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Internet Legislation
I believe that to compete in a global economy we must become an Online Nation where every community, business and school has access to high-speed Internet connections. Expanding the nation’s high-speed Internet infrastructure will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and increase the gross domestic product. Simply put, becoming an on-line, high-speed nation will create jobs and grow the economy. Although we led the world into the Internet age, the United States has now slipped to 16th in the world in high-speed Internet connections. In Japan, for example, connections are 8 times faster than in the United States. Millions of Americans – particularly in rural and low-income urban areas – do not have access to high-speed Internet connections. Less than 5 percent of towns of 10,000 or less have access to high-speed Internet connections. Just 12 percent of Internet users in rural areas have them. There is a digital divide between communities with access to high-speed Internet connections and those without. The US should lead the world in access to the Internet. Access to high-speed Internet connections can open a world of opportunities and even save lives through tele-medicine and instant access to electronic medical records. It spurs economic growth, opens doors to high quality jobs and new markets, and expands educational opportunities. A farmer should be able to hold a video-conference with buyers over the Internet. A student in a rural community should have a real-time connection to a college class hundreds a miles away. A grandmother in a small town should be able to watch live video of new grandchild. Without high-speed connections, none of this is possible. I support developing a comprehensive public-private national high-speed broadband policy that expands access to high-speed Internet connections, builds high-sped infrastructure, and ensures affordability. |
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