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Floor Speech
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Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam President, I join my Republican colleagues on the floor today in support of expanding broadband access across rural America.
I recently had the honor of becoming ranking member of the Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy, which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Department of Agriculture's broadband programs. My top priority as ranking member is expanding broadband access to unserved populations that need it most so our rural communities are not left behind.
In today's economy, people need fast and reliable internet to work, to go to school, have virtual meetings, and even see their doctors through telemedicine. Our farmers need an internet signal to operate their farms, their facilities, drive tractors, irrigate crops, apply pesticides, and implement precision agriculture technologies. Without it, they do not have an opportunity to compete.
Recently, the USDA increased the requirements for sufficient broadband access from speeds of 25 over 3 megabits per second to 100 over 20 megabits per second download and upload speeds. Yet 1 out of 10 people in my State of Alabama didn't even meet the previous 25-over-3 threshold. So why change it? Either don't change it or build better broadband.
I am grateful to the chairman of the Rural Development Subcommittee, Senator Welch of Vermont, for his hard work and partnership on this bipartisan issue. The subcommittee recently held our first meeting, and it was a success. It was exactly what we needed. We had a great discussion with witnesses and colleagues on the importance of broadband.
Later this year, we will have a farm bill coming up in Congress--very important. We need to ensure that expanding rural broadband is included in this year's farm bill.
Also, earlier this year, I was proud to join a bipartisan group of my colleagues to introduce the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act. This bill would amend the Tax Code to ensure that Federal grant funding for broadband isn't considered taxable income. It just doesn't make sense to fund broadband and then tax broadband users for using it.
I want to thank my colleagues who are here on the floor today for their support, and I want to encourage all of my colleagues to join us in this effort. Rural broadband is vital for the success of our rural communities and for the entire economy.
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