Griffith Calls Hearing on Broadband Deployment

U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, called a hearing, held earlier today, to examine federal efforts to deploy broadband internet to un-served and underserved communities around the country.

“I called today’s hearing on the important issue of broadband to find out why the federal government is spending billions of dollars to deploy broadband across our country, and yet, many Americans are still without internet service,” said Griffith. “It is clear that our federal efforts are currently fragmented and overlapping, slowing efforts to expand access. We must streamline these efforts to get Americans the access they need and deserve.”

During the hearing, Griffith touched on the fact that many rural areas, like parts of his district, are without any broadband. This means they aren’t just underserved, but completely un-served. He argued that these areas should be the federal government’s priority in deploying broadband throughout the country.

He also spoke to witnesses about the potential of using modern satellite services for areas that are too difficult or too expensive to lay fiber cable and the need to streamline our federal efforts for deploying broadband.

Witnesses testifying at today’s hearing included Andrew Von Ah, Director, Physical Infrastructure, Government Accountability Office; Dr. George Ford, PhD, Chief Economist, Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies, and; Angela Siefer, Executive Director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance

Griffith’s opening statement can be found below:

To view his questioning of witnesses, see below: