Biden touts broadband efforts in DNC address

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President Joe Biden and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi both made mention of rural broadband at the Democratic National Convention

By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

President Joe Biden’s ‘Internet for All’ initiative took center stage this week at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, even eliciting a mention from the president himself.

Biden addressed the convention on Monday night, laying out a case for the presidential candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris. While doing so, the president highlighted his efforts over the past four years.

He said his administration has given America an “infrastructure decade.”

“We’re modernizing our roads, our bridges, our ports, our airports, our trains, our busses,” he said. “We’re removing every lead pipe from schools and homes, so every child can drink clean water. We’re providing affordable, high-speed internet for every American, no matter where they live.”

Biden said the efforts to provide internet to all Americans were “not unlike what (President Franklin Delano) Roosevelt did with electricity.”

The president also argued that his programs have “delivered more to red states than blue.”

On Wednesday night, as former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi took the stage, rural broadband got yet another high-profile mention.

Pelosi, who represents California’s 11th congressional district, called Biden’s presidency one of the most successful of modern times.

“We quickly proved that Democrats deliver,” she said. “Millions of jobs, stronger infrastructure on rural broadband, a Biden child tax credit, rescuing human pensions, honoring our veterans, bold climate action, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, all thanks to President Biden’s patriotic vision of a fairer America.”

Federal efforts to support rural broadband expansion stem from the passage off the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. The law included more than $42 billion in appropriations for broadband spending with the creation of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

So far, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has approved dozens of initial proposals from states and territories. The approvals, which are continuing on a rolling basis, allow states and territories the ability to request access to federal funds allocated under the BEAD program.

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