[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 1907]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


              BORDER TO BORDER BROADBAND: BETTER TOGETHER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RICHARD M. NOLAN

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 12, 2016

  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, along with my Minnesota 
colleague Congressman Collin Peterson, to recognize the Blandin 
Foundation and all they do for rural Minnesota, and particularly for 
their efforts to provide broadband internet service to all Minnesotans.
  I was honored to recently speak at the `Border to Border Broadband: 
Better Together' conference, which was sponsored by the Blandin 
Foundation and the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development. More than 
170 participants came together and agreed on a vision statement for the 
future of broadband of Minnesota. Today, Congressman Peterson and I 
rise in strong support of that vision, which states that ``All 
Minnesotans will be able to use convenient, affordable world class 
broadband networks that enable us to survive and thrive in our 
communities and across the globe.''
  The fact is, we need high-speed broadband in our rural communities. 
It's a necessity required to help grow our small town rural economy and 
compete, start new businesses, create new jobs, attract new people and 
modernize the education and health care services so essential to 
quality of life. Across our expansive and diverse district the Blandin 
Foundation is working hard to make sure rural communities have access 
to world-class high-speed broadband internet.
  Once again, we would like to thank the Blandin Foundation for all 
they do to strengthen rural Minnesota through their many important 
programs, in addition to their work on rural broadband.

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