Last Wednesday, co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Broadband Caucus wrote to President Donald Trump urging him to include “dedicated stand-alone funding for broadband deployment” in any infrastructure plan put forth by his administration.
The letter highlights the strong bipartisan support for broadband funding and the need to close the digital divide between rural and urban America. As outlined in HIMSS 2017 Congressional Asks, HIMSS strongly supports increased investment in rural broadband to support 21st century healthcare.
Additionally, the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications & Technology announced this week that it will be holding a hearing on Jan. 30 entitled, “Closing the Digital Divide: Broadband Infrastructure Solutions.” During the hearing the subcommittee is expected to examine a number of bills introduced in the 115th Congress focused on rural broadband funding and deployment.