Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to New Hampshire Friday to tout President Biden’s push to expand broadband internet as part of the $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan.
Speaking at the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative in Plymouth, Ms. Harris said the federal government has a key role to play in making sure rural parts of the country have access to high-speed internet.
“We have a legacy of doing this work in America,” Ms. Harris said. “We have a legacy of saying, ‘We are going to have a commitment, a national commitment, to making sure everyone has access to the basic things they need.’”
“Now in this year of our Lord 2021 that is broadband,” she said.
Ms. Harris said the coronavirus pandemic has driven home how much people rely on high-speed internet when it comes to educating kids, running a business and delivering healthcare services.
Ms. Harris was joined by Sen. Maggie Hassan, and also is slated to make a stop in Concord.
The American Jobs Plan faces stiff opposition from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
GOP lawmakers have advocated for expanding broadband, but have voiced opposition to the overall size and scope of the jobs plan.
Ms. Harris likened the administration’s push to the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 that provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems and was anchored on the idea that providing electricity to rural areas was crucial to people’s lives and livelihoods.
“The American Jobs Plan will put $100 billion into getting access to broadband and affordable access to broadband for everyone,” Ms. Harris said. “It is the same thing that our country decided to do in 1936 [by] saying, ‘Let’s get electricity to everybody and rural american should not be left out.’”
Source:Washington Times
