[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 14, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H7788-H7789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CONNECTIVITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
South Dakota (Mr. Johnson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Madam Speaker, earlier this year, my 
friend Mark Shlanta died at age 57. He had been a South Dakota 
telecommunications leader since 1998.
  Earlier this year, my friend Greg Dean died at age 58. He had been a 
South Dakota telecommunications leader since 1999.
  Earlier this year, my friend Rod Bowar died at age 60. He had been a

[[Page H7789]]

South Dakota telecommunications leader since 1976.
  Earlier this year, my friend Bryan Roth died at age 59. He had been a 
South Dakota telecommunications leader since 1998.
  Now, losing one friend, losing one industry leader, is not easy. When 
you lose four over the past few months, it can be almost more than 
their friends and family can bear.
  These were real leaders. Everybody around here talks about broadband. 
It has been a hot topic in Congress for the last 2 years, every day--
broadband, high-speed internet, broadband, connectivity.
  But I tell you, Madam Speaker, those four gentlemen were involved in 
broadband long before it was cool and long before it was the hot topic 
in Washington, D.C.
  Mark spent 20 years as the CEO of SDN. Originally, it was the South 
Dakota Network. He turned this into one of the most sophisticated State 
networks in the country, and he expanded it by 50,000 miles of fiber-
optic cable.
  For 20 years, Greg, in his work with the South Dakota 
Telecommunications Act, was probably the most influential person to 
help set rural broadband policy in the halls of the State capital.
  For 30 or 40 years, Rod, in his work as the CEO of Kennebec Telephone 
Company, made sure that two small towns, Kennebec with 281 residents 
and Presho with 472, had high-speed internet that would be the envy of 
the largest and most cosmopolitan urban areas in the world.
  For more than 20 years as CEO of TrioTel, Bryan worked to make sure 
that that cooperative was the first telephone company in South Dakota, 
all the way back in 2013, to have 100 percent of its customers 
connected with fiber.
  So, yes, Madam Speaker, these were titans of the rural broadband 
arena.
  But when I think about connectivity and these gentlemen's 
contribution to it, I don't just think about rural broadband. I think 
about the connections they made with their families and their 
communities. It would have been hard to do more for Sioux Falls or for 
Scouting or for his family than Mark did. It would have been hard to do 
more for the Pierre community or Pierre athletics or his family than 
Greg did. It would have been hard to do more for his church or the 
outdoors or the Salem community than Bryan did. It would have been hard 
to do more for Kennebec or for Presho or for the fire department or for 
his family than Rod did.
  The contributions of these gentlemen in their communities were 
absolutely staggering. So, Madam Speaker, it is altogether appropriate 
that we focus on the contributions to rural broadband of these four 
titans of the industry. But I also think it is important to recognize 
that when they thought of connectivity and when they made a 
contribution to connectivity, it was about the human connection.
  No one could have done more for the people and the places they loved 
than Mark, Greg, Rod, and Bryan did.

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