To highlight each though i do want to call attention to a couple of resolutions expressing the Guiding Principles on broadband infrastructure that should underpin our efforts first. Any funds for broadband in an infrastructure package should go to underserved areas. Second, as noted, the federal government should not be picking winners and losers in the marketplace. It should be competitively and technologically if we adhere to these principles im confident we can avoid the pitfalls. Most Important Congress should be mindful of the significant amounts of private capital to support broadband deployment. Since the passage of the bipartisan 96 act, the private sector has invested roughly 1. 6 trillion in the networks. To classify the competitive broadband market place under title number two of the Communications Act and an outdated relic of the 1930s monopoly era. To conduct the illconceived policy and return to the accusatory approach. In the best communication they have the highest Economic Growth and most important, most remain a bipartisan effort and im pleased to note our effort has brought support from the crosssection of the industry at this time i would like to enter into the record several letters of support. The commerce, power and communications contractions association. For the witnesse the witness ise that i feel the remainder of my time to the vice chairman of the subcommittee. The chair is doing a terrific job at th of the subcommittee. Since 199 1996 bbravo wirelessd wireline industries invested 1. 6 trillion Capital Investment as we consider how to promote broadband deployment in the network its important that we remember the private investment in the past and pursue federal policies to help and encourage an emphasis on the investment in the future. As the economy becomes more we must ensure the Broadband Access to all areas of the country. Its important that we recognize federal funds for the deployment of the finite on the unserved or underserved areas of the nation. Im pleased we are considering the act which ive introduced with the congressman on a bipartisan basis and i commandd the chariot of the members on both sides of the aisle on the impressive passage of bills we are considering today and i look forward to hearing the testimo testimony. Thank you madam chair for holding this hearing and for the witnesses appearing before us. I want to start off by saying that i share the gold of ensuring all have access to broadband and that we need to come together on a bipartisan basis to address the challenge of millions face today from the lack of Broadband Access and sufficient speed and lack of affordable options. I believe we cannot ignore the lack of competition particularly among the wireline providers and high cost of service that results in far too many in the service. I am concerned about the approach we are considering 25 bills at this hearing. I cant remember a time when the Committee Held a hearing on so many levels with a single witness. We are simply not getting the time and expertise required for the members of the committee to consider each of the bills and their ramifications. It would seem to me far more prudent to uphold a series of hearings so members would have an opportunity to discuss and understand the proposals before us. This gives a short riff for the members on both sides of the aisle and precludes the bills from undergoing the deliberative process. Its my hope that the chairman and the Committee Staff can work with us to avoid this unnecessary problem for the future and its my hope that as we move forward on broadband infrastructure legislation we can do so on a collaborative and bipartisan basis. I am concerned that many of the proposals do not actually address the primary issue of getting broadband to Rural America and that there is no Business Case for that investment. If we were serious about solving this problem they should have access to the comparable surface and wcompatible surfaceand we ne funds necessary. With that i would like to yield a minute to my friend from california and then my good friend mr. Welch. Here is the second decade of the 21st century to Many Americans cannot fully participate in modern life because. Its unavailable and its our responsibility to remedy this. Thats why several things clear the way for the community to take control. The Community Broadband act. They create their own networks and to streamline attachments to the efficiency and competition. The policies are in place. They have more access, Better Service and lower prices. Its up to 50 lower in cost him ththan the taxes and the broadbd community taxable up in the doors and most especially to make a difference in america so i think the gentleman for yielding. We know about 40 has no broadband and there is no Economic Future for any part of the country if it doesnt have highspeed internet. Rural america is being left behind and the other issue is that makes no sense for the private markets to be expanding in these areas there is no feedback. The bottom line is we need funding to make certain it is real and we have a group of the committee that wrote we want infrastructure funding that is real so there is broadband in Rural America. Absent funding there is no broadband. It is as simple as that. This is a good hearing on several good pills but there is nothing before us that its going to address the funding that we need for infrastructure for broadband. When we acknowledge that we have to have running for this felt as much as our predecessors and congress provided funding for the buildout of electricity in Rural America no funding, no broadband it is as simple as that. You are recognized for five minutes. Thank you to all the members and witnesses. We have a lot of important ideas and we have 25 bills as youve heard eight of them from democrats and the others from republicans. The committee is used to dealing with big important issues may be hundreds of pages long these are important policy statements in some cases streamline processes so the whole concept is to look at the broad range of ideas and thats why at the subcommittee level we thought it was important to put as many of public to see because its on the agenda and the website also to get our heads around as we look forward in the legislative process i remember when the last administration did the stimulus bill it was a 7 billion they pushed up before they produce the maps to tell us where they were in america and we did that after the fact so we are trying to get the other side of the coin what kind of reporting mechanisms are being conducted today to show us that. You want other organizations to help us figure that out so when the money is invested it isnt the overbuilt its to reach out to the 29 million americans, 39 that dont have access to highspeed broadband. 7 billion you have to remember in the market they are spending close to 80 billion a year on broadband deployment between 1996 i think it is and the 2006. They would stretch in the atlantic t to a high of 69,000 square miles. There are multiple ways to close it but one of the best is to make sure to expedite it to those that are underserved in helping move the country in the connectivity that weve never seen before. Its to free up the spectrum ans now being built out we want to move forward in the development. Ive asked for a briefing either classified or not to figure out what those issues are. We want to be smart about having a secure network i dont know that having the government run it is necessarily the best way to go so we are looking at those issues. Its an exciting time for america to figure out the ideas among ourselves and in a bipartisan way to deal with making america in the forefront on development of connectivity and the newest iteration in technology. Mr. Pallone at this time i will yield five minutes. The infrastructure package that would bring democrats and republicans together and for our part the Committee Democrats introduced a comprehensive package across all areas of the committees jurisdiction. Mostly to conflict with the plan that was just leaked out of the white house and since they developed a legislative proposal americans need and deserve the time when the nations infrastructure is either crumbling or in desperate need of modernization its time that we makes it thickens investments in the future. The left america act authorizes 40 billion for the deployment of secure and resilient broadband and also provide over 22 billion for Drinking Water infrastructure over 17 billion for the resistant infrastructure over 3 billion for Health Care Infrastructure and list 3 billion for the redevelopment. And the left america act puts the dollars where the needed creating jobs revitalizing the communities and addressing the threats to human health and the environment and it would address the Drinking Water to fund medical facilities in the country to produce Carbon Emissions and the resilience to the impact of Climate Change and it would do all that without rolling back environmental safeguards as we are now hearing as a major component of the president s plan. When it comes to broadband weve put fortpropagandaweve put forl proposals building on strong foundations of the act and the d the bills ensure that we are investing efficiently basing the decision on the good data and reaching urban, roll and tribal lands. The last couple of weeks weve seen bipartisan agreements that would need dedicated them to have access to broadband nationwide yet despite this, republicans on the committee decided to unveil the bills that dont address the problems they are simply window dressings with Broadband Access and the republican proposals will not improve Broadband Development and may hurt workers and the economy an in parts of the coun. They simply try to jam too much in one hearing and seven witnesses discussing the bills will not help the public understand these proposals let alone the members of the committee. Whats more we do not even have the relative agencies to understand how they fell in her private directions included in the republican bills. Its to paper over the infrastructure into the erosion of privacy rights and elimination of Net Neutrality and when it comes to governing its falling short. I yield the balance of my time. In todays digital age it is simply essential. The bipartisan act introduced by the cult provide targeted assistance to deploy Wireless Service in areas with the worst coverage and in my bill the act would help the divide by reinforcing the importance of the fcc universal Service Fund Programs that serve the communities. They are the most underserved region in the nation in terms of Broadband Access. We have the responsibility to honor our legal and moral obligation and this commonsense bill does just that. I urge the committee to move the bills as quickly as possible. The gentle man yields back into this concludes the opening statements. I would like to remind members pursuant to the rules, you all have your statements that can be made a part of the record and we want to thank our witnesses for being here today and taking their time to testify. The panel for todays hearing will include mr. Jonathan. Its the executive vp president and ceo Shirley Bloomfield mr. Spots lessonsscott slawson. And ellen swanson, the Connecticut Consumer Council we appreciate each of you for being here today and preparing for the committee submitting testimony today. We will work right through the day as recognized. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. Im president and e. Of the telecom representing everything in between. All are deeply committed to and on the frontlinebeing on the fre massive effort under way for the opportunities and possibilities so we greatly appreciate the leadership and growing momentum we are seeing on both sides of the aisle to aid in this effort and in a few short hours we know the president will deliver the state of the Union Address and in the topics that drove the consensus. One of those issues with a powerful centrifugal force pulling us all together. In a statement and actions sent to the bills now making their way through this Committee Washington has caught up to the times in a moment too soon acknowledging the role of information infrastructure the ones with Broadband Networks to the nation. Its now a privatesector endeavor and the providers have invested as the chairman mentioned 1. 5 trillion over the last two decades building out u. S. Digital infrastructure to put a man on th on the moon andd out the interstate highway system combined so why must we continue to commit public funds to the cost . Because we risk leaving millions of households and citizens behind if we do not. The private investment model works in reasonably populous areas that the Business Case breaks down when the average per mile of laying fiber not to mention the Network Upgrades and maintenance costs associated that are constantly required must be spread across a handful of users. Broadband companies and members want to connect everyone from the most populated urban areas to the most remote communities in the nation. What specifically does that mean . New and direct public funding is needed for connecting the final frontier. It is on a vast spending menu but has its own specific allocation. Allocation. A physician being championed by the bipartisan cochair of the broadband caucus and thank you very much for that. Public dollars should prioritize connecting the underserved areas using proven mechanism chief among them universal service fund. For the accountability by minimizing administrative costs to u. S. Taxpayers. Fourth, connectivity should be factored into physical Infrastructure Projects adding more of the bridges and roads to the conductivity makes them smarter, safer and more Cost Effective and extends their useful life. Last, a stable streamline Regulatory Environment can accelerate and extend the impact of both public and private dollars. Earlier this month the president signed an executive order to expedite the permitting socalled Big Companies can build infrastructure in rural areas faster continuing the efforts reducing deployment cost cost and stretching limited resources further. I really greatly appreciate your testimony today and ongoing leadership. We stand ready to link arms of the policy leaders from anyone else wants to step up. Morning. Thank you for including wireless as part of this conversation. Look at the face challenges we face together and the opportunities we have. We look at driving up Economic Growth and having opportunities for brett about brandon allamericans. We have two core challenges. The first is the Digital Divide. Vermont to eastern americans that do not have access to the wired and Wireless Broadband Solutions that we all rely on everyday. We look forward to working with the committee to try with wired wireless broadband deeper. Our second is global competitiveness. Last month International Standards body spent the set the standards in the races now on. See what leadership has meant here and they want to take thus from us. China and others are investing with over a hundred ongoing today. In the u. S. We want to win too. We have our own ongoing trials. And ultimately were ready to invest 275 billion in private capital to build out those networks. We dont need federal funding to solve the 5g problem. We need help to modernize our approach to society. Networks will be different because well them with small cells. Theyre attached to streetlights inside the buildings. The challenge we face is too often advice that takes one or two hours to install takes one or two years to get approved. At every year we treat these like a 270foot tower alongside the highway. In short, we need new rules and thats why we appreciate the focus on this issue focusing on the federal impediments and focus on how to we modernize the federal regulation to expedite things like this another new infrastructure. Her had we marshall federal assets to draw a broadband deeper and utilizing federal lands. The other thing we would hope for is to talk about the leadership with respect to state local sightings as well. Assist leadership at 92 and 96 to give guard whales in guy guidance about how this can and should work to make sure we have deployment of wireless and broadband. Federal guidance also needs to be updated. When we get the rules right 5g will be transformative to your communities. It will unlock self driving cars in the internet of things. It will create jobs in downtown pittsburgh. The server 200 million in the economy. Thats why were excited about winning the 5g race. Need make sure all americans have access to broadband. We think with bold leadership of this congress and committee we can and need to do both thank you. At this time you have five minutes. As you know, for the last year aca and its members have been discussing with members of both sides of the aisle the administration and fcc about how to effectively and efficiently close the Digital Divide. Aca appreciates and supports the commitment to bring rod bentall americans. Over the past decade because of hundreds of billions of dollars of private investment by aca member