Kamala Harris on expanding broadband internet access in AARP interview

In a recent interview with the AARP, the retired persons advocacy organization asked the following:

Many Americans, especially in rural areas, do not have access to high speed internet. How would you ensure that Americans have access t affordable high-speed internet?

The Vice-President and "broadband czar" answered saying:

"Access to high-speed internet is not a luxury. It's a necessity. I'm proud as vice president that we got $90 billion to connect everyone in America to reliable, affordable high-speed internet.

"I have traveled the country as vice president to rural communities and various communities to make sure that not only is the policy sound and relevant to all communities, including our seniors, but to make sure that the implementation is speedy and happening.

"That includes also the work that I did in the leadership around the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which has helped 25 million households across the country, including many seniors, save anywhere from $30 to $75 a month on their internet bill".

Let's take a closer look--

As you, or may not recall, VP Harris was supposed to oversee the broadband rollout from President Biden’s trillion-dollar the trillion-dollar Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act , aka “infrastructure” bill.

The bill’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program made $42.5 billion available to connect homes and businesses in unserved rural areas to high-speed internet service.

"It's going to help our kids and business succeed in the 21st century economy," Biden said. "And I'm asking the vice president to lead this effort, if she would, because I know it will get done."

How has this worked so far?

According to the Americans for Tax Reform, it has been 1,000 days since Biden signed the bill, but under Vice President Harris’s leadership, precisely zero homes have been connected.

That’s right, zero homes connected. It has been more than two and a half years since Biden signed the bill and more than three years since Harris was put in charge of the Administration’s broadband efforts, but not a single new building has internet service.

They continue saying--The program has collapsed under the weight of red tape imposed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is in charge of administering the program. NTIA required states to submit multiple rounds of dense paperwork to even qualify for the funds they were given by Congress and has only recently started approving state plans for how to spend the money. At no point has Harris leaned on them to speed things up in her role as broadband czar.

Nearly three years on and 21 states – accounting for more than 57% of Americans – have yet to be approved. Under Harris’s leadership, the majority of Americans will be lucky if their states’ plans are approved by the third anniversary of the bill becoming law. If the paperwork takes so long, will they ever actually build anything?

Last month, Senator Ted Budd (R-NC), who was one of nine Senators who sent a letter to VP Harris:

Dear Vice President Harris:

We are writing to express serious concerns regarding your role as the Biden-Harris administration’s “broadband czar” and the mismanagement of federal broadband initiatives under your leadership. It appears that your performance as “broadband czar” has mirrored your performance as “border czar,” marked by poor management and a lack of effectiveness despite significant federal broadband investments and your promises to deliver broadband to rural areas.

As you are aware, Congress, through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, provided the National Telecommunications and Information Administration with $42.45 billion for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. These funds are intended to provide broadband access to unserved communities, particularly those in rural areas.

In 2021, you were specifically tasked by President Biden to lead the administration’s efforts to expand broadband services to unserved Americans. And at the time, you stated, “we can bring broadband to rural America today.” Despite your assurances over three years ago, rural and unserved communities continue to wait for the connectivity they were promised. Under your leadership, not a single person has been connected to the internet using the $42.45 billion allocated for the BEAD program. Indeed, Politico recently reported on “the messy, delayed rollout of” this program.

Instead of focusing on delivering broadband services to unserved areas, your administration has used the BEAD program to add partisan, extralegal requirements that were never envisioned by Congress and have obstructed broadband deployment. By imposing burdensome climate change mandates on infrastructure projects, prioritizing government-owned networks over private investment, mandating the use of unionized labor in states, and seeking to regulate broadband rates, your administration has caused unnecessary delays leaving millions of Americans unconnected.

The administration’s lack of focus on truly connecting the unconnected has failed the American people and represents a gross misuse of limited taxpayer dollars. The American public deserves better.