Thune Leads Colleagues in Requesting the Removal of Extraneous Biden-Era Regulations on Broadband Program
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today led his colleagues in sending a letter to Howard Lutnick, secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, requesting the removal of extraneous Biden-era regulations as Secretary Lutnick conducts his review of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which is aimed at expanding internet access to Americans in rural areas and other unserved communities.
“As you may be aware, Republican senators have previously raised concerns with the Biden administration’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and its implementation of the BEAD program,” the senators wrote. “Specifically, NTIA ignored congressional direction and acted inconsistently with its statutory authority in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), filling the program with onerous regulations that prevented the quick, efficient deployment of broadband and resulted in not a single household being connected to the internet.”
“Under your leadership, the BEAD program can finally fulfill its long overdue mission and ensure taxpayer dollars are not spent funding extraneous, burdensome regulations,” the senators continued. “Eliminating these obstacles will empower states to work closely with broadband providers and accelerate deployment, maximize resources, and reach truly unserved and underserved communities without any more delay caused by unnecessary government interference.”
The letter was also signed by U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), John Curtis (R-Utah), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.).
Full letter below:
Dear Secretary Lutnick:
We write to thank you for committing to a rigorous review of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. As you may be aware, Republican senators have previously raised concerns with the Biden administration’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and its implementation of the BEAD program. Specifically, NTIA ignored congressional direction and acted inconsistently with its statutory authority in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), filling the program with onerous regulations that prevented the quick, efficient deployment of broadband and resulted in not a single household being connected to the internet. Therefore, we urge you to remove the Biden-era extraneous regulations as you review the BEAD program to ensure the responsible and effective use of taxpayer dollars.
In particular, we encourage you to remove the BEAD program’s restrictive labor requirements that disadvantage rural communities, provisions favoring government-owned networks over private investment, and guidelines that prioritize certain technologies over others and clearly contradict congressional pursuit of tech-neutrality.
Furthermore, despite the IIJA’s explicit prohibition on broadband rate regulation, NTIA exceeded its statutory authority and attempted to enact rate regulations anyway. The inclusion of climate change mandates further diverted funds and focus away from the program’s primary objective of ensuring broadband access for unserved and underserved communities. These unnecessary bureaucratic barriers slow deployment, increase costs, and ultimately run contrary to the very purpose of the program and should also be removed. Even the former Director of the BEAD program recently admitted that many of these woke requirements were “inserted by the prior administration for messaging/political purposes” and “never central to the mission of the program.”
Under your leadership, the BEAD program can finally fulfill its long overdue mission and ensure taxpayer dollars are not spent funding extraneous, burdensome regulations. Eliminating these obstacles will empower states to work closely with broadband providers and accelerate deployment, maximize resources, and reach truly unserved and underserved communities without any more delay caused by unnecessary government interference.
Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter. We appreciate your leadership in reviewing and addressing these concerns, and we look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
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From a SD perspective, this is stupid; I think having high-speed broadband (other than StarLink) for our rural communities opens up so much more economic activity for them. With remote work capabilities now, it is great to see college graduates come back to rural communities like DeSmet and Belle Fourche, they can be close to family to help them, buy a home, and further develop their community and state. The things Leader Thune is talking about eliminating from IIJA that he glosses over since his party just eats anything out of his hand are:
1. Allowing BEAD subgrantees to exclude locations from service areas if serving them would “unreasonably increase costs.” – This isn’t about returning a profit on the project, its a long term investment in infrastructure to support rural communities, see my opening remark. They factor this long-term economic growth into everything else, so why not this issue?
2. Prohibiting the NTIA and states from enforcing conditions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion; workforce development; infrastructure resiliency; network management; and certain financial requirements. – This, again, is stupid and only targets their perceived enemies. However, these rural areas often are not their enemies, even in those blue states.
3. Broadening the definition of “reliable broadband service” to include various technologies, such as Low Earth Orbit satellites and unlicensed fixed wireless, alongside traditional fiber options. – Oh, how convenient for someone.
4. Prohibiting the NTIA and states from regulating or mandating broadband service rates for BEAD-funded networks, while maintaining the requirement for at least one low-cost, high-speed plan for eligible low-income households. – If we are paying for this with our tax payer dollars, then this is a public utility, why would price gouging every consumer (who also took the risk of the project on) be fair while the supplier reaps all the rewards? Let’s build up and grow our economy and not just the top part of it.
Come on, Leader Thune (and the rest of the followers), you can do better!
Well said. When they start an effort citing the past crimes of Obama and Biden IT ALWAYS COVERS UP THE CRIME THEY REALLY WANT TO COMMIT.