[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 158 (Monday, September 14, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5568-S5570]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Broadband

  Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I rise to address broadband 
connectivity and broadband access in rural States like the Presiding 
Officer's State and my State of West Virginia.
  Our Nation has experienced a very tough couple of months because of 
the coronavirus pandemic. With the new normal consisting of 
teleworking, virtual learning, and telehealth appointments, there is no 
question that this has forced us to recognize and to reckon with the 
digital divide in this country. The ability to have affordable and 
reliable service is more valuable than ever.

  However, in 2020, my State remains one of the least connected States 
in the country. Over the last few months, I have heard from many 
constituents--hundreds of my constituents--who are having difficulties 
properly and efficiently working from home, helping their kids with 
their homework because they lack robust internet access.
  You know, I think about those children who either don't have 
connectivity or don't have an adult in the home who can really help 
them do their digital learning. We have to get our kids back in school, 
but in the meantime we have to have this connectivity.
  Some examples of this are Randy from Parkersburg, whom I spoke to 
recently during a tele-townhall meeting that I held with constituents. 
Randy expressed his frustration with not being able to access the 
internet, making it difficult for his kids to complete their homework. 
He was driving to a hot spot.
  Laura from Wheeling expressed her concern that her children will fall 
behind in school without access to their homework online.
  And Mandy from Elkins, who is a professor, needs internet because of 
required online learning at Davis & Elkins.
  These are just examples of the few of the concerns that I have heard 
from my constituents, but, unfortunately, there are many, many more 
just like those. I am sure you are hearing them as well in the great 
State of Iowa.
  The reality is that broadband buildout in rural areas of West 
Virginia and across our country are extremely expensive and take more 
time to complete because, in our case, we have those beautiful West 
Virginia mountains. I have always said that if we can communicate with 
somebody on the Moon, we can surely find a way to deliver broadband to 
individuals, families, and businesses all across this Nation.
  Fortunately, the FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, understands this and has 
been working with the other Commissioners at the FCC to structure the 
future of rural broadband deployment. The FCC's upcoming Rural Digital 
Opportunity Fund--which I am going to call it RDOF, which is how we 
address it--is the largest Federal investment aimed at closing the 
digital divide.
  RDOF will award $20.4 billion over the next 10 years for broadband 
service in rural America, with a special emphasis at the beginning on 
those who are totally unserved and then moving to those who have some 
service, but it is inadequate.

[[Page S5569]]

  The first phase of the funding will be up to $16 billion deployed 
through a reverse auction, which is slated to begin next month.
  On Friday, I talked with Chairman Pai for an update on the RDOF 
Program and what it will mean to West Virginia.
  We also discussed where my State stands in the process. West Virginia 
is set to receive a significant amount of funding over the next 10 
years to connect 121,000 eligible homes--so that is probably over 
200,000 individuals--particularly those in the underserved areas, as I 
mentioned.
  During my call with the Chairman, I received assurances that the FCC 
has been diligently working to get as many providers into the RDOF 
Program as possible.
  The FCC has already provided feedback to providers on their short-
form applications so that they may be prepared to bid in the upcoming 
auction next month.
  Another partner in my quest to close this digital divide is West 
Virginia Governor Jim Justice. Recently, the Governor signed an 
executive order to help expand broadband capabilities in West 
Virginia--very innovatively, I might add. His executive order would 
remove the regulatory cap on the amount of money that West Virginia's 
EDA can provide as loan insurance for broadband projects. In other 
words, the State is going to stand behind these providers to make sure 
we get our share of the RDOF money.
  This is an innovative and bipartisan Federal-State partnership that 
hopefully will allow more local providers to successfully bid on the 
majority of the RDOF census blocks in our State.
  These areas are oftentimes the most challenging to serve, and we need 
to ensure that our local providers--that are ready and able to connect 
their communities with high-speed broadband--have the ability to 
compete in the upcoming auction.
  Our Governor's bipartisan effort is supported by leaders in both the 
majority and minority party of both chambers of the West Virginia 
Legislature, including the Senate president, Mitch Carmichael; our 
house speaker, Roger Hanshaw; the Senate minority leader, Roman 
Prezioso--whom I would like to thank for his service, as he is leaving 
the senate--and also the house minority leader, Tim Miley, who is also 
leaving, and I would like to thank him for his service.
  So what is next and how do we continue to improve on this progress? 
One major undertaking is improving the FCC's broadband maps with more 
granular data. Far too often these maps show rural areas that are 
covered, but, in reality, if you are living in and around the area, you 
know they are not covered. There is no service. It is not the case.
  This data collection and correction is tedious but critical, as these 
maps often determine funding levels and what areas are prioritized, 
naturally.
  As cochair of the Senate Broadband Caucus, I cosponsored the 
Broadband DATA Act, which this body passed last year and President 
Trump signed into law in March.
  This new law will lead to the creation of a singular Federal 
broadband map, with new more granular data collected by the FCC from 
State and local governments, consumers, and other third parties, and 
will be updated biannually.
  It would create an online mechanism where individuals can challenge 
the coverage maps. Let's say you live in an area and you say: Well, 
they are saying I am covered, and you know darn well you are living in 
a place that is uncovered. You can submit that data online, and it will 
be submitted to the providers.

  It also requires regular auditing of data submitted by providers, 
allowing for crowdsourcing verification. This is important, too, 
because if you are grading yourself, you are going to give yourself a 
better grade, but if you are grading yourself and then you have a 
third-party verifier who is actually making sure that the data you are 
putting forward is correct, you might be just a little more circumspect 
about how accurate that data is.
  Another step forward would be dovetailing road infrastructure with 
fiber broadband buildout. We all recognize broadband is infrastructure, 
and a ``dig once'' approach would sure save time and money. Digging 
through those mountains is pretty tough so we only want to dig once if 
we have to.
  This is why I am happy to see that the Department of Transportation's 
Federal Highway Administration in mid-August made an announcement of a 
new rule to improve coordination in the use of highway rights-of-way to 
support the installation of broadband technologies.
  In other words, they are making it regulatorily easier at the Federal 
level to move forward.
  This proposed rule would help ensure that the digging required to 
install utilities would also be utilized for broadband infrastructure. 
That makes sense, doesn't it? This would help cut down on the expense 
associated with the deployment into rural areas.
  The good news is, this issue is one of the few issues that lawmakers 
on both sides of the aisle are eager to work on together. We will 
continue to have obstacles ahead as we seek to close this digital 
divide, but I believe it is important to note the progress that we have 
made up to this point.
  Five years ago, I created my Capito Connect Plan, which is a roadmap 
for bringing affordable, high-speed internet access to homes, 
businesses, and classrooms in my State of West Virginia.
  Each year, we have made significant strides, and I am proud of these 
accomplishments that have been made. Are we all the way there? No. That 
is why I am talking about it today--how important it is, especially in 
this COVID environment.
  So, for example, there is the Facebook Fiber Project. I personally 
asked founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, during a Commerce Committee 
hearing, for his commitment to partner with West Virginia on rural 
fiber deployment. They announced they are investing 275 miles of long-
haul fiber right through the southern portion of the State. I just 
drove by it on my way here. I can see the big coils, and they are 
moving forward with that.
  Other investments are the State's first fiber infrastructure 
investment from Zayo. They will be constructing a similar build through 
the northern part of the State.
  I have also worked to leverage Federal agencies like the USDA and 
their ReConnect Program to invest in West Virginia with Federal grants 
and loans.
  Since the launch of my initiative, I have successfully delivered $37 
million in funding for residential broadband projects through the USDA 
Programs and will continue in those efforts.
  Last month, I was in rural Preston County, where I witnessed 
firsthand as broadband service was being installed to the home of 
Beverly and Jeff Stemple. This fiber installation project was funded by 
the USDA's Community Connect project and made possible by those 
initiatives.
  I also visited Lincoln Primary Care in Hamlin, WV, which received a 
telemedicine grant from the FCC to help provide better care in Southern 
West Virginia, and they have a great plan that they are going to put in 
their community health centers and about 5 or 6 counties in 17 
locations.
  We have had a great deal of success with also identifying new areas 
for cell towers--one in Lincoln County. We visited with the providers 
there.
  As you can see, all levels of government, along with the private 
sector, along with our municipalities and our local leaders, have 
stepped up to the plate to work toward this common goal.
  Capito Connect is making a difference of connecting thousands of West 
Virginians. I have worked with colleagues on both side of the aisle 
through my committee work and also worked with the administration, 
which has truly prioritized this issue.
  Perhaps one upside to the pandemic--or I would say better maybe 
lessons learned--is that it has helped us better appreciate the time 
that we can physically spend with one another. But lessons learned are 
we cannot disadvantage certain parts of this country because you don't 
have what I consider to be one of the essentials in order to do 
business, to have healthcare, and to learn, and that is the deployment 
of high-speed broadband.
  Getting back to the human connection--wow. It is so important, and I 
know we miss it. A lot of us miss it. But it makes our work on 
broadband all that much more important.

[[Page S5570]]

  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Tennessee.