physician. I know I have talked with him many times in the
past, him as an orthopedic surgeon and trauma surgeon. Just the
ability in rural America for a physician to pull up an X-ray at
their home instead of having to drive to the hospital to look
at a patient to know if that is something that is an emergency,
an emergency that requires an operation today, or if it is
something that the patient is actually better off with a ``wait
and see'' approach.
If you could expand a little further on how it is helping
deliver healthcare into the rural parts of the country, I would
appreciate that.
Dr. Hess. Yes. Well, almost any hospital to conduct any
kind of business has to have broadband now, because you are
sending images. Like you said, if your father wants to look at
an image at home or if they are sending images to be read by
these different teleradiology firms, which may be in Australia
reading things.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. That is right.
Dr. Hess. And so you have to have that to function. The
trouble is at peak times that bandwidth, there is a lot of
competition for that bandwidth in a hospital, and that is the
problem.
The problem is getting into patient homes, is the other
problem, and getting into clinics. A lot of times they don't
have broadband access.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. I was thinking the physician's
home.
Dr. Hess. Yes. Well, the physician's office even can have
trouble, you are right. I mean, you can have down times. Even
we sometimes have trouble in Augusta. One of the worst things
that ever happens is if my cable goes out from a lightning
storm. Because I do telestroke, we all have backup systems;
but, we have to have wireless backup systems. You are right.
Even for physicians trying to conduct business, it is very
difficult in rural areas.
In Tifton, where you are, you already recounted the issues.
And that is probably one of the better places we have seen in
rural Georgia. I mean, some of the places we see, these 25 bed
hospitals, they really struggle.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. Right.
Dr. Hess. They struggle. I don't know how they do it.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. My time is about to expire.
I want to say this. As someone who--from Tift County, we
are very fortunate to have a quality medical community there.
We also have I-75 and 319 and 82 that come through there, and
as you know, we have a shortage of neurologists in the area.
And when we have a neurological incident, if we are not able to
have the telemedicine--even if you are able to have the
telemedicine, one of the biggest questions is which way does
the ambulance go? Does it go to Thomasville? Does it go to
Macon, or does it head your way? Because in these areas where
you have so few neurologists, even if the closest hospital--if
that neurologist isn't there or if that neurologist is in a
long procedure, the quickest help is sometimes further away.
Dr. Hess. Yes.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. And the access to immediately
know where that patient needs to go in those situations it
truly is the difference in life and death.
But thank you for being here.
Dr. Hess. Yes.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. Maybe we can have a second
round of questions.
The Chairman. Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Scott.
And now we will hear from the distinguished lady from
Minnesota, Ms. Craig.
Ms. Craig. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you
to the Ranking Member today for holding this hearing.
We all know that broadband is the gateway to rural schools,
businesses, and healthcare providers. I am extremely pleased to
have Red Wing, Minnesota's own Neela Mollgaard here to share
the success story of Red Wing, one of the most incredible
stories of how broadband can transform a community's economic
future.
Neela, in your testimony, you mentioned that Red Wing
Ignite has played a significant role in creating new
educational opportunities for students in STEM, coding, and
hands-on internships. How does broadband access expand the
learning opportunities available to students outside of the
classroom, and additionally, how does your organization
collaborate with local school districts to improve those career
pathways for students?
Ms. Mollgaard. I am happy to answer, once my microphone is
on here. Yes. When we launched our nonprofit, we felt we should
be focusing on our current innovators, the startup community.
We learned quickly, though, we also need to help the future
innovators. On our daily work with our manufacturers, with the
startups we support, and the new next gen technology that we
see in the nation, we know that there are new skills that are
needed today, and those are in artificial intelligence and
cyber security, in coding, in automation, and so, our schools
and schools all around might not have the capacity or the
ability to teach those new skills that are needed.
We work with our partners in our school districts and our
local college to try to provide those skills necessary for the
students, whether that be inside or outside of the classroom.
A couple years ago, we started a STEAM team. We added A in
there for the Arts. And what we did is we tried to provide more
learning opportunities for these students with those skills
that are so needed right now. What we learned, though, is we
didn't want to do one and done programming. We wanted to do
sustainable, impactful change. And so, we worked even closer
with the schools to help provide some leadership to implement a
new careers pathway at our K-12 system, which will be new
curriculum and experiential learning for our schools.
I am pleased to say that out of the four pathways, two will
focus on technology and science, and the other would be
business and entrepreneurship.
Ms. Craig. Thank you for that. You really addressed my
second question in your answer, because we were talking about
that as well, because we are looking at how do we make sure
that your program is aligning Red Wing with the jobs skills
that are needed in greater Minnesota.
Can you talk a little bit about just--I know this
Committee, and I am also on the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee--we often talk about how can we make
sure that people can earn a good opportunity and living where
they want to live? Please talk a little bit more about the
entrepreneurship that has been unleashed. It is just stunning
to me that you have been able to incorporate all of this here
and in what is just a beautiful Mississippi River town that is
growing by leaps and bounds.
Ms. Mollgaard. Yes. We have had some early successes with
increasing the job market and keeping our community
competitive. One program I could focus on is our Learn and Earn
Program. It is one in five pilots in the State of Minnesota,
working with high school students in high-demand, high-growth
jobs. We have placed students in manufacturers around us, and
they not only get a college certification, but work site
learning. They can choose the path. Is it college or is it
directly into career? And so, success rates right now, we have
five students going to a technical college. We have four going
to a university for engineering, and three got a job
immediately out of high school for local employers.
With our startups, too, we are just providing the tools
needed to be able to advance their business one step at a time
with tools that they would not automatically have.
Ms. Craig. Thank you so much. I just want to add that this
hearing is incredibly important. We are talking about
broadband, but I hope we all see that through your testimony
here today, Neela, it takes intentional leadership. It takes
collaboration to make sure that we reap the full benefits and
opportunities of the Federal dollars that we are investing in
these programs.
Thank you for being here, and with that, I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you, Ms. Craig.
Now, Mr. Baird, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Baird. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Minority Member
Scott as well. I appreciate the opportunity to have questions
which deal with--my first one deals with telehealth.
Purdue University's Center for Regional Development has
conducted numerous studies on a lack of rural broadband and
social and economic benefits to Americans, and what can be
gained from increasing that access. Many of you as witnesses
mentioned those benefits here today.
In the Wabash Valley Heartland Innovation Network, it is a
ten county area in my district that includes much of the area
of about 97,500 people, and they don't have access to
residential broadband. We have been interested in expanding the
appropriations that would be involved in improving or funding
distance learning and telemedicine, and to give better access
to the equipment that would that.
Dr. Hess, I would ask you if you would care to elaborate on
the types of healthcare services that can be--in addition to
what you work with that might be provided to a patient in his
or her home, and I am also looking at the kind of equipment
that works best for that patient in order to receive that
telehealth and telemedicine.
Dr. Hess. Yes. One of the biggest needs is telepsychiatry
and telemental health. It is a huge need. Actually, if you look
at requests that we get, it is often for telepsychiatry. There
is a big movement now to develop different platforms, because
that is a huge need.
Some of that would be done in clinics. Some of it could
potentially be done in patient homes. Most of the things in
patient homes would be more preventative care. In medicine, we
are not very good at preventative care. We tend to be in a fee
for service world where the more we do as physicians, we get
paid. That is just how the reimbursement is set up. But we
would like to go to a world where we are rewarded and
reimbursed for preventing disease. But we are not there yet.
A lot of this can be done, as I mentioned--it doesn't have
to be--there is such a shortage of physicians now in many areas
that a lot of this can be done with nurses, nurse
practitioners. They tend to be very, very good at this,
developing relationships. You look at patients that have
complex diseases, chronic diseases like diabetes and
hypertension, and you focus on them. And a lot of that managing
can be done by nurses in the home or pharmacists to review
their medication.
The other big group is, at five percent, we call them the
super users. Five percent of patients consume about 50 percent
of the healthcare resources. They go to emergency rooms. They
get admitted a lot. And that would be a group to focus on, and
there has been some movement now to focus on those patients. It
can't all be done through telehealth. You do need boots-on-the-
ground. You need to touch people. You can't do everything by
telehealth, but telehealth is a great adjunct, particularly in
rural areas.
The other thing is we can provide--specialists tend not to
be in rural areas, and telehealth is a great way to bring a
specialist consultation, if not to a patient's home, to a
community health clinic where they are going. I think it is a
combination.
Most of the stuff in a patient home is monitoring for
diseases you have, so you are monitoring the blood pressure. We
are not very good at controlling blood pressure. And a lot of
times, it is because we put people on so many medications, they
can't keep track of them. I can't take three pills a day. I
forget. How can we expect our patients to take ten pills a day?
That is best done by nurses, nurse practitioners, and
pharmacists. Doctors, we are not too good at that, honestly.
Mr. Baird. [audio malfunction in hearing room.]
Dr. Hess. Well, there are a lot of vendors. Our company
that we sold was mostly focused on more in the hospital base,
but there are more and more units you can use at the home. They
are much simpler. They are often--you want to do something with
an iPad or a computer. There are more and more things you can
do with an iPad now, but you need the broadband connectivity.
And on an iPad or a tablet, I should say, you can put a lot of
patient education. Because, we are not very good also at
educating our patients. We tend to rush through. We tell them
we are going to get an echocardiogram. They don't know what
that is. A lot of that information could be put on tablets that
they could work with.
There are a number of systems. I don't want to go through
all the commercials. There are a number of companies that do
that; but, if you have the connectivity, you can always find a
vendor to help you with the technology. The connectivity and
the human factors are more important than the technology. I
mean, the technology is almost a commodity. There are many good
vendors for it.
Mr. Baird. Thank you very much, and I see I am out of time.
I wish I had time to ask every one of the witnesses. I have
questions.
But thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
The Chairman. Well, thank you very much.
Now we recognize the distinguished lady from Iowa, Mrs.
Axne.
Mrs. Axne. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, for
holding this important hearing.
Rural broadband, of course, is essential to modern
agriculture, small businesses, and rural communities, as so
many of you are talking about today. And as a Member of this
Committee and a member of the Rural Broadband Task Force,
getting our rural communities connected to the Internet so they
can grow and thrive is definitely one of my highest priorities.
Iowa ranks among the top ten best states for education,
opportunity, healthcare access, but it comes in 33rd for
Internet connection. The FCC defines rural broadband as 25
megabits per second. As a reference, watching a movie on
Netflix takes at least 5 megabits per second, and our rural
communities and farmers, as several of you have pointed out,
are not sitting around watching TV. Many of the latest farming
technologies require broadband connections for data access and
analysis of their fields. Farmers and businesses rely on
broadband access to manage their inventory, communicate with
customers, and grow online. Adequate broadband access is
critical to the success of our rural communities, small
business owners, and farmers.
According to the FCC, 26.4 percent of rural Americans lack
access to adequate Internet speeds, and that is definitely true
in my district. We don't know how many Iowans are lacking
broadband access because current FCC maps indicate a much
higher connectivity rate than actual data from our local
communications companies. There are large parts of my
district--and I can tell you this from firsthand experience--
where cell phone service isn't even available, much less
Internet. And in the areas that do have Internet coverage,
there can be huge differences.
For instance, in Red Oak, it is ranked 54th among all Iowa
cities for Internet connection, but literally just 23 miles
away in a town very similar in size, Shenandoah, it is ranked
430th. And even my largest city, Des Moines, has 37 percent
slower Internet connectivity than the national average.
I think much of this comes from the disparity of the last
mile, which is when Internet providers won't extend into the
areas that they see as unprofitable, often stopping right at
county lines or just outside the business district, leaving
rural communities to either foot the bill or not be able to
compete in a 21st century economy.
I want to highlight some folks in Montgomery County, Iowa,
and the important work they are doing, led by Shawnna Silvius,
the Director of Montgomery County Economic Development.
Montgomery County is leveraging USDA's new Market Tax Credit
Program to complete that final mile of connectivity, and when
they are successful, they will literally be the first county in
Iowa to have certified fiber optic to every home and business.
The first in Iowa, and it is 2019.
When I spoke with Shawnna and Red Oak Mayor Bill Billings,
Montgomery County supervisors Brian Amos, Mike Olson, and local
business owners like Kevin Cabbage and Mickey Anderson about
the economic development that high-speed Internet brings, they
all shared that connecting our rural communities is critical to
ensuring our rural communities survive.
From finding all the right avenues to funding, to
navigating all the different agencies, the USDA, FCC,
Department of Commerce, et cetera, our communities have very
little guidance or assistance. I am really happy to have you
all here today, because given your experience, you have been
successful in navigating these broadband issues and helping
connect your communities.
I would ask any one of you to comment and give me the
advice that you have to help communities like mine who are
either struggling to get started, having trouble finding enough
funding, or who need to close that last mile gap. Thank you.
Mr. Hengel. Thank you, Congresswoman. Great questions and
great comments, by the way. I think your district is similar to
mine, I would imagine, in what we deal with.
First off, I want to recognize the fact that there is bad
data out there, and I think that is important that we gather
some data.
We were lucky in my region because we had a cooperative
that has decided to lay the fiber, because it is part of their
mission. They believe deeply that economic development and
community development is part of their mission as a rural
cooperative. And so, that we are very lucky to do so.
With MidCo also having a personal interest and as a
company--the success allowed them to make what would be
decisions that are beyond what I would say would be business
case analysis.
And so, I think that you have to use all the resources you
can. You have to bring together both the business community as
well as the education community, the healthcare community, and
make the case. In Minnesota, we created the Office of
Broadband, which has provided some leverage funds as well as
Federal funds, to start reaching that extra mile, which is
incredibly difficult to get to.
Mrs. Axne. Thank you. Any other comments?
Mr. Hurst. Yes, please. Thank you. I live about 20 miles
south of Shenandoah, so I can certainly agree with the lack of
broadband in that community.
Good help in Missouri from rural electric cooperatives and
other cooperatives. Actually, our broadband comes from a small
cooperative in southwest Iowa to our farm, and they reach
across the state lines there. These are really outstanding
efforts from the cooperatives, and we appreciate that very
much.
Mrs. Axne. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
The gentleman from South Dakota, Mr. Johnson, 5 minutes.
Mr. Johnson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
For 4 years, I was the Vice President of an engineering and
consulting firm that worked in rural broadband, and we designed
and put in place about 8,000 miles of fiber optic network a
year, did a number of wireless builds as well. And I am not
sure there was anything more rewarding than seeing the real
joy, the satisfaction of these communities that were getting
connected to real gigabit-type networks that they had not had
access to previously.
And I was particularly struck when there were traditionally
underserved communities or subcommunities. And we have talked a
fair amount today about demographic differences in broadband
availability.
I want to shift just a little bit to demographic
differences in broadband adaptation, or to what extent people
are actually using the speeds that they can get access to. And
of course, we often talk about this with regard to age, and so,
I was just curious for any of the panelists, if you want to
share from your medical or Tribal or agricultural communities
stories you may have about getting older Americans connected to
these resources.
Dr. Hess. Well, I will just start with one anecdote. We
were actually going to apply for a P-CORI (Patient-Centered
Outcomes Research Institute) grant to look at post-stroke care,
and most stroke patients are elderly. And so, before we did
that and applied, we were going to use telehealth and actually
connecting with iPads and smart phones to try to do follow up
with nurses. We started. First, one of the nurses said, ``Why
don't you do a survey and see how many elderly Americans with
stroke have a cell phone or know how to use a cell phone,'' and
the numbers were disappointingly poor. Most of them didn't have
access to a cell phone. They may have had a grandchild or a
child with one, but they weren't necessarily in the house. And
more than \1/2\ of them didn't know how to use a cell phone or
how to use a tablet. And they were intimidated by that
technology. This was only 3 years ago.
In terms of the health field, when you get to elderly
people who have a stroke who may already have cognitive
problems, that can be a problem. You are going to need someone
in the family maybe to help them. Often the younger you are,
the more technology adept you are.
It is an issue with some of our aged patients. That is just
my anecdote.
Ms. Mollgaard. I would say also that it is about the
adaptation, as you speak. It is when individuals can really
change the way that they work, learn, and live, using this
technology. They won't substitute it. I mean, why our youth are
no longer going to go to communities that don't have broadband.
That will be a requirement for the future, as our youth are
looking for new homes.
Once we have the technology and everyone has technology, it
should be like electricity. Everyone should expect it. It
shouldn't be some have and have not. Then they can use this new
technology, provide better healthcare, provide better
educational outcomes. They will have that adoption rate. It
will see the value to their day-to-day lives and how they care
for their elderly parents or improve their own health. And then
at that point, adoption will really be finalized.
Mr. Johnson. Maybe for you, Councilwoman, I mean, I would
imagine dealing with Tribal elders sometimes it is hard for
them to--when you talked about the increase in the quality of
life of people using some of these new speeds. But I am sure
Tribal elders lagged in that access.
Ms. Watahomigie-Corliss. Mr. Johnson, you are correct. In
the idea of public health, we are working on some crisis
response protocols within the community, and we have set up
kind of a public education guideline and system that we are
about to deploy in regards to our state Medicaid. Even the
community themselves don't know what questions to ask when they
are flown out of the canyon to a regional medical center, and
we are just now establishing a question card.
In the idea of a community, Native Americans usually do a
public outreach and will have a community meeting where we will
invite the public, and that is where we would start.
Mr. Johnson. And then for Mr. Hurst, all of my buddies in
their 30s, 40s, and 50s who are ag producers are using
technology a lot. My producer buddies who are in their 70s and
80s, less so. I am sure my experience isn't unique in that way?
Mr. Hurst. I mentioned my father in the testimony. I kid
him. He is the only guy, besides drug dealers, that depends on
a burner phone from Wal-Mart; but, he pays attention to those
maps, so we are making progress. But there is definitely a
generational difference.
The Chairman. All right, thank you very much.
Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. You are welcome. We will now recognize Mrs.
Kirkpatrick, the lady from Arizona, 5 minutes.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for
having this really important hearing.
I have been working on expanding rural broadband since I
was first elected to the legislature in Arizona in 2004. I grew
up on the White Mountain Apache Nation in Arizona, very remote
Tribe. When my cousin was principal of the elementary school
there, she started a computer lab because she realized that
practically none of the households had computers in their
homes. And yet, if these kids were not computer literate going
on to higher education--and a lot of them went off the
reservation to boarding schools--they would be at a lifelong
disadvantage. But even that was restricted. They would spend
maybe an hour or 2 a week in the computer lab, but at least
they had some exposure.
I am very concerned about this for our rural areas that
lack connectivity and that opportunity for our young people.
I just spent a week with my 2 year old and 4 year old
grandsons who had their iPads with them the whole time. It is
second nature to them to use their iPads. But that is not the
case for a lot of rural students.
I have hiked down to Supai. It is a beautiful, beautiful
area, but I just wondered, Ms. Watahomigie-Corliss, how many
households in Supai have computers in their homes?
Ms. Watahomigie-Corliss. With our old SM system, we did
have a public network with 10 megabits, and we did try to
deploy home modem use. And out of that old system, I would say
that was around 2010, probably about 20 homes were able to
receive the modems. But does that mean they have a laptop? It
mostly means that they have a portable device, which would be a
cell phone or an iPad.
Also, in regards to our GED programs that we have been
trying to initiate, since 2015, that is also the same case. The
students will ask the Tribe for a laptop because they don't
have one. Last year, I was only able to get two laptops
donated. In the same way that I was able to check out the CPEs
for home Internet use, I also checked out the laptops and
currently, we only have two.
I would have to say, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, I would guess of the
128 homes in the village of Supai, I would guess about maybe 28
of those homes may have a computer.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Thank you.
I am going to switch gears a little bit. I have a Veteran's
Advisory Council, and we just met when I was home last week.
And we come from--they come from all over the district. I have
a very rural county, Cochise County, and the veterans depend on
telemedicine and the Internet to communicate with the VA
hospitals in Arizona. And I would just like the panel's
comments on what we can do to improve access for veterans in
rural America in terms of telemedicine?
Dr. Hess. Yes, I will take the first stab.
The VA has actually been at the forefront of telemedicine.
I mean, they have actually taken the initiative in a lot of
areas. But, a lot of it depends what division you are in and
where VA is doing it. I know there are some--it is not too
widespread where I am in Georgia, but it sounds like your VA is
pretty far ahead. And you are absolutely right. Veterans, there
are just so many VA hospitals and they have tried to develop a
lot more clinics; but again, there are wait times. There are
access issues, just like there is everywhere else.
I remember the VA was talking about this in the early 2000s
and late 1990s. They were ahead of the game. I don't know that
I have a magic pill for that, but it is a very good question.
And they have been at the forefront, compared to other
healthcare systems.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Yes, they really have been working at it.
There are still some software problems that I am hearing about,
but they have really taken the lead in that.
Any other comments from anyone else on the panel? I have
about 30 seconds left. Okay, yes.
Ms. Watahomigie-Corliss. Yes, I do have listed here
available types of spectrum that maybe the VA would be--or
consider either applying for a license or there are also
unlicensed networks here. There is the Citizens' Broadband
Radio Spectrum, which is called CBRS. That is a 3.5 gigahertz.
It is lightly licensed and should be available late summer.
There is the Educational Broadband Service Spectrum, but the
FCC did just make their determination on that yesterday. There
will be Tribal priority windows and then that will go up for
auction. There is also unlicensed spectrum of 900 megahertz,
2.4 gigahertz, and 5.8 gigahertz, and there is also what is
called TV white space, and it is currently unlicensed but it
has a wide enough range of frequencies to be available in most
areas.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick. I would love to work with the Tribe on
expanding that in any way I can.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, and now we will hear
from the distinguished lady from Missouri, Mrs. Hartzler, for 5
minutes.
Mrs. Hartzler. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you each
for being here. What an impressive panel. I just think your
communities and your states are very blessed to have you in
leadership.
I want to start with Mr. Hurst. You have talked about, in
your testimony, about the importance of broadband mapping to
agriculture. Can you describe some of the problems that we are
currently facing about--a little bit more about the legislation
that you mentioned that would be helpful, but also about the
FCC's National Broadband Map Initiative that is underway, and
how you think that might be helpful?
Mr. Hurst. The way it works now, as I understand it, if one
person, one home in a Census block has access, then that means
that that Census block is not eligible for any Federal
programs. But it may be that it is just only one home, because
in rural areas, because of the low population density, a Census
block can be a lot of square miles. We need more granular data
that gives us a better idea of how good that penetration is,
how many people actually in the Census block are being served.
That is why it is so very, very important that we work on these
maps. It is one of our initiatives we are working on with our
broadband group in Missouri. H.R. 3162 has that as its goal.
There are also things written in the farm bill that would
improve our mapping.
In order to fix the problem, we have to be able to measure
it, and so far, we can't.
Mrs. Hartzler. Right, and I am glad that we are focused on
that because I think that is just something that hasn't been
focused on as much, but it is critical that we get the maps
right so that we can get the funding where it is needed and
make sure that people are helped. Thank you for that.
Ms. Mollgaard, I really was inspired by hearing more about
what is going in Red Wing, Minnesota, and your enthusiasm and
just the great things there. But I want to get more specific,
because I want to do this more in my district.
You said that it is funded by the U.S. Economic Development
Administration that provides technical assistance and support
to rural communities. Is the support financially, or just
technical assistance? What specific Federal programs--was it
Reconnect funding? Was it the FCC's Connect America fund, or
what did your community tap into, or is it just privately
funded to help you expand and bring this broadband to your
community?
Ms. Mollgaard. In my written testimony, I list many of our
partners----
Mrs. Hartzler. Push your mic--there you go. Thanks.
Ms. Mollgaard. In my written testimony, I list all of our
wonderful partners and funders. It has been public-private
partnership. Our City of Red Wing supports us. We have local
foundations. We have had other grants, state and then with U.S.
Ignite, that was funded by--they were initially funded by the
White House, the National Science Foundation grant dollars.
Currently as you were referring to with the EDA, we were
selected by an organization called the Center on Rural
Innovation to be part of their rural innovation initiative, and
because we were one of nine communities in the nation, we were
able to receive in-kind technical assistance to apply for the
I-6 Challenge grant. We don't know the outcome of that. Now
that I am here, maybe I need to go and see what the status of
that grant application is.
But it will be a wonderful network of communities, nine
communities throughout the nation that will now work together
to try to improve our innovation-based economies. It is the EDA
I-6 Challenge grant is what I was referring to with the help
from the Center for Rural Innovation.
Mrs. Hartzler. We have come a long ways in providing some
funding, but the problem, and you referenced it in your
comments, was sustainability. There is money to help put the
broadband there initially, but then you have to be able to
sustain that model. And so, I was curious about that.
But I wanted to talk about speeds just a little bit, and go
back to Mr. Hurst.
As you know, Missouri has set out a new broadband plan, but
the plan's goal is to achieve universal access to high-speed
Internet with speeds of at least 100 megabits per second
download and 20 megabits upload for all Missouri citizens by
2028, and I know there are similar goals elsewhere. Can you
talk a little bit about how and why the states are adopting
these broadband speeds that significantly outpace the Federal
programs right now? And I was glad to offer the amendment in
the farm bill that says now that USDA programs have to have at
least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speed, but that is
still a far difference than Missouri's goals. Can you talk on
that just a second?
Mr. Hurst. Yes. We appreciate your help on the amendment,
because before it was 10 Mbps to 1 Mbps, which is totally
inadequate. Congresswoman Axne mentioned how much broadband it
takes to watch Netflix, but the point is, in a rural home, you
may have someone watching Netflix at the same time two or three
children are trying to get on the Internet to do their
homework, at the same time that perhaps we are uploading the
data that we generated that day on our combines. We need the
faster service because we are finding more and more ways to use
broadband.
I think Missouri's goal is ambitious, but it is necessary.
Mrs. Hartzler. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, and now we will hear
from the very distinguished gentlelady from Virginia, Ms.
Spanberger.
Ms. Spanberger. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and
thank you so much for being here today and for sharing your
stories about how important broadband is to rural communities.
Coming from a district like mine in central Virginia where
many of my constituents don't have access to broadband, your
stories of the challenges your communities have had to overcome
to get broadband and how it often took longer than you would
have liked really do resonate with me, and they reflect the
stories I have heard from my constituents.
One of my constituents, Roy, from Orange County, wrote to
tell me that when he moved into his house 16 years ago, various
Internet providers told him that he would have broadband very
soon. You probably know where this story goes. It hasn't
happened yet. He has a farm business, and the lack of high-
speed Internet significantly impacts his outreach and his
sales. And he has also seen the effect of the lack of broadband
has had on the local high school students as they try to do
their homework.
Another constituent, Crystal, from Henrico County in our
district, works in healthcare, and many of her rural patients
don't have easy access to the Internet, and she isn't able to
give them the same follow up healthcare information online that
she would like to and that she is able to with other patients.
As communities in our districts are looking to expand our
access to broadband, I appreciate the opportunity to learn from
your experiences. And I was particularly struck by some of the
comments that you made, Councilwoman Watahomigie-Corliss and
Dr. Hess, related to the ability to use broadband Internet as
it relates to telemedicine, and recognizing the challenges that
you all have seen in your different communities, the challenge
of having insignificant speed for applications such as
telemedicine, and sir, you recounted the story of your Taco
Bell experience when trying to deal directly to a patient.
Knowing what you know now and what you have seen, I am
wondering where you think other constituencies might be able to
be a part of this conversation, be it medical professionals, be
it veterans, as my colleague mentioned. Frequently, those of us
who represent rural communities and those who live in rural
communities are talking about this issue, but I also represent
suburban communities where this issue isn't seen as prevalent.
And so, I am wondering how, beyond this Committee room, we can
continue to have this conversation so that people across the
country understand the impact this has on our country.
And I will start with you both if you have any comments.
Ms. Watahomigie-Corliss. Hi there. In regards to
telemedicine services, I think public outreach and partnership
are important. I don't know how many times I have come to D.C.
and nobody knows who the Havasupai even are. And in that
regard, how are they supposed to know that I am from the most
rural Native American Tribe in the lower 48 states?
Now, the ruralness of my community, as I mentioned, will
not create return of investment for people to build the
infrastructure, and that is the way it has been all the way up
until this point. We have been able to partner with a nonprofit
organization, MuralNet, whose mission was to bring broadband
speeds and connect the homework gap in Native America, and we
just happened to be their first partnership, and we were able
to get an approved STA license through the FCC, only one of six
since 1995.
Times have changed. The equipment, the cost of it is not as
much as it used to be, and it costs us $35,000 in total for our
first deployment.
Ms. Spanberger. And when we are looking at how we can help
communities like yours, like the ones that I serve, do you have
any suggestions--to other witnesses as well--about how we can
bring additional voices to this conversation so it is not just
the people who are always impacted who are kind of ringing the
bell of how important this is from a healthcare perspective,
from an educational perspective, or from an economic
perspective? How we can really get additional advocates to
recognize the value of ensuring that all of our communities are
connected, and so it is not wholly dependent on people like the
Councilwoman or people like Ms. Mollgaard to bring it to their
communities and to do that outreach?
Ms. Watahomigie-Corliss. I do have a short statement that
combining government initiatives to help bridge the rural
digital divide, so that we can work together in partnership to
help build those networks.
Ms. Spanberger. Would anyone else--Dr. Hess?
Dr. Hess. Yes, it is a very good question, and a very hard
question. I am trying to think how to answer you.
Charlottesville, where you are close to--I don't know if it
is in that district--University of Virginia has a great
telemedicine program, and we work with them. We work with them
very, very closely.
I will tell a story. We once had a hospital that was
reluctant to start telestroke. Some of the physicians didn't
believe in it, and so I went and gave a talk in a Methodist
church one Sunday night, and they asked me--I was talking about
stroke. And they said, ``Well, what about this drug TPA, Dr.
Hess? If we go to the local hospital, can we get it?'' And I
said no, and I told them how they could, and they literally
marched on the hospital. You get hospitals, you get churches,
you get communities to realize what they are missing.
Now, the Internet connectivity is better to hospitals, but
there is still--you have to get the public behind you.
In Georgia, we worked out of churches which were a strong
voice, and working with the university--that is the world I
know. Working with the universities, we have a lot of support
groups, that is how we kind of have done it, working with other
community health centers, federally-qualified health centers.
Of course, I am biased to the telehealth point. You bring all
those constituencies together, and I think that helps.
But it is a very good question, and I am not sure I
answered it very well.
Ms. Spanberger. No, I appreciate that. I have a list of
constituencies you mentioned, so I appreciate that input and I
believe I am out of time, so I will yield back. Thank you.
Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, and now we will hear from Mr. Van
Drew, the gentleman from New Jersey.
Mr. Van Drew. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you
all for being here and sharing your experiences, your
knowledge, and your insight for everyone that is here.
The testimony we have heard today is important, and it is
important, believe it or not, in New Jersey. And I know
everybody thinks what is this guy doing on the Agriculture
Committee? What is he doing involved with agricultural issues?
He is from New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the
United States of America. But actually, I have the most rural
part of the state, and my district makes up, geographically, 40
percent of the state, so I have almost \1/2\ of the state. And
we have some of these same issues.
I remember when I became, years ago, a new state senator,
learning about those issues and being so surprised, surprised
that people were really concerned and worried that the
emergency services that they wanted to get or needed were not
foolproof by any means, and sometimes it didn't work. Concerned
that their kids were really having a difficult time doing their
homework. Concerned that their businesses weren't doing as well
as they nearly could, especially in the way business works
today, because they weren't able to access the Internet
properly. Concerned for their safety. Concerned for their
economic security. Concerned for their farming, because again,
farming has, as you all elaborated so well, farming has changed
so much over the years and is going to change a lot more. And
our world is going to change more. We are going to be short of
doctors in the areas that you are speaking about, but we are
going to be short of physicians almost everywhere. Maybe not in
midtown Manhattan, but let me tell you, in major swaths of the
country, we are going to have a physician shortage and a
healthcare shortage that is very serious. Imagine how it is
going to be in areas like this. I am from south Jersey, and my
area of south Jersey, people who need care, even for
developmentally disabled kids or need a host of other things
aren't able to access them. It isn't only in the Midwest or in
certain areas. It can be anywhere.
We have the lowest per capita income, the highest rate of
obesity, the highest rate of teenage pregnancy. I can go
through the list. And yet, just a few miles away will be some
of the most beautiful homes on the shores and the beaches. It
is a real dichotomy.
The work that you are doing is important, because you can't
give people success--you can't--but you can give them
opportunity to achieve success, and that is what you are all
about, and that is what this is about. You can't expect people
to do as well as they should when we have this kind of digital
divide. And we still have it, even in places like south Jersey,
as unbelievable as that is.
Along those lines of success, I just thought--anybody can
answer it. Broadband obviously makes the economy better. Any
particular ways that you believe it levels the playing field?
And I think you know the answer between urban and rural and the
job market.
Mr. Hengel. Absolutely. Thank you, Congressman, for the
comment.
Being in economic development for 30 years, I have seen
great changes, and certainly, broadband has been the central
focus of why those changes have occurred over the last 5 years.
The increasingly economic development is about a race for
talent, and I can't stress enough the importance of being able
to provide a community that people want to live, and to want to
be a part of. And that is--certainly broadband is a central
part of that. That is simply going to be a must-have. People
are not going to live, particularly young people, in
communities where they cannot stay connected. And so, that is
so important.
Also, I would add is there simply aren't any low-tech jobs
anymore. There just aren't. There are no low-tech industries.
In my neighborhood or my area of the state, logging, wood
products manufacturing, sawmilling, all those are significant
data users. I think it is critical that without the broadband,
you simply are not going to be able to keep up with the global
economy.
Mr. Van Drew. And I think you are right, and the world has
changed. Whether we like it, whether we don't like it, it is
the reality, and those of us in government have a
responsibility to make sure that everybody does have that
opportunity.
And just alluding to what the Congresswoman was saying
before, a lot of people don't know that. It is amazing. Even in
my district, from the western part of the district, which is
generally less affluent and doesn't have some of the access to
the eastern part of my district where people do and are quite
wealthy, they have no idea. If I was to tell them that, they
would say, ``No, not in New Jersey. That can't be.'' I think we
have our work cut out for us, and it really is an important
subject for the entire nation.
Thank you.
The Chairman. Well thank you, Mr. Van Drew, for your
excellent remarks. I agree with you wholeheartedly.
Before we end, I would like to recognize our Ranking Member
for any additional comments, closing, or questions you may
have.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to comment on Mr. Hurst's answer to Mrs. Hartzler's
question. The industry has the ability to provide shape file
mapping today to the FCC, and if the FCC would begin to use
that and they could use it virtually immediately. It would not
take long at all to implement that. Then we would have those
more accurate maps that you and Mrs. Hartzler were discussing.
Ma'am, I appreciate your testimony about the different
capabilities and technologies that are out there. As someone
who lives 15 miles north of--I would call it a city. Most
people would call it a town. I recognize the technology that is
going to work at my house might not be the same technology that
is deployed in the city. I don't care what technology it is, as
long as it works, and it seems that that is your approach, and
I appreciate that very much. If there is anything that this
Committee can do to help you with any licensure that you may
need help with, I think that the Committee would be more than
willing to help provide that support to the people that you
represent in your Tribe.
Doctor, I appreciate you being here, and appreciate the
others who testified as well. It seems to me that what we have,
maybe it is the old question of the chicken and the egg. Do we
build the biggest, fastest interstate we can, how do we get it
there, I guess is my question, Mr. Chairman, and I am--I don't
care what the technology is. I am not biased to any of them,
but I do know this. We can do a better job, and we have to do a
better job, because we are losing our population in rural
America.
I represent 24 counties right now. I expect after the next
Census, I will probably represent 26 or 27, and Congressman
Bishop, just to my west, currently represents 28, and he will
probably represent 31 or 32. And you guys in the Metro area are
picking them up.
The Chairman. I represent seven right now, I used to
represent 13.
Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. Yes, but there has been a huge
population shift from the urban areas, the metropolitan areas,
and this is one of--it is education, it is healthcare. But in
the end, a lot of it revolves around technology and access to
that, and we can play a big part in fixing that.
Thank you so much for the hearing. To those who were here
to testify, thank you for your testimony. It was extremely
important, and this is something that we can and will be
working together to help resolve.
The Chairman. Thank you so much, Ranking Member. You
touched on a number of very important parts. And to answer part
of your question, going forward, we need to understand that the
bottom line right now about this, it takes money. It takes
money. It takes priority of funding. And so, with that in mind,
I would like to make a suggestion. I would start with you, Mr.
Hurst, with the American Farm Bureau. You all are well-placed.
No national organization is more well-placed to get into this
bargaining situation with rebuilding our infrastructure. Right
now, we need our rural communities to have a seat at the table
as we look at the budget, as we look at where this money needs
to go.
I would like for you to give Zippy, my good friend Zippy
Duvall--we worked together on many things--and of course, he
comes right out of Georgia, so go back to my days in the
Georgia State Senate. But here is what I am suggesting. There
is some definitive, well-respected source that needs to submit
to this Congress the kind of funding that our rural communities
that we need to devote to accomplish everything that we have
said here. And I hope that you all know that from the passion
you heard from our Committee Members, that we in this
Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit, we are
this financial arm of the agriculture industry, and our whole
approach--there is nobody better to be the champions for
getting proper broadband and Internet access to our rural
communities. But you and your organization is probably the
premier organization that is well-placed to say to us, ``This
is how much money it is going to take for us to be a part.''
Right now, the figure that keeps bouncing around--sometimes
it is hard to get this one in the room, that one in the room at
the same time. But we are going to get there. We have no choice
but to move ahead. Our infrastructure is crumbling, we have to
send this clarion callout that crumbling is not just taking
place with bricks, with mortar, with just roads, highways,
trains, all of that. This crumbling has been taking place in
our rural communities, and we have to lift up our rural
communities and give them a premier prime seat at the table as
we divide and determine the amount of money that we need.
And as I said right now, it is fluctuating between $2 and
$2\1/2\ trillion. My estimate is when you look at what needs to
be done in the rural communities for broadband, it is life-
saving. I mean, it is more than just crumbling roads.
Infrastructure is human beings. They are us. They are people.
Not just roads, not just airports. We got to get that through.
It is education. It is job training. It is healthcare. It is
lifting up and making people not just want to live in rural
areas, but will desire to live there. And we have to give that
attention to it.
I would like for you to understand that that is why we had
this. Austin Scott and I met early last year when we knew at
the beginning of the year that we would be in charge of this.
This is a strong, bipartisan, Democratic and Republican
Committee. That is what it takes to get the job done. We are
uniquely placed to do it, but we need you all to tell us as
soon as possible how much money it is going to take. How it
should be applied to make sure that our rural communities are
the sparkling oases of life, of excitement, of productivity
that they have been as the source of the foundation of our
country. Our country wasn't founded on big cities. They were
founded with people in small towns, and towns that grew into
cities. But it is the rural communities that need to have our
energy and our direction. And so, I want to make sure that you
all take down this assignment, our Subcommittee here, and
Ranking Member Scott and myself and our Members will be your
champions to get this done. But the next step is we have to get
the money appropriated to do it, and we need you all to let us
know how much it is going to take so we can start selling it up
here. All right?
Again, thank you all, and there is some homework I need to
read here. Let me put my glasses on. Under the Rules of the
Committee, the record of today's hearing will remain open for
10 calendar days to receive additional material and
supplementary written responses from the witnesses to any
questions posed by a Member.
This hearing of the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges,
Energy, and Credit is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:56 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
[Material submitted for inclusion in the record follows:]
Letter Submitted by Hon. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Representative in Congress
from Arizona; on Behalf of James D. Ogsbury, Executive Director,
Western Governors' Association
July 9, 2019
Hon. David Scott, Hon. Austin Scott,
Chairman, Ranking Minority Member,
Subcommittee on Commodity Subcommittee on Commodity
Exchanges, Energy, and Credit, Exchanges, Energy, and Credit,
Committee on Agriculture, Committee on Agriculture,
U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.
Dear Chairman David Scott and Ranking Member Austin Scott:
In advance of the Subcommittee's July 11 hearing on ``Building
Opportunity in Rural America through Affordable, Reliable and High-
Speed Broadband,'' attached please find three Western Governors'
Association (WGA) policy resolutions addressing broadband deployment:
WGA Policy Resolution 2019-04 (http://www.westgov.org/
images/editor/WGA_PR_2019-
04_Health_Care_in_Western_States.pdf), Health Care in Western
States;
WGA Policy Resolution 2018-13 (http://westgov.org/images/
editor/WGA_PR_2018-13_Workforce_Development.pdf), Workforce
Development in the Western United States; and
WGA Policy Resolution 2017-09 (https://westgov.org/images/
editor/2017-09_Western_Agriculture.pdf), Western Agriculture.
I request that these documents be included in the permanent record
of the hearing, as they articulate Western Governors' policy positions
on this important issue.
Please contact me if you have any questions or require further
information. In the meantime, with warm regards and best wishes, I am
Respectfully,
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
James D. Ogsbury,
Executive Director.
attachment 1
Policy Resolution 2019-04
Health Care in Western States
A. Background
1. Ensuring access to high-quality, affordable health care services
is an important element of maintaining and enhancing the
quality of life in western states for our growing
populations. It is the basis for healthy communities and
healthy economies.
2. Western states face unique challenges in health care, including
growing rates of substance use disorder, provider shortages
in underserved and rural areas, and limited access to
broadband. Low population densities and the vast distances
between population centers also make it difficult for
providers to establish economically-sustainable health care
systems in rural areas.
3. Distance and density also inhibit construction of the technology
infrastructure that would provide or improve broadband
connectivity in underserved and rural areas. Expanding
broadband access provides numerous quality-of-life benefits
for rural Americans, including economic development, social
connectivity, education, public safety, and access to
telehealth and telemedicine.
4. The health care sector faces severe personnel shortages in
western states, despite efforts of Western Governors, such
as the foundation of Western Governors University and other
medical training programs in western states, to ensure
adequate numbers of qualified medical personnel. This
challenge is particularly acute in the West's underserved
and rural areas. Ensuring access to health care services
requires an adequate number and distribution of physicians,
nurses and other trained health care professionals.
Population growth, aging residents, and challenges
involving Tribal health care and services for veterans
require a renewed focus on developing our nation's health
care workforce.
5. Western states struggle with access to behavioral health services
and higher-than average suicide rates. The ten states with
the highest suicide rates in the nation are all located in
the West.
6. Substance use disorder (SUD), including alcohol and drug misuse,
is a major public health and safety crisis affecting nearly
21 million Americans. It is particularly prevalent in
western states where individuals are more likely to have
SUD during their lifetime. SUD crosses all social and
economic lines and tragically takes the lives of tens of
thousands of Americans every year. While state and Federal
progress has been made to fight this epidemic, additional
efforts are necessary to help bridge prevention and
treatment gaps in western states.
7. In many cases, health disparities and barriers to accessing
health care are particularly acute for certain populations
in the West. A better understanding of the role that social
determinants play in health outcomes can inform the
development of effective health policy to increase access
for these populations.
8. Western states have a unique body of experience, knowledge and
perspective with respect to health care. The Western
Governors' Association (WGA) is ideally situated to collect
and disseminate information, including best practices, case
studies and policy options, that states can use to improve
the foundation for health care services and advocate for
shared policy priorities on behalf of their citizens.
B. Governors' Policy Statement
1. Federal efforts to address health care workforce and access needs
should reflect early, meaningful and substantive input from
Governors, who are best positioned to assess the needs of
their states and help develop solutions to meet these
needs. State-Federal collaboration and coordination are
integral to addressing these health care challenges.
Wherever possible, and where appropriate, the Federal
Government should respect state authority and maximize
flexibility granted to states and Governors.
2. The Federal Government should work with states to facilitate the
deployment of broadband to underserved and rural areas,
recognizing that adequate broadband access has a direct
correlation on rural populations' ability to access
telehealth and telemedicine.
3. Despite efforts by Western Governors to address the shortage of
qualified health care workers, significant challenges
remain. Governors urge the Federal Government to examine
and implement programs to ensure states have an adequate
health care workforce--including in primary care and other
in-demand specialties--that is prepared to serve diverse
populations in urban, suburban, and rural communities.
Governors also support efforts to increase the diversity of
the health care workforce to improve health outcomes for
all.
4. Western Governors support efforts to improve the quality and
quantity of behavioral health services available to our
residents, as these services are essential to reducing
suicide rates and treating a range of behavioral health
conditions, including substance use disorder.
5. The Federal Government should work toward treating addiction as a
chronic illness and work with Western Governors to develop
strategies for addressing substance use disorder that work
in concert with state efforts and recognize regional
variations in substance use disorder patterns.
C. Governors' Management Directive
1. The Governors direct WGA staff to work with Congressional
committees of jurisdiction, the Executive Branch, and other
entities, where appropriate, to achieve the objectives of
this resolution.
2. Furthermore, the Governors direct WGA staff to consult with the
Staff Advisory Council regarding its efforts to realize the
objectives of this resolution and to keep the Governors
apprised of its progress in this regard.
Western Governors enact new policy resolutions and amend
existing resolutions on a bi-annual basis. Please consult
westgov.org/resolutions for the most current copy of a
resolution and a list of all current WGA policy resolutions.
attachment 2
Policy Resolution 2018-13
Workforce Development in the Western United States
A. Background
1. Workforce development efforts contribute to the economic well-
being of western states by enabling people to find
fulfilling, well-paying jobs, fostering economic mobility,
and ensuring that businesses have access to the skilled
employees they need to thrive.
2. Western states had an average unemployment rate of just under 4.0
percent in March 2018.\1\ Many businesses report that they
cannot find qualified candidates for open positions. At the
same time, many jobseekers are unable to find good jobs for
which they are qualified.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics,
May 18, 2018.
3. Workforce development challenges are particularly acute in rural
communities, which are commonly characterized by higher
rates of unemployment, a lack of economic diversity,
geographic isolation, and limited infrastructure, including
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
access to broadband.
4. Economic equity continues to be a problem across states, with
people of color and people with disabilities, regardless of
career preparation and credential levels, seeing poorer
rates of employment and earnings than majority populations.
5. There are 6.6 million unfilled jobs in the United States due in
part to a shortage of workers with the skills and
qualifications to fill those positions.\2\ The largest gap
is in middle skills jobs, which require more than a high
school diploma but less than a 4 year degree.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover
Summary, May 8, 2018.
6. Postsecondary education and training is critical in today's
economy. Almost 80 percent of jobs in the United States
require a postsecondary credential, including certificates,
associate degrees, 4 year degrees, and licenses.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ National Skills Coalition, United States Middle-Skill Fact
Sheet (https://www.nationalskillscoalition.org/state-policy/fact-
sheets), February 2017
7. On average, those holding a bachelor's degree earn more than
those who have not attained that degree, but those who do
not reach that level of education can still find good
employment. There are 30 million jobs that don't require a
4 year degree and pay at least $35,000 per year with a
median salary of $55,000.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Carnevale, A.P., Strohl, J., and Ridley, N., Good Jobs that Pay
Without a BA: A State-by-State Analysis (https://goodjobsdata.org/wp-
content/uploads/Good-Jobs-States.pdf). Georgetown University Center of
Education and the Workforce, 2017.
8. Education systems have not kept pace with economic realities.
Student success is traditionally perceived, and measured,
as moving directly from high school to a 4 year degree
program. Today, only 20 percent of students successfully
complete that traditional pathway to their career.\5\ The
rest are finding their own pathways to success, which may
include entering the world of work or pursuing other types
of credentials. Many, however, encounter obstacles.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics, The Condition of Education 2017 (https://nces.ed.gov/
programs/coe/indicator_ctr.asp), May 2018.
9. On average, only about \1/3\ of high schoolers are engaged in
school, meaning that \2/3\ are not actively involved in or
enthusiastic about school.\6\ Three million young adults
ages 16-24 are not participating in either work or
education.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ 2016 Gallup Student Poll Snapshot Report (https://
news.gallup.com/reports/210995/6.aspx).
\7\ Brookings, Employment and disconnection among teens and young
adults: The role of place, race, and education (https://
www.brookings.edu/research/employment-and-disconnection-among-teens-
and-young-adults-the-role-of-place-race-and-education/), May 2016.
10. Additionally, many Americans start a college degree but do not
complete it, leaving them with the burdensome costs of
higher education but no wage benefit--35 million people
over 25 have some college credits but no degree.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ U.S. Census Bureau, Educational Attainment in the United
States: 2017, December 14, 2017.
11. As students increasingly pursue indirect routes to higher
education, over 70 percent of students enrolled in
postsecondary education are now ``nontraditional students''
who may be older, working full or part time, or caring for
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
children.
12. Technology will continue to be a disruptive force in the labor
market, driving potentially drastic changes in the labor
demands of certain industries. It is expected that many
jobs that will be in demand in 2030 do not yet exist.
Workers will need to be able to acquire new skills over
their careers to adapt to change. Up to \1/3\ of U.S.
workers in 2030 may need to learn new skills or move into a
new occupation due to the impacts of automation.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ McKinsey Global Institute, Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: Workforce
Transitions in a Time of Automation (https://www.mckinsey.com/ /media/
McKinsey/Global%20Themes/Future%20of%20
Organizations/
What%20the%20future%20of%20work%20will%20mean%20for%20jobs%20
skills%20and%20wages/MGI-Jobs-Lost-Jobs-Gained-Report-December-6-
2017.ashx), December 2017.
13. To address these issues, Western Governors have prioritized a
variety of workforce development efforts, from better
aligning education with labor market demands to expanding
workforce services and training opportunities for the
unemployed and underemployed to attracting more skilled
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
workers.
14. Western states are also leading the way on expanding work-based
learning opportunities for both students and adults. Work-
based learning programs, including registered
apprenticeships, allow people to acquire in-demand skills
while earning a salary.
15. Employer leadership is critical to ensure that workforce
development efforts are satisfying the needs of an ever-
changing economy. Businesses in the West have taken an
active role in working with educational institutions and
workforce agencies but increasing industry participation
will remain critical.
B. Governors' Policy Statement
1. Western Governors recognize that there are many pathways students
can take to a successful career, including short-term
education and skills training or work-based learning
programs such as registered apprenticeships. Students and
jobseekers should have access to understand their options
and the potential outcomes of these programs.
2. Facilitating lifelong learning is essential to prepare for the
impacts of technology on the labor market. Western
Governors encourage Congress to increase student access to
short-term education and skills training programs in
reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, including
through expanding the Pell Grant program to include high-
quality short-term training programs leading to industry-
recognized credentials. These flexible work-force oriented
funds should be coupled with plans to adopt and report
outcomes metrics tied to employment and earnings to
maximize the success of this policy in equipping workers
for high-opportunity jobs and careers.
3. Western Governors also support the expansion of work-based
learning programs, including registered apprenticeships.
Western Governors encourage Congress and Federal agencies
to support and incentivize state-, local-, and industry-led
partnerships to create and scale work-based learning and
apprenticeship programs. New Federal investments in
apprenticeships should align with existing efforts to
foster a coherent system with minimal duplication at the
Federal, state, and local level.
4. Career and technical education (CTE) helps expose students to
their career options and develop skills they will need in
the workforce. Western Governors call on Congress to
reauthorize and fully fund the Carl D. Perkins Career and
Technical Education Act. Reauthorization of the act should
take into consideration the following principles:
Governors and states are in the best position to
determine how to use Fed-
eral CTE funding to meet the unique needs of their
economies.
High-quality CTE programs should lead to in-demand, high
wage careers;
include career and academic advising; include pathways to
4 year degrees,
for example through articulation agreements or stackable
credentials; and
develop employability skills through integrated education
and training,
work-based learning or leadership opportunities.
5. Western Governors note that Federal funding for workforce
development through the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act supports economic growth and job creation
in the states. Western Governors request that the 15
percent reserve for statewide activities be maintained.
This funding allows Governors to be flexible in addressing
state needs and supports innovation.
6. Western Governors encourage the Federal agencies, including the
U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Education,
to coordinate their efforts to better align Federal
workforce development, career and technical education, and
higher education programs.
7. Western Governors recognize the benefits of measuring and
reporting outcomes by institution and program. Reporting
completion rates, employment and earnings will provide
useful information for students and their families and help
promote the success of these programs to prepare students
for in-demand jobs and careers in their regions. Western
Governors encourage Congress to include the College
Transparency Act in reauthorization of the Higher Education
Act, to adopt and report on earnings, employment, and
credential attainment metrics by education provider and
individual program in a manner that protects student
privacy and ensures data security.
8. Employers play an important role in state workforce development
efforts. Western Governors support efforts to incentivize
employers to play a more active role in talent development,
through partnership with state workforce development
agencies and educational institutions or investments in the
skills and training of their employees.
9. Rural communities are at risk of falling further behind in skills
necessary for the economy of the future due to a lack of
broadband access. Western Governors encourage Federal
agencies and Congress to continue to deploy resources to
solve this urgent need.
10. Professional licensing requirements vary by state and can create
a barrier to mobility for professionals in western states.
Where possible, Western Governors should work together to
minimize this barrier.
C. Governors' Management Directive
1. The Governors direct WGA staff to work with Congressional
committees of jurisdiction, the Executive Branch, and other
entities, where appropriate, to achieve the objectives of
this resolution.
2. Furthermore, the Governors direct WGA staff to consult with the
Staff Advisory Council regarding its efforts to realize the
objectives of this resolution and to keep the Governors
apprised of its progress in this regard.
Western Governors enact new policy resolutions and amend
existing resolutions on a bi-annual basis. Please consult
www.westgov.org/resolutions for the most current copy of a
resolution and a list of all current WGA policy resolutions.
attachment 3
Policy Resolution 2017-09
Western Agriculture
A. Background
1. Agriculture and forestry in the western states and territories
are significantly different than in other regions of the
country. We have greater variations in soil, climate,
terrain, commodities and production practices, and water
availability.
2. Farms, forests, and rangelands are important contributors to the
economies and quality of life of western states. Among
other important values, western agricultural and forest
lands are primary sources of open space, wildlife habitat,
water supplies, and diverse rural economic opportunities in
the recreation, food, fiber, energy and biobased product
industries.
3. Trade promotion plays an important role in ensuring that western
agricultural products and food have an opportunity to
compete with products produced and subsidized
internationally.
4. Western states have seen some of the most significant increases
in per-capita veteran populations since 2000, including
surges in returning veterans under the age of 25. It is
estimated that nearly 25 percent of all veterans live in
rural areas. These veterans have slightly lower rates of
employment compared to veterans living in urban areas and
to their non-veteran rural colleagues.
5. Responsible management of Federal lands is a significant concern
for Western Governors. Western states include more than 75
percent of our National Forest and rangeland ecosystems.
These public lands serve as critical economic drivers, and
they provide numerous conservation benefits, water supply,
and recreational opportunities for Western communities and
the nation.
6. The West's network of land-grant universities and colleges,
including Cooperative Extension Service programs, continue
to provide national leadership in research to develop more
resilient seeds and crops, manage soil health, advance
technology deployment in the biobased economy and conduct
on-farm research experiments that help farmers and ranchers
be more effective and efficient.
7. Western Governors recognize that nutrition assistance programs
can meet the needs of children and the most vulnerable,
while creating economic opportunity across the agriculture
supply-chain from the store where food is purchased, all
the way back to the farm. Western Governors acknowledge
recent efforts to reduce rates of nutrition program fraud
and abuse, deliver programs under budget, and improve
program effectiveness.
8. Many agricultural producers in the West rely on irrigation water
delivery systems that are shared among multiple producers
and operated by an irrigation district, canal company, or
mutual ditch company.
B. Governors' Policy Statement
1. Western Governors support funding for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Market Access and Foreign Market
Development Programs to promote opportunities for western
producers to increase export revenues and encourage trade
agreements that maximize benefits for the West's farmers,
ranchers and forest landowners.
2. Western Governors support adequate funding for the USDA Specialty
Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) that provides critical
research, education, and promotion tools to the fruit and
vegetable producers.
3. Western States have experienced sharp declines in farm income and
farm prices since 2013. Western Governors support a farm
safety net that recognizes past deficit reduction
contributions of the agricultural sector and maintains
funding for other key commodity, conservation, crop
insurance, research, energy, and export promotion programs.
In particular, Western Governors note that the conservation
title of the 2014 Farm Bill contributed to deficit
reduction, saving taxpayers $6 billion by consolidating 23
programs into 13, streamlining and targeting delivery to
farmers, ranchers, and foresters. Western Governors support
farm bill funding levels based on need rather than baseline
budget targets.
4. Western Governors encourage the expansion of programs that can
meet the unique educational, training, technical and
financial needs of new, beginning and veteran farmers and
ranchers and other USDA programming that can help returning
veterans develop and expand business opportunities in rural
communities.
5. Western Governors continue to support collaborative, targeted and
voluntary conservation to address locally identified
natural resource issues for farm, range, and forest
resource concerns on private and public lands, such as soil
health, air and water quality, drought and wildfire
resilience, wildlife habitat conservation and invasive
species. Western Governors support the role of conservation
title programs in providing voluntary solutions to
threatened and endangered species, water quality
impairments, groundwater recharge, and other regulatory
concerns potentially facing producers.
6. Western Governors support an increase in the role that state and
local governments have in managing public lands for
multiple uses, including agriculture.
7. Western Governors continue to urge Congress to provide a
comprehensive solution for the current approach to
budgeting for wildland fire for the Departments of [the]
Interior and Agriculture. Any fire budget solution must
address the chronic problem of the rising costs of wildfire
and the complicating problem of mid-season budget transfers
when appropriated funding becomes insufficient. A
comprehensive fix is needed to address capacity constraints
and allow for a predictable program of work for agencies to
fulfill their management responsibilities.
8. Western Governors acknowledge significant progress toward
achieving forest restoration goals by using authorities
granted in the 2014 Farm Bill. Western Governors support
permanent authorization of the Insect and Disease
designation provisions of section 602 of the 2014 Farm Bill
and the elimination of project constraints from section 603
for condition class or fire regimes outside of the Wildland
Urban Interface (WUI). Western Governors also support
creating additional flexibility to Good Neighbor Authority
to address conflicting language on road construction and
reconstruction and the uses of program income. The lack of
flexibility restricts opportunities for states to partner
in shared stewardship work across boundaries.
9. Within the context of comprehensive wildland fire budget reform,
existing law and forest plans, Western Governors support
the use of new tools to streamline environmental analysis
to increase the pace and scale of restoration activities.
Specifically, Western Governors support creation of a new
pilot program to prioritize landscape-scale environmental
analysis for restoration projects envisioned over
geographies greater than 100,000 acres. This pilot program
should allow for predictable project-scale implementation
and adaptive management. Western Governors believe Federal
agencies should develop guidance to build consistency in
environmental analysis and bring agency practice in
conducting environmental assessments (EAs) more in line
with the administrative policy intent of streamlined,
summary documents. Western Governors affirm that Congress
should resolve outstanding issues with potential
requirements to reinitiate endangered species consultations
following the adoption, amendment or revision of an
appropriate management plan.
10. Western Governors support Congress establishing a restoration
categorical exclusion (CE) based on a record of analysis
from the past 5 years of projects where agency analysis and
a decision recognized a finding of no significant
environmental impact. Western Governors support allowing
Federal agencies to analyze only the action and no-action
alternatives when a project is collaboratively developed,
unless a third alternative is proposed during scoping and
meets the purpose and need of the project. Western
Governors also support rewarding successful implementation
of collaborative projects through funding, retained-receipt
authority, or other capacity to pursue subsequent projects.
11. Western Governors support efforts to expand research funding to
address drought, a changing climate and extreme weather
risks facing western producers.
12. Western Governors encourage the effective use of extension and
other partnerships to deliver practical tools, technologies
and information to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
13. Nutrition assistance programs should continue to allow
flexibility for states to respond to unique economic
conditions, serve all eligible participants without
drastically reducing benefits, and encourage continued
pursuit of transparency and accountability in program
administration.
14. Western Governors support changes to conservation title programs
that remove existing contracting barriers for western
producers, and make the farm bill's conservation title
programs more accessible and relevant to western producers
and their associations.
15. Western Governors support coordinated state and Federal action
to expand markets for wood products that can achieve forest
and rangeland restoration objectives and foster rural
employment and income opportunities. Western Governors
support coordinated financing and grant support from USDA
Rural Development programs and the USDA Forest Service to
advance wood product business development, infrastructure,
and demonstration products in the areas of mass timber
construction and biomass energy.
16. Western Governors support the USDA, Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) and Agricultur[al] Research
Service (ARS). APHIS works in partnership with state
departments of agriculture to monitor, prevent and control
infestations of invasive pests and diseases and curtail or
minimize wildlife conflicts, which can cause widespread
environmental and economic damage and safety hazards. APHIS
works in cooperation with other Federal agencies, states,
territories, counties and private entities to implement
management programs. ARS conducts research to develop and
transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high
national priority, and shares information to ensure high
quality, safe food and other agricultural products. ARS
research helps sustain a competitive economy; enhance the
natural resource base and the environment; provide economic
opportunities for rural communities and society as a whole,
and; provide the necessary infrastructure to create and
maintain a diverse workplace.
17. Western Governors support the continued efforts of the Rural
Utilities Service to provide financial assistance for
drinking water, wastewater facilities and broadband
connectivity in rural and remote areas, particularly in
communities that have minimal or no such infrastructure.
Expanding broadband access to rural America will allow
citizens to compete in a global market and have access to
IT health care, education and public safety resources.
18. Western Governors support the recommendations identified over
the course of the WGA National Forest and Rangeland
Management Initiative, and incorporate those
recommendations related to the reauthorization of the
Agricultural Act into this resolution by reference.
C. Governors' Management Directive
1. The Governors direct WGA staff to work with Congressional
committees of jurisdiction, the Executive Branch, and other
entities, where appropriate, to achieve the objectives of
this resolution.
2. Furthermore, the Governors direct WGA staff to consult with the
Staff Advisory Council regarding its efforts to realize the
objectives of this resolution and to keep the Governors
apprised of its progress in this regard.
Western Governors enact new policy resolutions and amend
existing resolutions on a bi-annual basis. Please consult
www.westgov.org/resolutions for the most current copy of a
resolution and a list of all current WGA policy resolutions.
______
Submitted Questions
Questions Submitted by Hon. Stacey E. Plaskett, a Delegate in Congress
from Virgin Islands
Response from Neela Mollgaard, Executive Director, Red Wing Ignite
Question. Ensuring reliable broadband access is clearly a crucial
component of encouraging economic growth. Broadband is a critical
component of our economic development and I see that you have built
partnerships and initiatives with schools, government, businesses and
nonprofits.
How can we build public-private partnerships to support broadband
infrastructure in the Virgin Islands?
Answer. Public-private partnerships were essential to the creation
of Red Wing Ignite. Since its inception, Red Wing Ignite forged
partnerships with government, academia, corporate partners, and
individuals to grow our innovative ecosystem to advance entrepreneurs,
businesses and students.
The launch of Red Wing Ignite was a collaboration between the City
of Red Wing, the Red Wing Port Authority, U.S. Ignite, Hiawatha
Broadband Communications, community leaders and funders. It took
perseverance from local champions to make the idea a reality. Broadband
infrastructure is essential, but so is an organization like Ignite--
bringing opportunity, access and exposure to the skills required in the
21st Century economy.
In 2012, Red Wing was one of 25 cities to join U.S. Ignite's their
national network. U.S. Ignite was initially funded by the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science
Foundation. They provided leadership and guidance on best practices to
foster a culture to create new innovative technologies.
In 2015, we were designated as a Blandin Broadband Community by the
Blandin Foundation. The Blandin Foundation introduced us to the
Intelligent Community Forum model (see image). Both of these
organizations emphasized the importance of partnerships across sectors,
and we saw this to be true on the frontlines of our work locally.
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It has been years of learning, setbacks, pivots and many wins to
get where we are today. This format is challenging to provide an in-
depth response to this involved question. I would encourage your local
champions and constituents to reach out directly to learn more.
Response from C. Blake Hurst, President, Missouri Farm Bureau
Federation; Board Member, American Farm Bureau Federation
Question 1. In the Virgin Islands, so many people still lack basic
and reliable access to the Internet and our businesses cannot compete
globally and we are unable to attract larger businesses to the
Territory without increase broadband.
What assistance were you able to offer for Missouri residents that
assisted your farmers in rural development?
Answer. A working group was created that consisted of the Director
of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, the Director of Extension at
the University of Missouri, the Deputy Director of the Missouri
Department of Economic Development (DED) and Missouri Farm Bureau. The
group met on a regular basis and planned a rural broadband conference
open to representatives of providers, rural organizations, the public
sector and academia. The conference created the momentum to seek a
broadband coordinator position within DED and legislation to start a
broadband grant program. A coordinator was hired, legislation was
approved to create the broadband grant program and a $5 million
appropriation was received this fiscal year. A second statewide
broadband conference was held this summer and we expect regulations for
the grant program to be released soon.
Missouri's progress can be traced back to a few very dedicated
individuals who believe broadband is critical in both urban and rural
areas. Support from local and statewide elected officials has also been
instrumental in our success to date. Missouri residents have benefitted
from increased coordination between the public- and private-sectors,
greater awareness of the need for improved access to affordable
broadband and an intense focus on funding opportunities at the state
and Federal level.
Question 2. Your testimony provided a lot of insight into the
specific impacts of broadband access and precision ag technology for
farmers. Fixed wireless and mobile technologies have clearly played an
important role in filling the broadband needs of farmers and rural
communities.
Given the lower infrastructure requirements and cost of
implementing those technologies, has further improvement and broader
adoption of these technologies specifically affected the ability of
smaller farms to adopt precision ag technology?
Answer. The decision to adopt precision agricultural technology is
based on its return on investment. Fa[r]mers and ranchers wear many
different hats, including owning a business and keeping the business
profitable. If the technology will allow the farmer to be more
efficient and have a positive return on investment, then there is a
strong likelihood that the farmer will invest in that technology,
regardless of farm size. The only certainty is the lack of broadband
prevents many farmers from even considering precision agriculture
technology because there is no reason to invest in a technology that
won't work in your fields.
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